Out: Tolerance. In: Tribes. The latest examples of the unraveling individualism and the ascendance of tribal affiliation certainly show the jury is still out on what America will look like if the future is a post-Constitutional.

A lot of the big stuff we already know. The difference of treatment of 14,000 arrests for burning, looting, assault and murder during the fiery but mostly peaceful riots of 2020 — (vast majority released no charges) vs the 1/6/2021 one-day riot where hundreds of arrests, most for “parading in the Capitol,” resulted in lengthy pre-arraignment custody and long prison sentences. Why? Tribalism. The favored group vs the disfavored.

We also know the wink-wink-nudge-nudge collusion between Big Government and Big Media to erase any news or discussion that is outside the approved, tribal narrative. The Twitter Files revelation of government manipulation of social media should have caused a scandal and resulted in major changes. But to Google “Twitter files” now just coughs up article after article of “it didn’t really happen.”

Yeah, sure. Because we can’t see all this happening in real time.

The left is waging lawfare with the implicit message to political opponents: either keep quiet or suffer the consequences.https://t.co/8aVlJRXxXG

— Victor Davis Hanson (@VDHanson) February 22, 2024

We are entering a dangerous era in America.

Ideology and party affiliations increasingly determine guilt and punishment. Opponents are first targeted, and then laws are twisted and redefined to convict them.

Ideology and party affiliation were once just a part of an individual’s own interests. You liked bowling, you joined a bowling league, you might even describe your favorite pastime with the phrase I’m a bowler, but it wasn’t your identity. It didn’t define the basic you and you certainly would not support another bowler to the point of supporting, or excusing, their bad or criminal behavior. And yet …

The left genuinely believes the consequences of reporting outweigh the facts.

If it harms a community, it's morally wrong to report it.

If it challenges a sympathetic victim, it's morally wrong to report it.

They do not value objective journalism. They see it as malicious.

— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) February 22, 2024

Chad Felix, a gay man, reported on the tragic death of “non-binary” teen Dagny “Nex” Benedict, which is rapidly approaching the fabled status of the group identity mythology that surrounds Matthew Shepherd, Trayvon Martin and George Floyd. Felix is attacked for betraying his community because inconvenient facts don’t matter, privileged tribalism does. Hence the TQ+ community is able to shriek loudly, exploiting a tragic death, getting the sympathetic and supportive attention of politicians, lamestream media, et al, in pushing the narrative that somehow laws affirming the rights of girls in public schools is what is causing “violence against the LGBTQ+ community.”

Ironic, as this poor, beleaguered tribe immediately bullied Benedict’s grieving family over the unforgivable sin of using Dagny’s name in an obituary. The family then had to grovel and promise that “Nex” would be on her gravestone least the tribe’s sensibilities be further slighted.

Meanwhile, it is 11 months and counting that we still haven’t seen the manifesto of Audrey Hale, the “transgender” school mass shooter.

We’ll probably see it about the time the El Segundo Fish Wrap ever releases Obama’s Khalidi Bash tape.

This tribalism … oh let’s be clear, this Marxist-driven tribalism … is antithetical to the principled foundation of the American Constitution. Individuals are nothing but meatsacks whose worth is entirely dependent on where they rank on the Oppression Olympics chart. Individual skill? Individual effort? Individual responsibility?

And not just that. The American moral obligation of individuals are to, minimally, tolerate our differences in beliefs and interests and to be, minimally, civil as long as civility is being observed by all in attendance.

Pffffffft, get outta here. Jewish students on American university campuses can tell us about tolerance and civility, eh?

The Left hasn’t won a complete victory. Yet. And when it scrambles to solidify its power over individuals to bend a knee or be destroyed, it certainly doesn’t make an old lady like me feel very confident.

Will we go forward, or will we just fracture into a past marked by unending tribal conflict? The choice is ours.

featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock, standard license