The Only Thing They Have is Fear, and Fear Itself

The Democratic Party (Democratic in name only) has no candidate. 80% of the country has known it for months or years (the other 20% are too terrified to admit it). If there is no candidate, then there is no positive vision of the future to market. The only thing left is negative campaigning, attacking the opponent, or, as we all know commonly: fearmongering.

We’ve had a pretty exciting Summer in terms of politics. Lots of historic things are happening, and certainly both sides of the political spectrum can agree that our country-we as a people-are not having our greatest hours.

Yeah, that’s not happening right now. Whichever way one leans politically right now, instead of hope, change, and a belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself…that’s all we’ve got is fear. For years now, many of our leaders have chosen their paths to power as ones based not on what our lives can look like during the next administration, but rather how horrific it will be if the other person is elected. The really pathetic part of this is that one of the things making this such a historic time is that we have two Presidents running against each other (for now). That is to say that we KNOW exactly what will happen if either one is re-elected. It’ll be 44v2.0 or 45v2.0. We shouldn’t be able to be convinced that either v2.0 of one of these candidates is going to lead to the end of democracy, bringing back slavery, taking away the vote from women, or bring back New Coke, Pepsi Clear, the McRib, and put fart filter bags on cows to fight climate change.

People!

What kind of a leader gets the job by telling you the sky is falling? That’s not how you lead people to greatness. It’s apathy. It’s how you deter, stall, and keep them from trying. How did we go from Hope, Change, and “Yes we can” to this?

Anonymous sources have been reporting that Donald Trump strangles kittens in his spare time for years. There are hundreds of articles describing how ancient Sumerians predicted his arrival as some sort of quasi-demon. Nostradamus predicted that the end of days would come when an orange man with yellow hair came to power in the land of the eagles and made the seas boil with climate change. Turn on MSNBC any time between 2015 and today, watch for 22 minute, and there’s an 80% chance you’ll see some “expert” explain that Trump will destroy American (ie a paid pundit who is wrong 2/3 of the time, but checks off at least 3 intersectionality boxes). Were there 22 tornadoes associated with the last hurricane, because CNN will have a commentator on to explain that the hurricane is the biggest ever, “enhanced by climate change,” and Donald Trump is responsible because he’s Vladamir Putin’s side guy.

When have you had enough fear-mongering? Trump has been President. We survived. He didn’t destroy democracy. He wasn’t a dictator. He didn’t refuse to leave office. He didn’t organize Jan 6 (Can there be any doubt he’d have been convicted for it by now if he had?). We even had a pandemic, and survived (though, there’s no shortage of people who said he shouldn’t close the borders, but now blame him for not doing it sooner). The man is not a God nor Hitler reincarnate (Is a “Hitler reincarnate” copyrighted by MSNBC? Opportunity!!). People are afraid of him, and it’s no wonder given what they’ve been told. Charlottesville, Russia Russia Russia, inject bleach, yada yada yada. Admit it-we’ve ALL heard it, and we’ve heard ALL of it several times over in the past decade.

Terror has set in on the left. Democrats are in disarray. They want people to support and vote for Biden, but don’t want to do it themselves. They’re not sleeping. Some are almost in tears on air. Millions of leftists are at least on the edge of tears? No one is standing up to take Biden’s place. Most importantly, no one is leading the voters by reassuring them. Democratic party leaders, elected officials, activist media, even other democrat voters…all united in fear. Selling each other doom and creating apathy.

For generations Presidents have started their administrations by addressing the challenges of the day, bragging about the challenges of the past that have been prevailed, and to a man, each President began by offering hope, promising change, and doing what they can to remind us that we are a group of peoples who-when united/when not deliberately divided-can literally accomplish anything.

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inauguration speech March 4, 1933.

“Now the trumpet summons us again-not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need–not as a call to battle, though embattled we are–but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”–a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.”
-John F Kennedy, Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961

“Let us learn together and laugh together and work together and pray together, confident that in the end we will triumph together in the right. The American dream endures. We must once again have full faith in our country–and in one another. I believe America can be better. We can be even stronger than before.”
-Jimmy Carter, Inauguration speech, January 20, 1977

“And so, my fellow Americans, as we stand at the edge of the 21st century, let us begin anew with energy and hope, with faith and discipline. And let us work until our work is done. The Scripture says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” From this joyful mountaintop of celebration we hear a call to service in the valley. We have heard the trumpets. We have changed the guard. And now, each in our own way and with God’s help, we must answer the call.”
-Bill Clinton, Inauguration speech, 1993

“America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end; that we did not turn back, nor did we falter. And with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”
-Barack Obama, Inauguration speech, January 20, 2009

Let me say it then, relax. It’s gonna be ok. Calm down. Stop listening to the claims that Trump’s an alien and the Project 2025 “How to Serve Man” is a recipe book. Maybe even take a moment, like many have, and see how much of the demon-Trump is false. Oh, the man’s no angel, but at 3am when a President is awakened and told there’s missiles inbound or aliens landing or the Cleveland Browns won the Superbowl (ie the end of the world is nigh), do we want a clueless zombie to decide how to respond in 360 seconds, or a man who can terrify people just with a tweet?

And if you doubt that Trump can terrify with just a tweet, Remember “Covofe”!

Hope wins elections. Fear causes apathy, and apathy loses elections.