Rod Dreher (The American Conservative)
Do we have a single American politician capable of speaking words like that with such force, and such conviction? I can’t think of one. Giorgia Meloni has more balls than a Congress full of Republicans.
So-called liberals were abuzz this week over a 2019 speech by Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, because she defended “everything that defines us.” President Biden claimed democracy was under attack because Italians ELECTED a woman who’s proud of her “national identity, religious identity, gender identity, and family identity.” Poor Joe Biden. Meloni has awakened the politics of traditional identities.
Perhaps Biden was just reacting to Meloni’s attack upon anarcho-globalism, for which he’s guilty (see northern Mexico). But, as a political matter, he’s on the wrong side, because the left has long been the aggressor against majority-held western traditions, such as sovereign nations controlling their borders.
Forget the irony of calling Italy’s fairly elected prime minister proof of an anti-democracy movement, and think about the folks you know – the brother with a wife and kids, neighbors who go to church every week, a co-worker who coaches Little League, and the friend who has coffee with her aged dad every day – because those are the traditions Ms. Meloni defends. In one month, those folks will send Joe Biden a message.
Meloni’s “identity” defense is the cultural core of the MAGA movement (74 million voters in 2020) and the “America First” and “Families First” movements that turned out record numbers of GOP primary voters in 2022. Biden’s “big lie” (Republicans are “extreme”) does not square with the America defined by numerous polls and surveys:
- Family identity – AFS found 71% of Americans value being a parent, and 70% value being a spouse
- Gender identity – Pew Research found 60% of Americans believe sex is determined at birth, including 54% of college graduates
- Religious identity – Gallup found 81% of US adults believe in a god and 76% belong to an organized religion
- National identity – Harvard found 85% of Americans want “stronger borders” and NPR found 52% say the US is now “experiencing an invasion”
Those identities will soon decide who governs America, and suggest the true “anti-democracy” threat is the far-left of Biden’s own party, especially after 47 House Republicans voted this summer to legalize same-sex marriage (Respect for Marriage Act). I believe Dr. King would agree those 47 “aye” votes are evidence the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice. Still, the Squad insists they’re “tired of waiting” for Republicans to evolve.
A good American gets the impatience of people fighting for their civil rights AND the stickiness of people steeped in the traditions of nuclear families, going to church, and girls-only sports. An honest American sees that traditions are elastic AND change requires the majority to agree. A real leader knows some demand-filled minority cannot force the vote-filled majority into political capitulation. After a mid-term shellacking, the far-left will have only itself to blame.
Average Americans feel whipsawed by new rules enforced too fast and severely. Once America accepted gay marriage, Democrats made “trans rights” the progressive cause du jour. After Barack Obama was elected twice, Democrats hoisted critical race theory onto public grade schools. Anyone who dared to complain was called “deplorable” by Hillary Clinton and “semi-fascist” by Joe Biden. Then, something great happened: Republicans pushed back.
In 2021, the Virginia GOP ran a multi-racial ticket for statewide office with a “Families First” message – and won. In 2022, Florida’s Republican governor trumpeted the “America First” message by flying illegal migrants to sanctuary-city Martha’s Vineyard – and shot up in the polls. At the same time, Biden busied himself filling his deplorable basket with “semi-fascists” and talking to the dead – and sunk in the polls.
Right now, even the polls from CNN and MSNBC show voters – of every race and religion – running away from Biden and his party. And the reason is (drum roll, please) voters – of every race and religion – are steeped in traditions Democrats are not willing to defend. Open your window on Election Day. That sound you will hear is – – we’re tired of being shamed and we voted today!