Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

(Brunette again.) The fog of war—largely an information war—will eventually clear. We’ve been in the thick of it for some time now. The long dominant left-leaning media has everyone’s heads spinning with more Russia hysteria, spurious rumors based on anonymous sources, breathless speculations about who’s in or out (or at each other’s throats) in the White House, and stern clucking over Trump’s &ldqou;Fake News!” tweets, or his latest &ldqou;typo.” Covfefe was downright hilarious.

Perceptive readers might have already intuited that this is a follow-up to my last post, &ldqou;Trump: Touchstone, or Rorschach Test?” (I recommend reading that first, though this post will necessarily echo a few of the same points) in which I point out that people have revealing reactions to Trump. Either people love/trust him or they hate/fear him, to varying degrees—there doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground. Initially he may appear to be a polarizing figure, but I suspect that as time goes on he’ll prove to have a more prismatic affect—simultaneously bringing out the true and magnificent spectrum of colors (i.e., diversity) that America represents, and returning that spectrum to a more pristine light of unity.

Without diversity, American society as we’ve known it would feel bland and colorless. What we’ve been seeing lately, however—a compulsive, reckless, and contentious focus on ethnic and racial diversity particularly from restless youth—threatens to destroy our sense of unity as a country and as a culture. Let’s regain a sense of balance, please; remember that intellectual diversity is essential to a civilized society … and stifling it is extremely dangerous; if the marketplace of ideas isn’t free, then none of us are.

A brief interruption: I can’t post this today without at least quickly addressing the terrible news of the Virginia shootings in which Rep. Steve Scalise and four other individuals were shot. The shooter, James Hodgkinson, described as a 66 year old Trump-hating Bernie supporter, died from his wounds. It was apparently his goal to ‘kill as many Republican members as possible‘—thank goodness no one was killed; it seems almost miraculous more were not injured.

The story strangely reminds me of Carl Drega, about whom Vin has written in the past—only worse; bad as Drega’s actions were, despite the fact he was hardly a sympathetic character, his frustration was perhaps somewhat understandable. To anyone, that is, capable of trying to comprehend Drega’s point of view: Vin’s taken flack from some on the left over the years for doing just that. So now, the left has its VERY OWN Carl Drega-esque character—times 10. (They must be so proud. After all, &ldqou;the man’s not evil, just tired of the politics.” (WHAT?) One thing I guess I can say for Hillary, is that lately all the rabidly violent types seem to be Bernie supporters. (Hmm.)

Symbolically, I find it interesting that Philadelphia (according to /pol/news forever) as &ldqou;a shout-out to LGBTI people of color” (hey, where’d the Q go?) just added two new colors to their Pride flag: Black and brown, see tweet here. It doesn’t take an expert to grasp that adding brown and/or black to rainbow colors achieves two things: 1) it turns colors muddy or grey; 2) obliterates the original form of light from which the rainbow colors spring. Like it or not, those are just facts of light.

But back to the media circus … it’s been quite a hoot to watch media celebrities (from a safe distance, that is) tripping over each other to see who can make the biggest fools of themselves and/or make their networks irrelevant most quickly. We don’t even own a TV … all I need to do is follow the headlines, and check out an occasional YouTube clip. It’s enough to put a mischievous twinkle in my eyes, like seeing the neighborhood bully tumble off his bicycle into a mud puddle (this, on an EPIC scale). If that sounds mean, I take no delight in the suffering of others but the bully DOES … seeing him taken down a peg through his own doing, that’s fine by me. I’d still want to help him if—aside from his dignity—he were injured, of course.

Scum had been rising to the top of our institutions—political, educational, judicial, media—for so long, that it’s long appeared we’ve been living in some sort of dark fairy tale. Depression and demoralization cast a heavy pall over many of us … I’ve felt it too; but not to the extent that world destruction feels somehow preferable to plodding along any longer. I, at least, felt it was better to pray for a Trump win than an asteroid strike or meteor, and now (along with Trump in the wake of the Comey hearing) I feel vindicated. More so than I’d expected possible; more than anything Trump renewed my faith in a loving God—I’ll admit it had all but sputtered out, and I’d feel a lot differently had Hillary won. Trump sent a strong signal that the spiritual war was not lost, a signal many people sorely needed. (Again, see my previous post if you haven’t.)

Every morning since the election for me has felt a bit like being a kid on Christmas, with all the starry-eyed wonder of pulling delightful surprises from the stocking, along with an occasional lump of coal. It must feel the opposite for leftists, so used to having cultural dominance for decades, to suddenly find themselves waking up every day feeling as if it’s the first day back to school after summer vacation. In a real sense, that’s probably true … but despite their professed love for education, they’re obviously pretty unhappy about the kind of education they’re getting from Trump and the vast swath of America that elected him.

OK, so I’m not proud of myself—a bit embarrassed, actually—to find myself feeling elated. After years of despair and disgust with the political system, its attendant hogs-at-the-trough mentality, and denizens of those deep blue dens of iniquity lording it over the rest of us, maybe I finally comprehend how they’ve felt all along—it’s an unhealthy sort of high, a sense of having the upper hand. Hardly an admirable emotion, but perhaps it’s an understandable reflex to have a good laugh at the mud covered bully first, and THEN make sure he’s alright. Then laugh some more as he trundles off grumpily, with any luck leaving a bit of his brutishness behind in the mud.

However, having perceived that it’s a harmful high, that’s a sobering realization. No wonder so many on the left seem to have lost their minds; they’ve been addicted for decades and are now unexpectedly compelled to go through withdrawal. Let’s cut them a little slack, and avoid making the same mistake ourselves. (Perhaps those who’ve gloated over us for SO long can try to be good sports about it, and cut conservative types a little slack for indulging in a modicum of gloating? In the end, it wasn’t &ldqou;HER turn,” at all. LOL. And thank God.)

It’s disturbing to hear threatening rumblings of civil war, violent conflict, economic and/or social collapse. Very few Americans want those things, and I don’t think the relative few who do have the power to cause such calamities. What they may have, to some extent, is the ability to manipulate our thinking—and, to the extent that we allow ourselves to be manipulated, goad us into carrying out their destructive agendas and fulfill their nefarious plans. The overwhelming majority of Americans, left or right, are decent and well meaning people who are largely capable of self governance. Both sides should look skeptically at any elements within their ranks that advocate aggressive violence. Never with the aim of silencing them, as freedom of speech is paramount—but calling them out when it’s necessary and shunning them wherever appropriate.

Just as the LGBT movement (which has unfortunately attracted the interest of pedophiles—who’d like to shelter under their hard-won umbrella of popular support) should be wary of being too welcoming and protective by embracing &ldqou;child lovers” to whom children are chosen sexual partners. How can a child between 6 months and puberty really give sexual consent? (See the recent appalling case of De Blasio staffer Jacob Schwartz, for example.) People on both sides of the political spectrum ought to be wary of dodgy associations with opportunists bringing beastly agendas of their own that will turn and bite the hands that fed and defended them, whether they be Antifa, white nationalists, or whomever.

For anyone out there that supposes I’m now on board with government tyranny because I admire Trump the man—and what he set out to accomplish — you’re missing my point, and even more sadly, you’re missing the marvelous picture unfolding before us. These are times to be savored and remembered, as the world swiftly changes before our very eyes — albeit in ways many unfortunately won’t perceive until it’s undeniably obvious. It’s a glorious time to be alive; they’re missing one heck of a show! 😀

I’ve never done well in an echo chamber, and have escaped from a number of them in the past … it usually means some friends won’t understand, and that’s too bad—but it is what it is. If I’ve gone off the reservation of acceptable thought, that shouldn’t be the case with the freedom loving tribe I ultimately prefer to belong to … free from hidebound ideologies and fixed ideas, rigid attitudes, and tired circular arguments. So if a few farewells are in order, I bid them fondly. Maybe we’ll meet again in the future, when things look a great deal different, as I am certain they will … here’s to brighter days ahead for us all.

Glad as I was that Trump won, it’s been watching him in action and getting a sense of what he’s made of—discovering that he’s the real deal, unless I’m sadly mistaken—that’s really been joyful. He’s spoken of the importance of ending human trafficking, and more importantly, he’s been doing plenty to STOP it. Yes, the twin problems of stopping pedophilia and child pornography are sticky questions … but those are problems that I expect Trump can manage more capably than anyone, without needlessly subjecting non-offenders to harassment or unduly invading our privacy. I do not see how we can ignore those issues and still remain a civilized society … do you?

Trump is also taking common sense stands on more mundane issues. Catherine Austin Fitts has talked of the need to address infrastructure, and the need for transparency in government—either Trump is listening to her, or he’s savvy and sensible enough to have reached similar conclusions on his own. Either way, I’m cheered. He’s also recently talked of intelligent college alternatives, such as apprenticeships and technical education. Young people learning valuable skills or trades—what an idea!—I mean, how many current college students are going to graduate with a mountain of debt, and find that their degrees in gender studies, or liberal arts, or what-have-you are practically worthless in the real consumer-driven world?

Like him or not, admit that at least Trump is a winner. Learn to relax and enjoy the show for the next eight years. Tune out the politics if it upsets you … don’t be the dog that furiously barked itself to death at that scary creature in the mirror. Just wag your tail happily, and go for a leisurely stroll among the flowers instead. The politics will still be here, but the world won’t be quite as dark as it once seemed.

Reprinted from Vin's blog