Letter: The Ill Effects of Progressive Policies

I feel compelled to respond, in a fact-based manner, to the several progressive positions I have recently seen parroted online and in print. What I have seen is based on feelings and has little tie to the facts.

First, regarding the No Kings rally: This whole concept is a fraud based on a deliberate distortion of historical precedent, and more importantly on hatred of our current president. By fraud, I mean he in no way resembles a King. He won the popular vote. He won the Electoral College vote. He won all the swing state votes, not just enough to get by. Almost all of his actions were promised in pre-election campaign speeches. When courts have stayed him, he has cooperated and then worked through the legal system.

Unlike almost all previous presidents, he speaks to the public on a regular basis, practically every day, and as such, he has been the most transparent president in our history.

This is not how kings behave. So based on these facts and behaviors, he is not a king and has no aspirations to be king. Actually, based on this information, it makes the No Kings rallies look more like ANTI-DEMOCRATIC rallies. 

The arguments made by the No Kingsters stated that power was vested in the people to be exercised directly by them. The election fulfilled the first part, and the second part couldn’t be more wrong. Power is not exercised directly by the people. That would lead to total chaos. Because of how the president is acceding to the courts, he is absolutely behaving the way our forefathers had both planned and hoped. 

In the No Kings rallies, these facts are obfuscated, completely ignored, or worse, many protesters don’t even know why they are there. When asked, some common answers for being out there are: I don’t know, we are being paid, or he is just a bad man. And the No Kings movement now includes the American Communist Party.

The second fallacious progressive position is the vague statement that, “We support immigrants who have come here for a better life.” At best, this is purposeful clouding of both the law and common sense. By this I mean that for 250 years, we have had laws regarding who is welcome here and how they enter the country. These laws were written by both major parties and signed into law by presidents from both major parties. 

Presidents who have spoken in strong support of these laws have included B. Obama, G. Bush, W. Clinton, and G.W. Bush. Every law and every president has argued that there is a legal way to enter. There are requirements to advance to citizenship. There are mechanisms to remove violators. You can be sent back for violating any of our laws. Coming illegally comes to mind here.

There are several reasons for these rules.

One, to welcome immigrants at a rate they can be assimilated. We are currently watching the middle stages of societal collapse in Europe as a result of uncontrolled immigration. There is nothing in history which says we must commit societal suicide to help others.

Two, the laws are set up to prevent unstable, violent, anarchistic, or hostile people from entering. This includes people who come into our country illegally.

 Three, immigrant status (legal) offers exactly what all original settlers were offered: THE RIGHT TO TRY. It offers no other entitlements. This offer also includes the right to fail and try again. It does not offer, nor in any way promise, an equal outcome. Even if you come here legally, you do not have a safety net or any entitled results.

Four, to be welcomed into this country, one was expected to contribute to its growth, not live off it.

And five, an illegal immigrant is a person who has already (metaphorically) broken into our yard (burgled their way in) and just hasn’t gotten to your house yet. Their illegal arrival grants them immediate criminal status.

In conclusion on these topics, I believe we are being purposely led astray. Our current president is following both the law and its intent more carefully than any of his predecessors in my lifetime. I believe we are on the verge of an era of peace that will exceed the Pax Americana period following World War II. 

I also believe that by recreating a constructive economy instead of a simply service economy, we will have decades of prosperity. 

All of this being said, it is up to us not to throw it all away. Lack of assimilation, cloistered communities, failing schools with progressive curriculums, the introduction of secondary legal systems, and weak, selective enforcement of our laws will take us down the same road that Europe is traveling right now. This would be tantamount to a suicide pact. It will lead to a collapse of our society, chaos in the streets, and potentially, a shortcut back to the dark ages. The ill effects of progressive policies are on display in our cities right now.

Sincerely,

Joseph Shortino

Owego, New York