Purely Political: Fear
by Jim Buckley
Putting Up with and Facing the Angry Party
In 1998, political newbie Chris Mitchum, son of the late Hollywood great Robert Mitchum, challenged Hannah-Beth Jackson for a seat in the State Assembly. Chris ran as a Republican and I supported and endorsed his campaign. Hannah-Beth won handily, with 53% of the vote against Chris’s 44.5%. The campaign itself was mild, compared to the kind of vitriol national candidates now regularly spew towards each other. Chris’s message was essentially, “Taxin’ Jackson has never seen a tax she wouldn’t vote for”; I forget what hers was.
Mitchum was right of course, Hannah-Beth voted for every new tax that came down the freeway and sponsored many tax resolutions of her own, including one that requires dry cleaners to charge the same price for men’s clothing as they do for women’s attire.
I had a “Mitchum for Assembly” sign in front of my house, and I believe to this day that Chris would have made a fine representative and maybe even gone on to run for the U.S. Senate. Nevertheless, the morning after the election, upon learning that Taxin’ Jackson had won, somebody dumped dozens of ripped up and bent “Mitchum for Assembly” signs in my driveway, as if to say, “Take that!”
He, she, or they, were also saying that by making “the wrong choice” for a candidate I had become a pariah, someone whose voice should be squelched. What was really being said was “When will you learn that you can’t support a candidate who isn’t a Democrat?”
Up until then, I had no idea that kind of animosity existed within the political class in this area.
But I know now.
Chris ran against Lois Capps for the 24th District U.S. Representative seat in 2014. He lost that race too, as the UCSB and SBCC vote overwhelmed any private support Chris may have garnered. The count was close; Ms. Capps garnered 103,228 votes (51.9%) to Mitchum’s 95,566 (48.1%). Without the votes of non-resident college students, Chris stood a very good chance of winning. It’s an election disparity that continues to plague the Santa Barbara area.
Here are/were Chris Mitchum’s 2014 campaign themes: Repeal Obamacare; Reduce the National Debt ($18 trillion at the time); Lower taxes; Reduce the “over-regulation” of the Economy and Secure the Southern Border.
“What a great place,” Chris said of the southern border with Mexico, “to employ troops returning home and mustering out of the military. An unsecure border is a major security threat. It is an infected wound in which fester crime, drugs, death, threat and illegal occupation of our country and jobs. Once the border is secure, we can address those who are already here illegally. Not before."
If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s something Donald Trump could have said, word for word. All five of the above five Mitchum issues are near the top of former President Donald Trump’s re-election agenda.
Taxing and Spending: “Whoopee!”
The now-super-majority California Democrats have passed so many tax-and-spend bills over the past two and a half decades that this state has been driven to penury. California has become an extremely unfriendly place for taxpayers and businesses to live and/or operate. And, the last three years have seen the same kind of anti-business, anti-taxpayer agenda play out on a national scale, which has led to our now $34 trillion national debt.
Plus, the Santa Barbara attitude that dumped those Mitchum signs on my driveway in 1998 have become the national norm.
Can’t Vote Republican
By favoring a Republican ticket, for example, you instantly make an enemy, or, at the very least, are “unfriended” by those on the other side of the political equation. Just as it was in the Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump race for president in 2016, there apparently is only one way to vote and that would be, naturally, for the Democrat candidate.
Nothing has changed.
By casting a ballot, or simply announcing you are inclined to vote for Trump, you are voting for “the end of our [Democrat-Party-controlled] democracy.” You are possibly putting into the White House someone who aspires to be a “dictator,” a Hitler. Trump’s quip to Sean Hannity during a FOX interview that he’d be a dictator “but only on day one. First, I want to close the Southern border and drill, baby, drill. After that, I won’t be a dictator,” has Democrat true-believers’ panties in a twist.
He was joking, of course, but they are not. It’s hard to fathom that the talking heads on mainstream media and particularly on MSNBC and CNN really believe what they say, but certainly many of their audience members and their acolytes do.
And, because of that, too many Republicans are cowed into staying silent on too many occasions.
Particularly Trump supporters.
For example: You can put a “DeSantis 2024,” “Christie 2024,” “Haley 2024” or even a “Williamson 2024” sticker on your car bumper without fear of retribution.
However.
Try pasting your support of President Trump on your bumper.
Odds are, someone will either deface it, or scratch your car’s exterior with their key if it’s parked. If you’re on the road, there’ll be quite a few low-IQ drivers who’ll indicate how low their IQ really is by raising one middle finger as they drive by.
You will also, by the way, receive honest support from many passers-by; they’ll either give you a thumbs up or a friendly horn beep.
But the low-IQ finger-thrusters are not friendly.
Not at all.
They are angry.
Angry that you dare to support Trump, a man who they portray as “worse than Hitler” (though I don’t believe Mr. Trump has marched an army into the Rhineland yet, nor caused World War III).
They are angry and evil.
Many of us who often find ourselves on the “wrong” side of the issues are accustomed to the spittle sent our way. But, when Republicans are cowed into not publicly showing their support, such as a bumper sticker or campaign sign on the front lawn, They’ve lost, and the other side has won.
I don’t believe there are many Republicans and/or Trump supporters who’d rip out lawn signs reading “Biden 2024” or even (gasp) “Biden/Harris 2024.”
Many Republicans are also afraid of publicly expressing an alternate opinion about: the transgender fad, illegal immigration, the chaos at the southern border, Drag Queen Story Hour, personal pronouns, etcetera.
Why?
Because their so-called friends and even neighbors will come down on them like rhinos at a salt lick…
•••
We’ll continue this conversation in next week’s column.
What's happened is that those on the extreme left have convinced themselves that the "other side" with poster child Trump, is so evil, that civil discourse MUST be set aside. It's a battle, with no rules, including rule of law, let alone civility. That's why we have witnessed the burning of our cities, mass demonstrations on the freeways, destruction of statues, and so forth. And when we balk, the others shout out, "Bigot," and we are silenced as our cities are destroyed. Then there's the assault on the individual. All I can say, see those people for what they are: Bullies. Basically, all bullies are themselves cowards. And who cares a hoot what a bully thinks of you, anyhow? Not I. Doesn't everyone here reading The Current have a plethora of folks who love and respect us? Why fret about a bully? I'd also like to add this one other: It's not "courageous" to stand up to the Woke. What is the risk, actually? The cost is far worse, your silence. Your invisibility. Courageous are those who gave their lives, shed blood, and risked everything, life and livelihood, for the values they hold dear, including our Constitution. PS Mr Buckley: I didn't know that about Hannah-Beth, that she authored the equity dry-cleaning bill. As a female, I am grateful for her one good deed. Too many times, I have filled out a hotel laundry sheet, grimaced at the difference between his shirt and my blouse: his being much more work-intensive to iron than a woman's. Once, I tried to trick a hotel when I checked the male shirt for my female. Nuts! They would have nothing to do with it. On that note, thank you for another thought-provoking commentary.
It is sad that we are in a position where we have been led to believe that we cannot have open dialogue without fury. Propaganda is a dangerous thing. It is incumbent upon those of us who remember being able to have intelligent conversations about religion, politics, etc. without love-loss to try to educate this generation on this skill. This is how we grow - as individuals, communities, and countries.