An Open Letter to Democrats...
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WSJ.com Opinion Journal
from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Editorial Page
opinionjournal.com
An Open Letter to Democrats...
This time, you've gone too far.
BY DENNIS PRAGER
Thursday, November 30, 2000 12:01 a.m. EST
You finally made a big mistake.
You probably never thought you would live to see middle America and mainstream
Republicans galvanized to resist your ongoing takeover of America. But like other
power-hungry groups in history, you didn't know when to hold back. Your party and its
standard bearer, Al Gore, have attempted to thwart an election not in the quiet of the night
(as in 1960) but in daylight, before the cameras of the world. And finally we have begun to
resist.
Most of us have never attended a political demonstration. Most of us are not particularly
political, preferring work, family, sports, and communal associations to political activism. But
now we are angry. By golly, even Bob Dole is angry. Republicans are actually organizing
demonstrations. Such activism is so rare that "conservative activist" is an oxymoron. But for
the time being you have changed that. Call it the Chad Revolt.
In fact, it is thanks to your changing ballot-counting rules, your emphasis on hand counts in
only those Florida districts you dominate, your invalidation of military ballots, your sending
of Jesse Jackson to rouse race-based anger and of Alan Dershowitz to smear Florida
Secretary of State Katherine Harris, that many of us have decided, finally, to fight back.
We have watched in silence as you have undermined our children's schools, taking more and
more money to pay for union members who teach our children less and less. We have
watched in silence as you have taken over our once-great universities, as you have
substituted political correctness for pursuit of truth. We have watched radical students in
university after university shout down the few conservatives ever invited to speak on
campus--while liberal college presidents and deans defend this censorship of speech.
We have watched in silence as the fires of racial hatred and anger have been repeatedly
stoked by "civil rights leaders" such as Al Sharpton and Kweisi Mfume. Most recently we saw
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People run an ad on American
television associating George W. Bush with the lynching of James Byrd. This ad was perhaps
the most venomous political ad ever shown on American television, yet no liberal or
Democrat offered a condemnation.
We have watched in silence as organization after organization has been taken over by
liberal and Democratic activists--from the American Bar Association, to the League of
Women Voters, to the American Library Association, to the American Psychological
Association, and on to virtually every academic association. We have watched in silence as
you attempt to destroy the Boy Scouts, one of the only groups helping boys, especially
inner-city boys who have no other constructive outlet for their energies.
We have watched in silence as you have made war on the "masculinist" culture of the
military, leaving a demoralized and less effective military in the wake of your social
experimentation.
We have watched in silence as you've taken over children's courts and the ranks of social
workers. Many of these people believe that children are better off with no parents than
with parents of a different race. They believe that children should almost always be given
back to blood-related parents, even those who horribly abuse them.
We have watched in silence as trial lawyers take over more and more of American life,
leaving citizens prey to lawsuits they cannot defend themselves against. We watch them
dominate the Democratic Party, and we watch them become judges who substitute their
wills for the democratic process.
We have watched in silence as the White House and its sacred rooms have been put up for
sale to Democratic party donors and Hollywood stars, as the presidency has been degraded
to the point where young people could ask the president of the U.S. on national television
what type of underpants he wears. We watched Bill Clinton respond to that question.
Likewise, we watched Mr. Gore attempt to demonstrate to the nation that a prolonged and
probing kiss before a large national audience somehow dignifies the office of president.
We have watched in silence as the leading news media have become indistinguishable from
liberal spokespeople, to the extent that NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw actually said "we are
ahead" when speaking about Democratic electoral gains on election night.
We have watched in silence as the Democratic Party has relied on fomenting anger among
Americans for its victories. The more that blacks are angry at whites, the more they vote
Democrat. The more that Jews fear Christians, the more they vote Democrat. And the more
women distrust men, the more they vote Democrat.
Given all this silence in the face of your attempt to control America, it is no wonder you
thought you could litigate your way to the presidency. And maybe you could. But lo and
behold the rest of us are beginning to fight. Not enough yet to take back the schools or the
courts or the professional organizations or the news media. But enough to let you know
that we are out here. Yes, that large block of America between New York and California
that in your hearts you believe to be racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, homophobic and
misogynist, is fighting back. You think that way because, in your arrogance, you confuse
liberal with decent. But tens of millions of us have a different view of liberal--as increasingly
nihilist.
And now, thanks to Mr. Gore not having the decency to do what Richard Nixon did 40 years
ago, much of America might still find you frightening, but they no longer find you
intimidating.
Thankfully for America, you made a big mistake.
Mr. Prager hosts a national daily radio show based in Los Angeles and is a director of
Empower America. He is author of "Happiness Is a Serious Problem" (HarperCollins, 1998).
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