Is truth the common ground?

Truth is not always a pleasant thing, as George C. Scott memorably said in Doctor Strangelove. But it has a staying power few concepts have. Now we see truth splitting the American political left into two opposing camps. One continues, almost slavishly, to follow the depopulation, deindustrialization, and de-civilization program of the World Economic Forum. They do this, even though most of them never make the connection. (The almost is advisable; some WEF followers are so misanthropic that, if that program didn’t exist, they’d invent it themselves.) But the other camp has begun to break away from this program. Though they give different reasons – on the surface – they share a common deep reason. In plain monosyllables, it is: “We did not sign on for this!” What they didn’t sign on for, is a twisting or outright denial of the truth. Now that they realize that, conservatives, who know the truth, have an opening to share it and make common ground.

When they realize the truth

Laura Hollis, at Creators Syndicate, yesterday released her own pointed observations. She began to notice dissension in the ranks of the leftist who now dominate so many American institutions. These are, in the order she named them, “the media, the entertainment industry, Silicon Valley, academia and the medical profession.” And what she notices is, not that conservatives are gaining strength – but that leftists are saying, “Wait a minute!”

As in, “Wait a minute! What happened to freedom of speech?” Or, “Wait a minute! Since when do we trust the FBI, the CIA, and all that spooky alphabet soup?” Then we have, “Wait a minute! You’re going to expel this person for that?” They remember, perhaps, that their fathers and their older brothers once demonstrated, often violently, against the “Alphabet Soup Agencies,” especially the FBI. And when they risked expulsion from elite universities with their protests, and sometimes demanded reinstatement.

Such people seem to have realized an unpleasant but vital truth. And the truth is that the left has become the monster it once said it opposed.

Perhaps this shouldn’t be so surprising. Whenever any political movement becomes tyrannical in its aims or especially its practices, members of that movement will balk. People criticized Stanley Milgram for showing how most people will go along with torture “for a good cause.” They forget that he also found out how many people balk, and when they’ll balk. The pesky truth is now producing balkers.

Examples

Laura Hollis explicitly identifies the cause of such balking: “a commitment to truth.” More to the point, she named names that by now should be familiar to regular readers. Matt Taibbi, Mike Shellenberger, and Bari Weiss make her honor roll. So does Glenn Greenwald, whom CNAV first mentioned shortly after Edward Snowden became a household name. In fact, even before Greenwald had a dust-up at The Intercept (which he founded!), he crossed David Gregory, then the host of Meet the (De)Press(ed). This happened after Edward Snowden revealed how the American government spies on its people, then fled to Russia. Gregory and Greenwald discussed his case – and then Gregory suggested Greenwald should face prosecution. Greenwald took to Twitter in protest, then might have deleted his tweet afterward. But many, many others picked it up. Here is one example:

That, obviously, was Greenwald’s first moment of truth.

Readers will remember Taibbi, Shellenberger, and Weiss from The Twitter Files. Taibbi and Shellenberger testified before the Weaponization Subcommittee on this very subject. Incredibly, Del. Stacy Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands) called both men “direct threats to all who disagree with them.” To paraphrase Jack Nicholson, some people can’t handle the truth.

Matt Taibbi continues to catch flak from his former associates on the Left. Today it got ridiculous, as this tweet shows.

Jonathan Field had accused Matt Taibbi of being soft on Donald Trump, in reply to this thread:

Other examples – including two whom Hollis did not name

Laura Hollis also named Naomi Wolf – who famously apologized to conservatives for falling for the January 6 Narrative. (And got the same bitter reception Messrs. Taibbi and Shellenberger and Ms. Weiss have gotten.) Hollis also named two U.S. Representatives and one Senator who at least left the Democratic Party. But she didn’t name the Party switcher who recently voted to override a governor’s veto of a new abortion law.

Nor did she name one person who left the medical establishment long before Robert Malone would do the same. That person is Joseph R. Mercola, D.O. He is not a conservative, either – but he never was a typical liberal. He believes in evolution – but also believes the best foods, drugs, and methods have stood the test of (deep) time. Modern Big Pharma medicine, he regards as anathema and abomination. Mercola dissented from support of Obamacare, too. Not because he was a friend of economic liberty or free enterprise – but because Obamacare would fund the same-old, same-old drugs and treatments that, he says, have never worked and can never work. When the Vaccine Regime took hold, Mercola dissented again – and then had to “burn” twenty-five years of his content.

One can now find him on Substack, under the name “TakeControl,” available as a private subscription. Two days ago he openly told his subscribers to move out of big cities. Michael Shellenberger could scarcely argue with him.

Truth will out

Then we have Earth Day, and the stark contrast between the changes with which we can likely credit it, and its actual goals. Pollution was a very serious problem on April 22, 1970 – the first Earth Day; that is the truth. But those who insist that nothing short of depopulation, deindustrialization, and de-civilization will serve, are not telling the truth. Many who embraced environmentalism, now balk when they realize that the movement leaders have little regard for the truth.

Some concepts, like anti-war, seem to have switched sides. About sixty years ago, anti-war was a leftist concept. Many – including some of the strongest proponents of the concept – associated it with communism. Now look at the politics of war today! Today the left promotes war, and the right casts a skeptical eye on it.

This is how truth can become a common ground. Those who embrace the tyrants – or think the Big Tyrants will let them become Little Tyrants – those, one can’t reach.

What we’ve got here, is failure to communicate! Some men you just can’t reach! Actor Strother Martin, as Road-gang Captain, in Cool Hand Luke (1967)

But those who have a genuine concern, particularly for service – those, one can reach with the truth. They show that when they realize themselves where the truth lies – and who serves it, and who doesn’t. Several former members of the Left have seen the truth. With them, conservatives can find common ground. That ground might not (yet) be complete, but it does exist.