Many years ago, some friends of mine and I were in a heated discussion with a fellow who insisted, quite earnestly, that we didn’t need the Second Amendment. Instead, this fellow explained, we need to address our crime and low-trust societal problems with better, and better-funded, education. In response to that, a witty friend replied, “Forget your Glock. Just keep a few McGuffey Readers at the ready to pelt intruders!” 

These days, when I observe the reactions of conventional Republicans and conservatives to the ongoing struggle of the Trump administration to carry out its mandate or even just to enforce existing law, I am reminded of that amusing anecdote. At every turn, this type of conservative resists aggressive political action, such as congressional redistricting, abolishing the blue-slip rule in the Senate for judicial appointments, eliminating the filibuster, or impeaching federal judges who block the administration’s lawful orders without cause. No matter how menacing Democrats behave and disrespectful they are to constitutional and societal “norms,” he is quite sure that all we need to do in response is talk about the Constitution harder. This time, Americans will be convinced!

Meanwhile, Democrats laugh like Nancy Pelosi when we talk about the Constitution. They would like nothing better than for us to continue talking about such things while they carry on consolidating their grip on power. As for the Constitution, the only time it interests them is when citing it is a way to punish Republicans.

The election, inauguration, and first 48 hours of the Abigail Spanberger administration in Virginia were a case study in this stark contrast between the two parties and their respective approaches to political power. While Indiana Republicans fought a “principled” battle against giving themselves an edge in the redistricting war, Democrats in Virginia solidified their choke hold on power. Indeed, Virginia Democrats chalked up more wins for their base in that short time than Republicans have for theirs in more than 10 years. 

Legislation promising leftists things such as massive tax hikes, state-funded “gender affirming care,” restoring voting rights to felons, and, yes, gun control, is now working its way through the Democratic-controlled legislature, where most of it is sure to pass and then be signed into law by the new governor. While Trump similarly bombarded the left with a slew of executive orders during his first days in office, it is telling that, even with ostensible majorities in the House and Senate, he had to resort to temporary EOs rather than codified legislation that will outlast his presidency. He had to work alone. 

The Democrats in Virginia instead are working together to pass actual legislation that won’t be so easily undone if Republicans ever retake the governor’s mansion. And, about that, readers should spend some time reading the list of Virginia Democrats’ proposals. Most of them—from gerrymandering to legislation making it illegal to hand-count ballots—are designed to make the prospect of future Republican control of Virginia impossible.

Surely, some of the more “out there” proposals will be vetoed to preserve the fiction that Spanberger is a moderate and can be a credible candidate for national office in 2028. After all, who better to lead a regime-change operation at home than a former spook who helped organize them abroad?

In the end, it comes down to this: the left is organized and wants to prevail. The right is not similarly organized, and, by all appearances, it wants to die. What other explanation can there be for a political movement that behaves as if it is allergic to political power? This is not to say that Trump and the MAGA right haven’t delivered any significant wins; they have. But at every turn, they have had to fight the mainstream of their own political party just as hard as they fight the Democrats—most notably in the renomination and reelection of President Trump against the wishes and hopes of the Republican Party’s elite. 

Even now, as Democrats telegraph exactly what they intend to do to them and their voters when they regain control of the White House, too many Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures appear eager to see the end of the Trump era.

The left gets a little power and then immediately uses it to get more, with no hesitation. Republicans and establishment conservatives wet the bed at the very thought of using their power, and justify not using it by claiming to be deeply worried about retaliation.

Guess what? Retaliation is coming anyway. Indeed, we’ve already lived through several iterations of “retaliation.” How do you think we got here? They have been “retaliating” against ordinary Americans and the right for decades because we have the temerity to stand in their way. Will it be worse next time if we punch back? Yes, it will be. But it will be worse in any case. I’m willing to see if punching back makes them hesitate next time. 

You can’t buy the left’s goodwill. They are offended because we exist.

The left understands that politics is about giving its base the show it wants. It is, at a certain level, transactional. The left doesn’t care about the consent of the governed, but it at least tries very hard to
appear to care about the consent of its base, and in winning, it secures their trust. You can’t tell someone on the left that he is being a hypocrite. It doesn’t register as a category in his mind. If he is advancing the goal of attaining power for his side, he is happy to move in the direction the base dictates. The hypocrisy of the governing elite on the right is evident, however. They make a lot of noise about standing up for the consent of the governed, and when they gain power, they tell the governed to shove it.