The Patriot Post® · A Lesson From 1979

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/86123-a-lesson-from-1979-2022-02-09

Truckers are flexing their muscles in Canada, and have inspired similar demonstrations in New Zealand and Europe. There are rumors the U.S. will be next.

Forty-three years ago this month, the Washington, D.C., political establishment was faced with a different grassroots revolt. Angry famers, being driven out of business by Jimmy Carter’s lousy economy, were convinced that no one in Washington understood their plight or cared about their families.

So, they decided to drive their tractors to D.C. to make their case to Congress and the White House.

In early February, after weeks on the road in the middle of winter, an “army” of 5,000 farmers and their supporters arrived in the nation’s capital. They camped at a Civil War battlefield over the weekend, and then headed into D.C. on Monday morning during rush hour. Every bridge was blocked and government buildings were encircled.

Members of Congress were astonished by the sight. Many came out of the Capitol to talk to the farmers and learn about their concerns. It was as if 5,000 “Mr. Smiths” had gone to Washington.

Years later, one of the farmers was asked by a historian what motivated the men and women like him to brave freezing temperatures to travel for days to “physically petition” their government. He said:

“The real story is not about me, money or my farm. It’s about doing something when you’re a nobody. Farming was dying… I couldn’t sit back and let it happen. At some point in life, everyone answers a question, ‘What are you willing to say or do?’”

It is a question all of us will have to answer.

Reclaiming Our Freedom

While conservative governors and state legislatures have been resisting all along, cracks are now emerging in the left’s wall of pandemic restrictions.

Conservative Glenn Youngkin won last year’s race for governor in blue Virginia in part because he insisted on returning to normal. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) was almost defeated, and an unknown trucker did defeat the most powerful Democrat in the New Jersey legislature.

Monday, Murphy accepted that the tide is turning. He announced that New Jersey’s mask mandate will end on March 7th. And Murphy wasn’t alone. Liberal governors in California, Connecticut, Delaware and Oregon made similar announcements.

The Biden White House isn’t happy. It doubled down Monday, insisting that states continue to follow CDC guidelines and keep kids masked up.

I can’t help but notice that provinces in Canada are easing restrictions, too. I believe the courageous truckers are winning more victories than they realize, both in Canada and here in the United States. Students are also beginning to rebel, walking out of class in protest of mask mandates.

I suspect some Democrat governors are worried that similar protests could take off in their states. It was very telling that Facebook acted so quickly to shut down a page devoted to a Freedom Convoy to Washington, D.C. After all, courage is often contagious, and there are more of us than we realize.

But our freedoms are like our physical health. Muscles atrophy if you don’t use them, and the same goes with liberty. Use it or lose it.

If you never speak up, you’re undermining the freedom of speech, surrendering your rights to the left. If you never vote, you’re undermining your freedom to choose our leaders, surrendering your power to the left.

It wasn’t that long ago when we all recognized the tremendous debt we owe truckers. It’s time to thank them again, and to stand with them as they stand for freedom.

Follow The Science

Liberal comedian Bill Maher had better watch it. He’s in serious danger of getting canceled by Big Tech. On his latest show, he blasted the “medical-industrial complex” for spreading misinformation.

“Remember washing our packages? … I’m just asking, how much wrong do you get to be while still holding the default setting for people who represent ‘the science,’” Maher said. How dare he question the sainted Dr. Fauci!

But Maher is right to ask questions. As we have previously noted, the so-called “experts” have frequently been wrong.

For example, getting your initial COVID vaccinations three to four weeks apart wasn’t the best course of action. Evidently, the experts got that wrong, too. In fact, the CDC seems poised to recommend that vaccine doses be spaced out eight to ten weeks apart.

It turns out that longer time periods between doses not only produces a stronger antibody response (greater vaccine efficacy), it also significantly reduces the risk of serious heart inflammation in young men.

While we’re on the subject of bad science, Joe Biden’s White House science adviser just announced his resignation for bullying his staff. That’s ironic, but fitting. The Biden Administration has been abusing science to bully the American people!

Left-wing Hate

According to the latest statistics from the New York City Police Department, anti-Semitic hate crimes surged nearly 300% last month compared to January 2021.

Why aren’t we hearing about this? Where’s the outrage?

Well, the truth is that this anti-Semitism isn’t convenient for the left. New York City is not a hotbed of MAGA support, so the liberal media doesn’t want to talk about it.

This is a city of the left, firmly in the grip of the Democrat Party at every level, that embraces every liberal notion on every issue.

In fact, the group in New York City most likely to vote Republican is the group suffering the most hate crimes — Orthodox Jews. Chances are violent leftists — anti-Semitic Muslims or progressive, anti-Israel youth — are attacking conservative Jews, and that’s why you’re not hearing about it!

In recent days, there was lot of news coverage when swastikas were spray-painted all over Union Station, a major tourist destination and Amtrak station in the heart of Washington, D.C. This “hate crime” occurred the day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Many leftists on social media quickly blamed conservative pro-life activists and “anti-vaxxers” who were recently in town for major demonstrations. The truth was quite different.

Police eventually arrested an illegal alien, a convicted felon who had been previously deported twice! But thanks to Joe Biden’s open borders policies, he was allowed to return and deface public landmarks in the nation’s capital.

There are a number of points to highlight here.

  • Anti-Semitism is a sin that knows no racial or ideological boundaries. It exists on the left and the right, and among all races. This ancient evil must be condemned whenever it rears its ugly head.

  • Border security is national security. Our country and our communities are not safe when thousands of people each and every day are crossing our border, and especially not when Biden is allowing illegal aliens to use arrest warrants as IDs!

  • Our immigration policy should insist on serious vetting of legal immigrants to ensure that they share our values. We are under no obligation to import more hate and anti-Semitism into our country.

Actions Speak Louder

Joe Biden is trying his best to appear normal. Last week, he went to New York City and spoke out against radical proposals to “defund the police.” Monday, Biden suggested that if Russia invades Ukraine, he will “end” the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to Germany.

But no matter how hard Biden tries to sound like a normal president, his radicalism gives him away. As the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Here are a few recent examples of what Biden is actually doing that matter much more than whatever he says.

  • Biden is releasing Mohammed al-Qahtani from Guantanamo Bay prison. Al-Qahtani was almost the 20th 9/11 hijacker. Mohammad Atta was waiting to pick him up at the airport, but he was denied entry to the U.S. He was later captured at the battle of Tora Bora.

  • The Biden Administration is spending $30 million of your hard-earned tax money to fund crack pipe giveaways in the name of “advancing racial equity.”

  • The Biden Administration is spending $8 million developing an app to study the sex habits of transgender teenagers and their adult homosexual partners. Seriously, how is this even legal, and who approved this “study”?