Divisive Democrats, United by Hate

There isn't much room in today's Democratic Party for independent thought or moderate positions. Whether it's about the right of a fetus to live versus the right of a woman to choose, the inherent rights of American citizens versus the perceived rights of illegal aliens, or religious freedom and traditional values versus another new category of people seeking special protection, Democrats are of one mind. They all stand together on the far left, a place where dissent is never tolerated. Like clichéd characters in a science fiction movie, they appear to be individual organisms, but their minds seem to be linked to some enormous, pulsating brain deep within the bowels of the Democratic National Committee. Nothing unites Democrats more than their loathing of one man and their disdain for the American voters who elected him. Donald Trump has succeeded in undoing much of the legacy left us by his leftist predecessor. And he's not done undoing. So it's easy to understand how the Democrats' boundless love for Barack Obama would translate into mindless hatred for Donald Trump.

They call it "political opposition," but the nonstop venom spewing from liberal politicians and the media, Hollywood, and academia represents something much more dangerous to our republic than healthy political opposition. One of the more recent examples came from Barry Bluestone, a Northeastern University professor, who said of Trump during a public lecture, "Sometimes, I want to just see him impeached. Other times, quite honestly ... I wouldn't mind seeing him dead." After his remarks made national news, he apologized, while explaining that "This president has created such deep division in the country." Blinded by their own hatred, liberals can't see that they, not Donald Trump, are responsible for the deep division in the country. Whatever Trump's flaws, those things that he stands for were never considered divisive in the past. Republicans and Democrats alike once stood together for personal responsibility, religious freedom, national pride, border security, and prosperity for all. And they all stood for the National Anthem. The emotional divide in this country – the polarization of America – long predates Trump and was seriously aggravated during Obama's administration, something that, many would argue, was deliberate and calculated for political reasons. After all, the writings of another leftist community organizer, Saul Alinsky, were well known to Barack Obama. The 13th of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals is "Pick the target. Freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Even those who dismiss the Obama-Alinsky connection instinctively know that America's divide expanded dramatically during the Obama administration. A Gallup Poll conducted at the end of Obama's term confirms that fact, showing that a record-high 77 percent of Americans that year viewed the country as divided. That growing divide during the Obama years is graphically depicted in a chart published by Gallup in November 2016. Immediately after Trump's election, apoplectic Obama loyalists embarked on an odyssey of opposition, a pilgrimage of protest, and they still haven't come back. They fully understand that if this president fails, the country fails, but that doesn't seem to bother them. They are determined to oversee his downfall. Their dour demeanor and deadpan expressions throughout Trump's State of the Union address last month showed that their contempt today is just as intense as it was during his inauguration. When Trump referenced the more than two million new jobs created and rising wages, he drew not a hint of approval from Democrats. When he addressed our national security and the threat from North Korea, Democrats showed no signs of support then, nor when he talked about restoring the bonds of trust between our citizens and their government. Even when he took a moment to recognize those American victims of illegal alien gangs and talked about pride in our national anthem, the catatonic response from Democrats showed that their hatred of the president is more intense than any affinity they might have had for those values that made American great. It also offered a glimpse into their plans for the future – blind opposition to the president and continued division for the country. Peter Lemiska is a military veteran and retired senior special agent of the U.S. Secret Service. His opinion pieces regularly appear on renewamerica.com and other conservative sites.