Growing up in rural north central Missouri meant being in the local 4-H club. It just would not do for farmers’ kids to skip this part of being educated about life on the land. Those four H’s stood for Head, Heart, Health and Hands. We had our projects, went to the monthly meetings and attended the local “jamboree”, or whatever it was called.
Somehow that subject flitted through my mind the other day, and, like the proverbial light bulb that indicates a brilliant idea, the thought of the recent antics of the Democrats and the political left, both near and far, could be reduced to the 5-H club. Hopefully this will stick in your mind, and help you recall these whenever you see the words, 4-H.
Hatred is the first in this explanation of the Left and the Dems. From the moment Donald Trump was elected, hatred of him and those who support him became one of the traits of the #Resistance. From those who refused to attend the inauguration, to the march on Washington the day after, hatred was on display. During that march, one celebrity even “dreamed” about blowing up the White House. Displays of such vitriol included an obscure comedienne holding up the severed head of the President, to celebrities using profanities and obscenities to describe him. This unreasoning dislike has been extended to his family (wife and children) and to those who work for him. Most recently, this was seen in the reaction to President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, and the almost unbelievable attacks on his “summit” with the Russian President. He was called “treasonous” and had his actions compared to Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and Kristallnacht. Families have been estranged because someone had voted for Trump. H equals hatred, a now characteristic of the Left and most Democrats.
Hubris is the second trait of those who hate. This fine old Greek term denotes excessive pride or defiance of the gods; today it is used as a synonym for arrogance, self conceit and a feeling of superiority. Democrats have this in abundance. Start with the darling of the Left, Barack Obama. When he could not get his ideas passed through Congress, he showed hubris by saying “I’ve got a pen and a phone”, and proceeded to do what he wanted by executive order. When on the campaign trail, he talked about people who “clung to their Bibles and guns”, a put down of those who were not his people. Other examples of this hubris was the claim that Trump supporters were a “basket of deplorables, irredeemable”. A Clinton admirer claimed, when he went into a Virginia Wal Mart that he could “smell Trump supporters”. Another claim was that those who defeated a Democratic candidate for the Virginia Senate were “hillbillys”. This hubris makes many Democratic elites call the center of the nation “flyover” country. An attitude of superiority fills the being of most Democrats and liberals — they know better than their inferiors. Hubris, indeed!
Hypocrisy is the third characteristic of those on the Left. Claiming to be the people of tolerance, they have shut down conservative speakers on college campuses like UC-Berkeley and other major universities. When a TV talk show host made a innocuous, but true, comment about an anti-gun activist, this “tolerant” person began a move to have sponsors remove their financial support for the show. When illegal immigrant families were separated at the southern border of the US, the hypocrisy was blatant. Blaming Trump for the policy, those who shouted the loudest ignored two glaring truths — that Congress passed the law and ICE was only following the letter of that law, and two previous presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, had sanctioned the same actions during their administrations. Most recently there has been an uproar over the President’s meeting with Vladimir Putin. How could our President meet with this murderous thug who ran a foreign power that was our enemy? What hypocrites!
Presidents in the last half of the 20th century regularly met with leaders of despotic nations. Dwight Eisenhower met with the Soviet leader during the Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev, even having this communist tyrant visit our country. In the early part of his administration, John Kennedy met with the same Khrushchev in Vienna, the same man who would threaten to “bury us”! Richard Nixon traveled to China to meet with Mao, a person who had the blood of millions of his own people on his hands. Ronald Reagan met more than once with another leader of the Soviets, Mikhail Gorbachev, and publicly challenged him to “tear down this wall”, referring to the infamous Berlin Wall. Putin was described as an honorable man by George W. Bush after the two met. Barack Obama told the then Russian President, Dimitri Medvedev, that he wanted “Vladimir” (Putin, of course) to know that after Obama’s reelection he would have more flexibility to deal with the Russians. More egregiously, Obama was caught on camera with hands held high with the Cuban dictator, Raul Castro, someone who had helped subdue his people, jail dissidents and execute opponents. Yet none of these occasions were met with anything close to the criticism that President Trump has endured over his “summit” with Putin. Can anyone spell “hypocrisy”?
Hyperbole is our fourth H of the Left and most Democrats. This term means to overstate any criticism of your foes. After the aformentioned summit between Trump and Putin, one former official in the Obama administration claimed that what the President had done was “treasonous”. Others claimed it was the worst diplomatic moment in American history, that Trump was Putin’s puppet. Some even claimed that the meeting was worse than Pearl Harbor or 9/11. Other examples was Hillary Clinton’s assertion that the Republicans wanted to turn back the calendar on political rights to the 1950s, or event the 1850s. The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court would mean the deaths of “millions of women”, the end of Roe v. Wade, the court decision that gave abortion on demand the protection of the Constitution. Our environment will be despoiled because of the EPA’s scuttling of regulations that stifled the use of federal lands. When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, it was called the worst bill to come before Congress ever. One House leader called the cuts “crumbs”, claiming that only the rich would benefit. One of the worst examples of hyperbole is the claim that Donald Trump is the worst president ever. Have those who claim this never heard of James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, James Madison, Herbert Hoover, John Tyler or Jimmy Carter? There are so many examples of over-the-top statements that many normal Americans are starting to tune out the rhetoric because much of what has been aimed at our President is so out touch with reality. Most liberals engage in hyperbolic language to the point they don’t even recognize just how ridiculous they sound.
Hunger is our last, shortest and easiest to understand “H” in the Democratic lexicon. Democrats and liberals lost the last election when Trump won. But what they lost most was power. Hunger for that lost power dominates their every waking moment. Just two statements, supported by most on the Left, show this. According to their Congressional leaders, when Democrats are in the majority, the tax cuts will be rescinded. And when the House turns blue, impeachment of the President will commence. Hunger indeed — it drives the left in their opposition to President Trump, hunger for their lost power.
But we would be remiss if we were to ignore another “H” in politics. Happiness is seen in many Republican circles, for if the Democrats persist in their policies, the GOP will expand their majorities in the mid-term elections this November.
4-H clubs began with a noble goal and a memorable slogan — Heart, Hands, Health and Head.
Democrats will end with their ignoble goals and fatal description:
Hatred
Hubris
Hypocrisy
Hyperbole
Hunger