The Politics of Confrontation
Allen West
February 27, 2023
Greetings, y’all. My prayers and best wishes go out to those affected by the winter storm hitting the upper Midwest and the Northeast.
This past week I had the glorious opportunity to visit Liberty University, the world’s largest Christian institution of higher learning. I was humbled to be able to deliver a classroom lecture and a seminar forum. I attended the Friday morning convocation service, and how amazingly encouraging it was! The motto of Liberty University, actually its charge and mission, is to “Make Champions for Christ.” I have had the opportunity to speak on many college and university campuses, and this was my second time at Liberty University. How refreshing it was to speak at a university where class began with a prayer, and to see these bright, intelligent young men and women who embraced their Christian faith.
However, the progressive socialist left and their flying monkeys do not believe that such an institution as Liberty University should be allowed to exist. I had a discussion with one of the LU administration officials who informed me that they are in a fight to maintain their accreditation. Why? Well, y’all know the answer, Liberty University does not subscribe to all the cultural Marxist and LGBTQIA+ alphabet soup of diversity, which is actually division. So much for that belief in tolerance from the leftists in America.
Appropriately, my reading for this trip was a book by former California State Senator H.L. Richardson, founder of Gun Owners of California and Gun Owners of America (GOA) titled “Confrontational Politics.” The premise of Senator Richardson’s book is that constitutional conservatives, and Christians, must stop believing that confrontation with socialists and Marxists is unavoidable. That is what the left seeks, desires, and thrives upon. Leftists ride around with bumper stickers asserting “coexistence” when they truly desire dominance, dominion, power, and control . . . by any means necessary. Too often, conservatives enter the battlefield of this ideological conflagration believing there can be some kind of “middle ground,” as Richardson and I would assert, that is not achievable.
Now, I can already hear those who would argue that governing is all about compromise. My response is how does one retain their policy positions if they compromise their principles and values? The only time we hear words such as compromise, negotiation, bipartisanship is when Republicans, conservatives, are in a majority position. When leftists are in the majority position you never hear these words. You see, leftists in the minority are tenacious, leftists in the majority are tyrannical. They may appear to be compromising, but in actuality, it is just a repositioning.
Considering this latest display of leftist belligerence, not a single Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee showed up for the hearings on the status of the border. If anything that should confirm the leftists’ support of the unconstitutional agenda of open borders. Last week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Green advocated for a “national divorce,” a division between red and blue states. I firmly disagree with that premise, dogma, and concept. I am not running away from confronting the progressive socialist leftists. I am not surrendering any ground to them, as we have done in so many other areas. We have surrendered language and expression to the left.
Remember the meaning of the rainbow? The rainbow was God’s covenant to man, a promise after the rains. Today, thanks to the leftists, a rainbow has a different meaning. “Liberal” was a political designation that related to the philosophy of John Locke, the father of classical liberalism. These people today are not liberals but rather progressive socialists, Marxists, statists, and communists. The left does not celebrate the liberal concept of individual liberty and freedom, but rather a collective subjugation and subservience of the individual to the institution of governance.
Leftists have always capitalized, no, exploited, the desire by conservatives to not confront them. After all, some say that is not being kind, gentle, or civil. As I have often stated, conservatives bring a plastic spoon to a gunfight. Now, I do not advocate screaming and yelling, but recognize that when leftists scream and yell, that is their fallback position to deflect. Leftists do not embrace things such as objective truths, honesty, or integrity. Therefore, lying, deceit, and deception are just tools to their ends.
Leftists in America have used a system of incrementalism and demonization of opposition to gain their present position. Conservatives have been reticent and recalcitrant to face them head-to-head on this ideological battlefield. State Senator Richardson founded GOA to confront the anti-Second Amendment leftists. Dan Weber founded the conservative seniors’ organization Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) to confront AARP. Reagan’s Attorney General Edwin Meese and Robert Carleson founded what is now the American Constitutional Rights Union (ACRU) to confront the ACLU. Pro-Life organizations were founded to confront those leftist groups that advocated for the murder of unborn babies by dismemberment in the womb.
We must now endeavor to meet and confront the left at every turn where they seek to advance. I will admit that right now, we need to confront them on language and win the battle of the lexicon.
At Liberty University I was invited to speak by their Office of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (IDE). They have purposefully embarked upon an effort to challenge the leftists DEI programs, cultural Marxism, by defining IDE with a Biblical perspective. That is reclaiming language.
Let’s stop this foolish talk about national divorce and confront the left — starting at the local and county levels — and turn back their assaults on individual liberty, freedom, electoral integrity, law and order, security, educational freedom, and traditional principles and values. We need to have strong conservative governors who will not compromise principles, stand strong, and abide by the rule of law. Let’s go on offense and stop being on a defensive footing.
I close with the words of Ayn Rand (no, she was not a Christian, but these words address the politics of confrontation):
“The uncontested absurdities of today and the accepted slogans of tomorrow. They come to be accepted by degrees, by dint of constant pressure on one side and constant retreat on the other — until one day when they are suddenly declared to be the country’s official ideology.”
Biological males competing against females? US Secretary of Defense issuing a letter telling female troops to accept biological males in bathroom and shower facilities? Millions illegally entering our Republic? Government shutting down businesses, designating parents domestic terrorists, censoring free speech and expression, and targeting its ideological opposition?
Heck no, I ain’t divorcing from this fight. Warriors move to the sounds of the guns!
Steadfast and Loyal.
This article first appeared at Townhall.com