By Dale Glading
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In 2008, Barack Obama rode a simple and innocuous slogan to victory in the presidential election: Hope and Change. Since he had no legislative record of accomplishment to run on, he had no choice but to hide behind purposely vague rhetoric… and hope that no one asked him for more specifics. Of course, the compliant mainstream media was only too happy to cooperate and the result was eight years of divisiveness and incompetence.
Fast forward to 2020 and, for all intents and purposes, Obama’s since-discredited campaign slogan has now been sawed in half. The Republican Party, led by an eternal optimist named Donald Trump, is promoting a message of boundless and unbridled Hope. The GOP platform can be summarized in a single sentence: America is a great nation that has yet to reach its full potential. And so, with a solid foundation beneath us and a glorious but imperfect history behind us, it is time to set our sights even higher. That’s American Exceptionalism 101.
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Conversely, Joe Biden and the Democrats have adopted only the Change aspect of Obama’s old rallying cry. From their pessimistic perspective, America is so deeply flawed that it must undergo radical changes if it is to survive, let alone flourish. Employing phrases such as “systemic racism” and “environmental justice”, the Democrat Party plans to rebuild America from the ground up… after first dismantling it from the top down, starting with the U.S. Constitution.
This “fundamental transformation” of America is at the very core of the Democratic playbook and has been for a generation. Step One is to discredit our Founding Fathers as racists and misogynists whose innate prejudices ran so deep that their writings and ideas – not to mention their monuments – must be torn down and discarded. In their place, the Progressives who have taken control of the Democrat Party want to erect the largest, most invasive, and most totalitarian government bureaucracy in U.S. history.
Forget the dollar signs associated with the Green New Deal and the devastating effects it would have on our economy. America must pay penance for its past sins, which is how the Left perceives our meteoric rise on the world stage, by transforming us as quickly as possible into a third-world nation. They will not be content until we are riding donkeys to work at our state-subsidized and state-regulated businesses with our lunch pails filled with state-approved vegan meals.
Gone will be the days of ingenuity and entrepreneurship. After all, why take risks if the rewards of one’s labor are to be confiscated and shared equally by the less daring? In fact, why work at all if the state promises you a “guaranteed annual income” in exchange for your full compliance? And while you’re at it, you may as well hand over your children for the state to raise/indoctrinate since – in exchange for an ever-increasing portion of your income and personal wealth – the federal government will now provide you with “free” universal daycare, education (including college), healthcare, and other “benefits” meant to dull your senses and rob you of your initiative… and your individuality.
This election, the differences could not be more distinct and the choices more clear. Capitalism vs. Socialism. Personal rights and personal responsibilities vs. state-sanctioned and state-mandated behavior. American pride vs. American shame.
If you subscribe to a message of Hope and believe in a brighter tomorrow, then President Trump deserves your support.
However, if you are willing to surrender your sovereignty to a sinister central government that promises to care for you from cradle to grave, then you should vote for Joe Biden – the agent of radical Change.
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Dale Glading is an ordained minister and former N.J. Republican candidate for Congress.
