By Andrew Klavan -
Every war is two wars, a war of ideas and a war for terrain. The war of ideas is won by argument and demonstrations of good will. The war for terrain is won by brute force.
Democracy is not supposed to be a war. It’s supposed to be all ideas all the time. You make your case. I make mine. Maybe we find compromises. The voters decide.
But for the past I-don’t-know-how-many years, one side, the left, has also been fighting a war for terrain. We on the right have been deploying our ideas, trusting in our institutions and assenting to the process. But they on the left have been using pure, brute force in an attempt to take over the intellectual terrain on which ideas are discussed.
Universities, the news media, entertainment outlets, social media — all have fallen to the pressure, blacklisting, and occasional violence of the Left. Rioters and hecklers keep conservatives off campus. The news and entertainment media blacklist conservatives, and small numbers of “boycotters” puff themselves up like adders and scare off conservative sponsors. People are fired — lose the means to support themselves and their families — for such crimes as believing that there are two genders or supporting Donald Trump. ….
…. This is what Donald Trump understands that too many conservative intellectuals miss. The belligerent and obstreperous Trump was called to the presidency by voters who know that, while the war of ideas can and should be waged politely by American friends, a war for terrain is a much uglier business.
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