There's a unified approach of Democrats to politics and government of late that consistently falls perpendicular to their calls for civility in the public square and compromise in governance. You've seen the terms, "resistance" or "resist," as the ironic call to action from the left.
One of the beauties of America is free speech. So, carry on, political left. But I offer a few observations for those of the center-right.
Easily said, but difficult to do, one must not engage with the same mindset of an individual or a group whose tactic is #Resist. While Democrats have made one of their sacred texts Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" to isolate, personalize, marginalize, criticize and ostracize their opposition, I'd suggest applying the wisdom of child psychologist and Christian author Dr. James Dobson, who wrote and published a revision of "The Strong-Willed Child."
Robin SmithIn a monthly column written to address dealing with children who "crave respect for their right to self-determination" and behave in their "nothing-gonna-get-in-my-way" manner to achieve their goals, Dobson stressed respectful communication but was candid.
"Sometimes it's crushing. Their defiance can be so relentless, it's exhausting. So disrespectful, it's infuriating. So reckless, it's worrying. So entrenched, positive change seems hopeless," he summed up. Yet, the strong-willed child persists.
What are the parallels between America's political left and a strong-willed child? During the 2016 presidential election, it was an imperative that the results of the election be honored and respected, said everyone, when then-candidate Donald Trump offered a less-than-convincing response in a debate about accepting the election outcome.
Then, the Democrats lost, and it seemed, at that moment and to this day, their job to prove American voters wrong. First by women marching in protest while wearing pink caps, then by hijacking town hall meetings of elected official to shout down their political opponents. Name-calling, using terms such as "racist," "bigot," "nativist" and "deplorables," are terms used to stop dialogue now.
Then, just last week, 45.6 million viewers watched the State of the Union address to see Democrats, scowl and remain seated in protest as President Trump spoke of historical positive gains in the job market, tax cuts, ISIS being reduced to a militia in Syria and Iraq, and the offer of an immigration deal that would secure the Southern border while providing a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million immigrant children brought to America by parents in the country illegally.
And who wants civility and compromise?
So, folks on the center-right, take Dobson's advice to be respectful while watching the defiant, disrespectful behavior; but restrain your response.
"Even though a child pushes you to the limit, frustrating and angering you to the point of exasperation," he wrote, "you will nevertheless pay a price for overreacting" because it's about control, not the best outcome of a debate or collaborating on a positive result.
Those who live their political lives on the center-right are witnessing the positive change due to sound policy. It does matter who governs. While working to win hearts and minds for the purpose of winning elections, it's important to see the truth in Lady Margaret Thatcher's words: "I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."
The resistance of the left looks a lot like a tantrum, not civic engagement.
Robin Smith, a former chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party, owns Rivers Edge Alliance.