Conservative intellectuals talk and talk and publish essay after essay proclaiming that the current situation in America is perilous and that there exists a nearly unbridgeable divide between those in the radical wing of the Democratic Party (the “America-haters”) who believe America is irredeemably racist and the rest of us who love America despite its sins.
Yes, we should continue to talk (both to our side and to the many centrist, freedom-loving Democrats), but talk is no longer enough. Charlie Kirk‘s assassination affirms the futility of civil debate. We should know by now that civil debate is fruitless when your opponents want to criminalize debate or even kill you.
What are our options? 1. Publish more essays; 2. Take to the streets, which likely would lead to violence; or 3. Separate into two countries, as some have advised. For the time being, we can dismiss all three options out of hand. This leaves only peaceful protest rallies and vigils.
FOR A MOMENT, WE ALL LOVE MRS. AMERICA
Protest rallies and vigils would serve two broad purposes. First, to get national Republicans to wake up and start proposing solutions. So far, I am not encouraged because almost all Republicans seem to have gotten the significance of the Kirk assassination exactly backward. Its lesson is not, as most Republicans think, that we need more civil debate; rather, it is that civil discourse is only helpful up to a point. If you are not careful, civil debate can get you killed.
The second purpose, even more important, is to get Republicans at all levels of government to fight back against every plank in the America-haters’ platform: from socialism to education that teaches our children to hate their country to sex transitions without parental consent. The protest rallies and vigils must be focused on specific grievances. Otherwise, they will fall flat. The most important function for national Republicans, particularly as it relates to state and local matters, is rhetoric. A major element of leadership is changing public sentiment.
Although it is necessary that intellectuals continue to publish essays that explain the source, nature, and extent of our enemy, at the same time, our political leaders must explain the big picture in everyday language: America-haters, helped by the CCP, wish to destroy America, their justification being that white males are irredeemably racist. Indeed, if America is systemically racist, as the America-haters contend, then America should be destroyed. After all, who wants to live in, or die for, an irredeemably racist country? No one. The charge that America is irredeemably racist is effective because it plays on the white guilt of our elites.
Protest rallies and vigils are not easy to execute. Intellectuals are not community organizers, although they can find leaders, identify specific grievances, provide high-level planning, and make policy recommendations. Fortunately, there are any number of effective national and state and local policy organizations, many of which are relatively unknown, whom we would need to enlist.
Perhaps we start where many protests have started in the past: with students. They are passionate, have the time, and, during the school year, live together. More importantly, there are a number of organizations with nationwide student networks in place. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute and Kirk’s Turning Point USA are two high-profile examples. The massive attendance at the recent Turning Point rally in Utah, just two weeks after Kirk’s assassination there, suggests a strong appetite for this sort of thing. The goal would be to have student protests inflame the broader society. For this, we would need national student leaders.
Protest rallies and vigils would be relatively easy to finance. There are well-heeled conservatives who are primed to go, while everyday citizens could contribute through crowdfunding services.
My guess is we would have to enlist the president’s help, but this, of course, would be his call.
It is often said that the Right does not do protests very well. Fair enough, but if it does not protest this time, the country it loves may well be destroyed.
ERIKA KIRK AND THE WOMEN AMERICA NEEDS
Ironically, President Donald Trump’s success poses a risk. Republicans will have the tendency to sit back and wait for Trump to finish the job, but he cannot, not by a long shot. Our nearly unbridgeable divide cannot be narrowed only, or even primarily, by politicians and lawyers because the divide is primarily cultural, not political, nor legal. Further, were the Democrats to return to power, which they may well do in the midterm elections, the divide might even widen.
We must match the zeal of the America-haters, but without matching their violence. Now is the time for patriotic Americans to come to the aid of their country.
Tom Klingenstein is the Chairman of the Claremont Institute. He is also a philanthropist, public speaker, writer, and a playwright.
