Retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Allen West (Screenshot)

If there is one thing we must all admit to, it is that we are moving away from the rule of law and more towards mob rule. We saw this emerge recently with the Occupy Wall Street movement. It took an even more dangerous turn with the fomenting of racial tensions in the Ferguson, Missouri protests. And with the rise of the progressive, socialist-backed organization Black Lives Matter it became a cancer within our republic. When talking points, themes, and media-driven propaganda, such as “hands up don’t shoot” become more prevalent than our system of justice and law we are embarking down a perilous path.

The mob rule has now metastasized into an even worse cancer since the results of the November 2016 presidential election. When a presidential inauguration is marred by thuggish street gang violence and threats to those supporting a duly elected president, our American way of life is threatened. When we have violent protests on our college and university campuses to coerce and intimidate any opposing thought, our freedom of speech is no longer honored. The sad, but true, fact surrounding this growth of mob rule is that it is embraced and coddled by a complicit liberal, progressive media.

When groups like Antifa, which is supposed to be about anti-fascism, seek to shut down any speech or exchange of ideas with which they do not agree – this is very problematic. What is worse: we have members of Congress who are emboldening the rule of the mob with their open encouragement. Consider the Mullah-like fatwa issued by California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, seeming to openly encourage the verbal, and potentially physical, assaults of those working with the current presidential administration. And of course, we have seen the obedient response to that “dog whistle,” which was not covert at all. The ensuing result has been individuals assailed at restaurants and forced to leave and not be able to enjoy a meal with family and friends.

Have we devolved into such a deplorable state of existence that the inability to articulate viable policy solutions is being replaced by tactics that resemble the early SA, “Brown Shirts,” of National Socialist Germany? Why is it that we cannot have open, honest, and reasoned debate on the issues of our economy, taxation, regulations, foreign policy, or national security? Why is it that constitutional conservative organizations must meet in secret or have their headquarters protested? Why have we come to this point of open censorship of opposing thoughts, perspectives, and insights to the ideology of progressive socialism?

Ponder what we have witnessed in the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. At no time has the question been about his qualifications as a jurist, which are impeccable. The entire episode, as presented by the Democratic [Socialist] Party, has been about his acquiescing to their ideological agenda. And now we see just how far the mob will go to get their way. There can be no debate that we are witnessing, yet another, character assassination attempt by the mob of the progressive, socialist left. Remember Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas? And the left has employed the mob, along with a complicit leftist media, to enable their goals. How is it that the rule of law does not apply when it comes to baseless, thirty-five and thirty-six-year-old, uncorroborated accusations and allegations? Simple, because today, in our constitutional republic, the rule of law is being replaced by mob rule. The type of mob rule that aggressively confronts a U.S. Senator at an elevator, who sadly, cowers to the threats and intimidation.

Why was it that when GOP members of Congress were attacked by a leftist gunman while practicing baseball there was little condemnation from the progressive, socialist left? Matter of fact, one leftist commentator on MSNBC, Joy Reid, offered that Rep. Steve Scalise’s shooting could be justified due to his history and voting record. How often do we hear the demonization of those who do not surrender to the ideological agenda of the left, truly an attempt to dehumanize and make it easier for mob assault? When you hear leading members of the Democratic [Socialist] Party refer to Americans as “deplorables” or “dregs of society,” it is no wonder that the left has already demonized Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a sexual predator and a rapist – all with no proof or evidence.

How did we get to this place in America?

Here we are in a nation that did arise out of protest, revolution, but it was based upon fundamental principles, values and beliefs in individual freedoms and liberty. It was a revolution that sought to create a constitutional republic, based upon a rule of law, which today’s leftists believe is outdated, no longer relevant.

Instead, today our America is starting to resemble a different revolution, that one which occurred in 1789 when we were ratifying our rule of law, the French Revolution. As ours was based upon individual rights, unalienable, endowed by the Creator and establishing a rule of law, a republic, not a monarchy, the French revolution was all about the mob, and the ideological domination of folks like Robespierre. The American Revolution was about a different kind of transfer of power, from to the consent of the governed. The French Revolution was about a violent overthrow.

Perhaps if we went back to truly teaching history and civics we would not find ourselves in this position. Maybe if we restored a system of education instead of one of ideological indoctrination we would be able to have reasoned discussion and not the politics of personal destruction, coercion, intimidation, threats, and violence. Our children and grandchildren would be able to eagerly debate their ideas, instead of seeking a safe space or donning black hoods and shouting, “[N]o borders, no walls, no USA at all.”

In closing, ask yourself this question: why is it that the progressive, socialist left is so adamant about not losing control of the U.S. Supreme Court? The answer is not hard to surmise. They prefer to mandate their ideology, not legislate it. And it is very important that they control the Supreme Court because their ultimate mandate would be the rescinding and removal of the individual Second Amendment right. As history has proven, once the progressives, socialists, Marxists, statists, communists have disarmed the population, it is much easier for the mob to do their bidding.

Allen West is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. Mr. West is a Senior Fellow at the Media Research Center to support its mission to expose and neutralize liberal media bias and is author of the forthcoming book from Brown Books Publishing Group coming this fall, “Hold Texas, Hold the Nation: Victory or Death.”

DONATE