Back in 1776, the vast majority of the wealthy in the Colonies sided with the tyrannical British Crown. They did so because they did not want to risk their privilege or station in life. They much preferred to hide in the shadows, keep their desperately needed resources to themselves, and cowardly allow others to fight – and die — for their eventual independence and freedom.
I know that history well because just over two years ago, I authored a book titled: “The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence.” The only reason I wrote that book was to warn of the increasing calls from the left to smear, censor, and cancel our Founding Fathers, our founding documents, and the American flag.
However, as important as that historic quest for freedom from tyranny was then, I and others would most certainly argue that the tyranny from the left we are fighting today dwarfs what those heroes had to battle in 1776. It is insidious and rapidly approaching all but unstoppable.
The weaponization by the left of our government, of the Department of Justice, of our intelligence agencies, of the military, of district attorneys and state prosecutors, of the media, and of academia, is not only chilling, but a direct threat to rights and liberties of every single American citizen.
As for one of the most recent examples of that weaponization of our government for political, partisan, and personal means, we have Republican Senator Rand Paul asking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) why they were staging a large-scale cyber exercise in Atlanta on … wait for it … election day. After the questioning by Paul and after being exposed, DHS “postponed” the event.
Going back to 1776, the wealthy in the colonies were not wrong to fear the power and the revenge of the tyrannical Crown. But to attain liberty, one often must fight the oppressors and those seeking to take away God-given rights.
While the wealthy of the day hid in the shadows and things got progressively worse, men like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Hancock looked at themselves in the mirror and asked the two most important questions of their lives: “If not me, who? If not now, when?”
Flash ahead approximately 250 years and three men chose to ask and answer those same questions. Three men who could have lived their lives in peace and luxury but instead, chose to stand up for their values. Those men being former President Donald J. Trump, former Democratic and Independent candidate for President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and SpaceX and Tesla founder and X owner, Elon Musk. And because they dared to do so, the tyrannical left has viciously attacked them in a coordinated mission to destroy their very lives.
For Trump, it’s been the “Russian collusion” hoax; false lawfare charges at the city, state, and federal level; rhetorical and legal attacks upon his wife and children; the attempt to destroy his business; falsely likening him to dictatorial monsters; and worst of all, two assassination attempts (one in which he was shot) possibly inspired by such hate-fueled accusations. For Kennedy, it’s been non-stop smears from the Democratic machine; the sabotaging of his Democratic primary campaign; and armed potential assassins intercepted at his campaign events and at his residence. For Musk, because he dared to buy twitter, rebrand it as “X” and refused to censor voices the left wanted censored or banned, he has had to deal with non-stop attacks from the Deep State, the liberal media, and the Democratic Party. More than that, some are trying to cripple his businesses while threatening to arrest him.
While these attacks have only emboldened all three men to fight for freedom even harder, they need help. Like 1776, there are many conservative, Republican, and faith-based billionaires who have chosen to sit on the sidelines or hide in the shadows while Trump, Kennedy, Musk, and countless Americans with little or no money, jump onto the floor of that arena Teddy Roosevelt made famous 1910 “Man in the Arena” speech.
Roosevelt stressed in part: “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…”
Unfortunately, far too many Republicans, conservatives, independents, and people of faith are content to sit in the stands and wring their hands while criticizing the few like Trump, Kennedy, and Musk who dare to jump upon the floor of that arena to fight for all of our rights.
The vast majority of the American people have truly grown tired of the woke, socialist, divisive, and anger-driven narrative of the far-left. Thanks to patriots like Trump, Kennedy, and Musk opening the eyes of millions of people in this country – and around the world – we may very well be on the cusp of “revolutionary” political and ideological realignment. A realignment that might very well save our nation and indeed, the world.
But to get there, men like Trump, Kennedy, and Musk are going to need a great deal more help and resources. It is out there. Those men and women who control those resources need only pause to look in the mirror and ask themselves those two questions: “If not me, who? If not now, when?”
If they answer “me” and “now,” then they need only to jump onto the floor of that arena to take some of the weight off the shoulders of Trump, Kennedy, Musk and all Americans fighting for their liberty and rights.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the book: The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence.