Two recent events strongly suggest that Donald Trump’s electoral success came at a critical time. The efforts of the left, which had been empowered during the Biden years to promote the woke notion that ideology trumps reality, seemed to reach a crescendo in the run up to Jan. 20.
In years past they were content to make the argument that such traditional virtues as increasing bottom lines and successful competitiveness should be subordinated to working towards an enforced racial diversity in employment (i.e. “DEI” – diversity, equity and inclusion) and to investing in such things as ambitious environmental protection projects.
But within the last few weeks they twice signaled that they were poised to go beyond argumentation and directly challenge the apparent reality of things.
In his speech at a Trump inauguration event, Elon Musk told the crowd that “My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured.” Simultaneously, Musk placed his hand on his chest and then stretched his arm outward.
Several pundits and leftist politicians immediately seized on the gesture’s facial similarity to the infamous Nazi fascist salute and condemned him for employing a Nazi meme in his presentation. The Washington Post opined that the “Nazi-style” salute had “invigorated Trump fans on the far right.” The media trotted out the usual liberal professors were to provide an air of intellectual legitimacy to the negative spin. And the always available Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez opined that Musk was shamelessly pandering to Trump’s white supremacist base.
In fact, AOC even trashed the ADL which had said that, at worst, Musk’s gesture was “an awkward gesture in moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.” “Just to be clear,” AOC told ADL, “You are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity. People can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now. You work for them. Thank you for making that crystal clear to all.”
However, writing in the New York Post, Georgetown University Law School Professor Jonathan Turley derided as absurd the notion that Musk, who was already central to the upcoming Trump administration, would have chosen to come out as a Nazi on national television before tens of millions of viewers.
But there was more.
In a statement on his way out of the White House door, Joe Biden claimed that the Equal Rights Amendment – one of the major stars in the woke constellation – was part of the U.S. Constitution:
“In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal right and protections under the law regardless of their sex.”
In fact, though, the time for adopting the Amendment expired more than 40 years ago. As described by the Wall Street Journal, the 1972 resolution proposing the ERA included a 1979 deadline which Congress later extended to 1982. But only 35 states ratified the amendment by then, three short of the 38 necessary. In addition, five states rescinded their ratification within the deadline although it is not clear with what legal effect.
However, Mr. Biden was responding to calls by the woke, democratic left – supported by the leftist American Bar Association and a coterie of leftist constitutional scholars – who have simply declared that the ERA had “cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution” and that his imprimatur would somehow make it legally binding despite court decisions to the contrary.
Given development in constitutional and statutory law over the past 50 years, it is not all that clear that the ERA would add any protections not already provided. But what is clear is that the left is willing to disregard the rules in order to get what they want.
