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Editorial

June 20, 2018 By whvoice

Progressive Credo in action

Agree or disagree with the conclusions of Inspector General Michael Horowitz’ report on the Clinton email scandal, there is one thing the report does highlight: the elitism and hubris of those who think themselves the Progressive establishment. There is no doubt that at the top of the Justice Dept. and the FBI considered themselves part of the vanguard of Progressives that would lead the nation into a new Enlightenment, begun by Barack Hussein Obama and continued by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It is a tale that explains Progressivism and the Left Wing establishment that has oozed its way into the body politic for more than a century.

Progressivism, at least in its current form harkens back to the turn of the 20th Century, and coming to the fore just prior to the United States’ involvement in World War I. It espoused a government of educated and elite experts, who would guide the nation into efficiency and prosperity by making decisions for the citizenry.

Considered too backward or too uneducated, or too involved in making a living for their families, the educated elites would bear the burden of responsibility becoming a benign force for good.

The problem with this and any similar philosophy is it fails to take into account the fact that, human nature being what it is, two things could happen: benignity becomes callousness, and concern for the “underling” becomes entitlement.

Looking at the emails and text messages sent not only by Peter Strozk and Lisa Paige, but those designated at Attorneys 1 and 4 in the report indicate that there was nothing benign in their regard for their fellow citizens. Those, who did not see the world as they, were quickly shuffled off as not worthy of their regard. They were seen as backward and uneducated. Their fellow citizens disgusted them: Trump voters were “all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS (use your imagination) that think he will magically grant them jobs for doing nothing.”

The report shows a ruling class that believes itself entitled, above the norms of society, and above the law. The goal of making the nation follow their lead is more important than societal norms, and, certainly, more important that following the same laws as the great unwashed.

This report, taken in a wider context, is exactly the way the entertainment industry, the political classes, and those in academe see the nation as a whole. One need only look at the way the media, entertainment and academe treat President Donald Trump, Trump voters, and the mass of people that live west of the Hudson River and East of the Sierra Madres.

Trump was elected because of and in spite of the entitled groups of people who have morphed the Divine Right of Kings into the Divine Right of the Elites – though most would eschew the idea of any divinity.

These same elites are – somewhat successfully – breaking down the bedrocks of society with neo-bourgeois ideas of family, sex and gender, marriage and a myriad of other things. When opposed they react not as educated, responsible citizens, but as angry children, looking to shut down debate and belittle their opponents. One need only look at the silliness on today’s college campuses to see this.

Reading the IG’s report is looking into the way the nation is separating into warring factions that have diametrically opposed world views, with little hope of coming to any agreement.

These factions are seen in our politics on a daily basis, with the Left becoming more and more violent and intractable. Indeed, the Progressivism of the early 1900s has become, like most movements, a third- or fourth-generation idea that craves the power but lacks the empathy needed to be effective leaders. Instead, it breeds a tyranny and intolerance.

The Inspector General’s report sought to recount and explain the failures of the leaders of the Justice Dept. and the FBI in investigating the crimes of Hillary Rodham Clinton when she violated Federal Law by having a private server. What it did was recount the hatred and intolerance of a ruling elite that was attempting to shield its hoped-for leader and its hoped-for policies, bypassing law and common decency in order to accomplish it.

The report is a look into the minds and hearts of those who see themselves as the entitled ruling class of the nation and the contempt with which they hold anyone who does not see the world, or the nation, as they do.

Agree or disagree with the conclusions of Inspector General Michael Horowitz’ report on the Clinton email scandal, there is one thing the report does highlight: the elitism and hubris of those who think themselves the Progressive establishment. There is no doubt that at the top of the Justice Dept. and the FBI considered themselves part of the vanguard of Progressives that would lead the nation into a new Enlightenment, begun by Barack Hussein Obama and continued by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It is a tale that explains Progressivism and the Left Wing establishment that has oozed its way into the body politic for more than a century.

Progressivism, at least in its current form harkens back to the turn of the 20th Century, and coming to the fore just prior to the United States’ involvement in World War I. It espoused a government of educated and elite experts, who would guide the nation into efficiency and prosperity by making decisions for the citizenry.

Considered too backward or too uneducated, or too involved in making a living for their families, the educated elites would bear the burden of responsibility becoming a benign force for good.

The problem with this and any similar philosophy is it fails to take into account the fact that, human nature being what it is, two things could happen: benignity becomes callousness, and concern for the “underling” becomes entitlement.

Looking at the emails and text messages sent not only by Peter Strozk and Lisa Paige, but those designated at Attorneys 1 and 4 in the report indicate that there was nothing benign in their regard for their fellow citizens. Those, who did not see the world as they, were quickly shuffled off as not worthy of their regard. They were seen as backward and uneducated. Their fellow citizens disgusted them: Trump voters were “all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS (use your imagination) that think he will magically grant them jobs for doing nothing.”

The report shows a ruling class that believes itself entitled, above the norms of society, and above the law. The goal of making the nation follow their lead is more important than societal norms, and, certainly, more important that following the same laws as the great unwashed.

This report, taken in a wider context, is exactly the way the entertainment industry, the political classes, and those in academe see the nation as a whole. One need only look at the way the media, entertainment and academe treat President Donald Trump, Trump voters, and the mass of people that live west of the Hudson River and East of the Sierra Madres.

Trump was elected because of and in spite of the entitled groups of people who have morphed the Divine Right of Kings into the Divine Right of the Elites – though most would eschew the idea of any divinity.

These same elites are – somewhat successfully – breaking down the bedrocks of society with neo-bourgeois ideas of family, sex and gender, marriage and a myriad of other things. When opposed they react not as educated, responsible citizens, but as angry children, looking to shut down debate and belittle their opponents. One need only look at the silliness on today’s college campuses to see this.

Reading the IG’s report is looking into the way the nation is separating into warring factions that have diametrically opposed world views, with little hope of coming to any agreement.

These factions are seen in our politics on a daily basis, with the Left becoming more and more violent and intractable. Indeed, the Progressivism of the early 1900s has become, like most movements, a third- or fourth-generation idea that craves the power but lacks the empathy needed to be effective leaders. Instead, it breeds a tyranny and intolerance.

The Inspector General’s report sought to recount and explain the failures of the leaders of the Justice Dept. and the FBI in investigating the crimes of Hillary Rodham Clinton when she violated Federal Law by having a private server. What it did was recount the hatred and intolerance of a ruling elite that was attempting to shield its hoped-for leader and its hoped-for policies, bypassing law and common decency in order to accomplish it.

The report is a look into the minds and hearts of those who see themselves as the entitled ruling class of the nation and the contempt with which they hold anyone who does not see the world, or the nation, as they do.

 

Filed Under: 062118, Editorials

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