Grassroots Patriots may be looking with amusement at the Left’s anger and frustration with Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), but the seeds for their reluctance to throw out the filibuster is largely due to one man: Mitch McConnell. OK, we can imagine the reaction as loyal Patriot Post readers digest that. The question is, “How?” The answer is, “The Neil Gorsuch confirmation.”

During that battle, Democrats tried to filibuster Gorsuch. McConnell then used the same “nuclear option” Harry Reid did four years earlier. The result? Donald Trump got three Supreme Court nominees — all of whom look to be good so far — confirmed in a very tight Senate, and a host of appellate judges to boot. In other words, there is a credible deterrent to further nuking the filibuster. McConnell — and Senate Republicans — have shown the capability and willingness to respond in kind. That makes rational people think twice. It’s time to apply that concept to other conduct from the Left in America.

The fact, is, grassroots Patriots are seeing a lot of smears and abuses. They have witnessed a multitude of double standards across the board, and a variety of other attacks and assaults coming their way. It is motivated by hatred of grassroots Patriots. Despite the denialism from the Never-Trump contingent, the hatred is real, it has gone on for decades, and the Republican and conservative establishments have failed to do anything about it, even when the Left falsely ties grassroots Patriots to ISIS and the KKK.

These false allegations of racism, the false comparisons to Nazis, and even claims that conservative policy approaches to healthcare will kill people have consequences. To paraphrase the question Dennis Prager asked: How far would people go to defeat Donald Trump when they believe he’s a white-supremacist Russian puppet whose supporters are the type of people to hunt black youth, throw Hispanic kids in cages, and drive LGBT teens to suicide while aiding and abetting the terroristic killing of children in our country’s schools? Would they “fortify” an election — or take more drastic measures — in the name of defending democracy?

The fact is, it’s well past time for those consequences to have consequences of their own. After all, they’re willing to claim their abuses are “consequences.” Like McConnell, though, there is a way for congressional Republicans to instill a deterrence against left-wing abuses.

For starters, a GOP-controlled House could use the actions against Marjorie Taylor Greene to boot Maxine Waters, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar off committees — the former for a long track record of threats and incitement, the latter two for their track records of anti-Semitism.

There could also be the establishment of select committees to look into a variety of Democrat abuses, from “Zuck Bucks” to bulk-mail ballots to the Cuomo-James jihad against the NRA to Merrick Garland’s attack on concerned parents. Maybe even include Spygate and Big Tech censorship as well, along with a generous use of subpoenas. After all, if they can do it to Trump, a Republican Congress can — and should — be equally intrusive to Democrats who have openly abused their power.

Discourse in this country has become ugly. Appeals to civility have fallen short, and the choice grassroots Patriots face is a simple one: Either respond in kind, or for all intents and purposes engage in unilateral political disarmament. The fact that a form of mutually assured destruction is the best option is cause for sadness. However sad the situation may be, credible deterrence may succeed where appeals to reason and “better angels” have, to date, consistently failed to ameliorate unacceptable conditions.