Robin SmithSince Jan. 21, the day after Donald Trump's inauguration as America's 45th president, Democrats have demonstrated their anger and opposition.
Protests halted a college program featuring a conservative speaker that, according to KTLA News5, included "paramilitary force armed with bats, steel rods, fireworks and Molotov cocktails." Pink hats vulgarly named for a woman's genitalia were worn in the D.C. march that featured Madonna slinging F-bombs and citing her thoughts of blowing up the Trump White House. Ashley Judd recited a poem written by a Tennessee 19-year-old comparing Trump to Hitler and evoking an incestuous love of his daughter by stating, "I'm not as nasty as your daughter being your favorite sex symbol."
Crowds gathered in front of Chicago's Trump Tower to drop their pants, exposing their buttocks in protest of the president. On Valentine's Day, a 71-year-old congressional staffer working for a Republican representative was knocked unconscious when she was leaving her office by protesters "delivering cards."
Free speech is a right provided under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. But America is witnessing the determination of some to silence those who refuse to consent to their view of the government and comply with the terms they define as appropriate speech.
Through an organized effort to "Resist!" the Trump administration, a newly formed group, Indivisible, has mobilized protesters to disrupt town hall meetings, to "demand" a meeting at their congressional member's office, and to attend public events with the directive: "Don't let them get photo-ops without questions about racism, authoritarianism and corruption."
While evoking the tea party, which began in 2009 in response to President Barack Obama's announced taxpayer-funded bailouts of risky mortgages and the massive "stimulus" program that even then-Tennessee Gov. and Democrat Phil Bredesen criticized, Indivisible is no tea party.
Its 26-page organizational document certainly reveals an agenda that is not about speech or issue discourse but includes advice to participating immigrants and non-citizens. Here are excerpts verbatim from the directive:
- "We do not yet know how Trump supporters will respond to organized shows of opposition, but we have seen enough to be very concerned that minorities will be targeted or singled out."
- "Members of your group who enjoy more privilege should think carefully about how they can ensure that they are using their privilege to support other members of the group."
- "If you are concerned about potential law enforcement intimidation, consider downloading your state's version of the ACLU Mobile Justice app to ensure that any intimidating behavior is captured on film."
- "Don't give up the mic until you're satisfied with the answer. If you've asked a hostile question, a staffer will often try to limit your ability to follow up by taking the microphone back immediately after you finish speaking. They can't do that if you keep a firm hold on the mic."
- "Be prepared to interrupt and insist on your right to be heard."
The tea party's origins based on excessive taxation, malignant government spending and a demand for an accountable, limited government are no comparison to the demands of the Democrats' new face, Indivisible. Its disruptive protests call for open borders, the perpetuation of Obamacare that Aetna's CEO termed "getting worse" and "in a death spiral," and have featured shameful hysterics about a 90-day moratorium of immigrant travel from seven nations Obama identified as risks to our national security.
Americans are watching. The are seeing - again - the reasons they voted for Trump validated.
Robin Smith, a former chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party, owns Rivers Edge Alliance.