Remember the good ol’ days when your crazy uncle would rant about the government taking control at Thanksgiving dinner?
In 2016, the idea of an authoritarian presidency from Donald Trump scared the heck out of me. We were told how it was the beginning of the end. Despite stupid tweets, or ill-timed statements though, for the first time in my life I saw someone stand up for the principles of smaller government. For the first time I saw peace treaties in the Middle East rather than senseless foreign wars. We witnessed criminal justice reform with the “First Step Act” rather than locking up minorities for marijuana. We saw regulation cut back and it brought unprecedented growth in small business ownership as well as people leaving poverty to enter the middle class. Despite all these unprecedented accomplishments, Republicans campaigned on defense. Republican politicians across the country constantly assured their constituents they were “taking things just as seriously” or spent time informing voters how not racist they are.
After 2020, Uncle Phil seems more like a prophet than a van dwelling conspiracist. We witnessed Governors like Cuomo and Newsom single handedly shut down their states, forcing businesses into bankruptcy while they continued their lavish parties often at taxpayers’ expense. We saw our churches shut down, our schools closed and were told whose job was essential and whose wasn’t.
The greater problem perhaps isn’t the usurping of control by Democrat politicians but rather the implicit support of our Republican politicians. Movements like the tea party filled our House and Senate with elected representatives meant to preserve our freedom, people who campaigned on the promises of smaller government and standing up to the “system,” yet when we needed it most they were silent. In a time when people were craving liberty, craving someone to help them get back to work, the party of freedom spent a year campaigning on not being as bad as CNN claimed they were.
We missed an opportunity, and it cost us, we lost control of the presidency, and created a 50/50 split in the Senate while not being able to win the House back. At a time when Americans craved freedom and the accomplishments of the last four years they got the diet version of the side shutting down their way of life.
Right now, leadership in the Republican Party debates their new “identity crisis” going into 2022; will they go the way of Liz Cheney or the way of Thomas Massie? Will we choose the side of big government and regime change or will we embrace the freedom voters are yearning for? I can promise you this, if our president, House and Senate continue at this rate, 2022 and 2024 will bring a craving for liberty that we have never seen. The voters will now, more than ever, look for bold leadership, look for those willing to call out inaction on either side, and if Republicans want to win, they need to lean in rather than timidly manage polling data.