In this, the year of our Lord 2020, we have see fissures erupt, lines harden or relationships firm. The effects of lockdowns, media psy-ops and pressure reveals who is clear headed and who is an overgrown child. This is not hyperbole. We live in a society that uses superlatives too often, and we can see that with many people calling this the worst year ever. Many others move on, adjust and wonder why so many others cannot. This year is not a hinge year as much as it may end up being a great bifurcation. This year is a filter.
The political tribes of blue and red that first came to the fore with the 2000 election had a little aid in 2001 when blue state John Walker Lindh was a Taliban fighter being held at the military prison that had a riot ending in the death of red state Johnny Spann the CIA soldier. It was a nice contrast in an imperial foray that framed the political division at home. Those divisions are a bit starker now as California is far bluer and Alabama is redder than in 2000. The tribes cannot have any shared policies, and even when a policy or idea is promoted by one side (no matter how small), the instinct is for the other side to automatically oppose it.
It is not just policy but behavior and culture. The lockdowns and masks are a prime example of it. Opening up in any form or not locking down became a right wing thing. Locking down, no matter how useless it was shown nor how far from the original intent of flattening a curve, became a virtuous policy for saving lives for the Left. Lockdowns could be violated for the Left to protest the death of a career criminal in police custody with the entire CDC and medical world jumping on the bandwagon, incinerating their credibility. Well, incinerating it with the right wing, not the Left. The Left forgot. The Left always forgets.
People on the Right took vacations, hit the gym, had cook-outs on the 4th or Labor Day, and *gasp* met at Thanksgiving. People on the Left would not venture out nor would they set conditions for when they would. Would they meet you if you both were healthy? Wew, not sure about that. Meet in an outdoor park on a bench if we’re both healthy? Maybe. People on the Right still carried on with life, albeit with some calculations about personal risk, while the Left put life on hold. It is likely we will see this in all of our social numbers as well. Who will get married this year, who will have babies, who bought homes, who let their kids do sports, and who saw their loved ones. This virus only kills 0.1% of those who catch it, and those are overwhelmingly the elderly, but who killed their social life and who ruined relationships that may never be repaired?
A dangerous thing is that most of the Left’s antics and policies have been shown to be useless or the SCIENCE! faulty. Georgia was killing their citizens by opening up! No. HCQ is a dangerous drug that Trump is pushing that has no effect! No. There are many other examples (school openings, a fast track vaccine, Florida vs. NY/California, etc.) but they all go in one direction for who was right and who was wrong. No follow-up analysis occurs of these momentary debates because one side is always wrong. There is no meaningful resolution because the media complex is on the wrong side, and well, where are your sources is an easy deflection when all sources are denied exposure to the public discourse. This flows through to the election hijinks.
There is no defining moment or pair to contrast and show this difference, because we do not need it. These contrasts are everywhere in our lives. The results will come in the new year when we see who had babies, who kept in touch, and who carried on. Repair may be impossible because it was not just a difference in opinion, but a difference in behavior and with that difference came a clear framing of who was stupid and dangerous versus who was holy and right. Whether the Left has a shred of self-awareness is a debate for another time, but it does not matter. The right has seen the antics of the Left, both hysterical by the plebs and power-crazed by the elites, and will never forget.
To not end on a negative note, this year has filtered out who is reliable, who our real friends and family are and who is reasonable. It has separated the weak and wishy-washy from the true believers. These revelations may be painful but can cause us to value those who see far more than before covid’s arrival. No one knows what the ’20s have in store for us, but the rosters for the teams have never been clearer.
-By Fred Watson Jr
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