“Vee Vill Make Zee Rulez Und You Will Follow Zem!”

     The madness swirling around us can seem too multifarious to summarize, yet every now and then we get a genuinely iconic incident — and it needn’t be something that involves laws, interest groups, or governments:

     Dear Amy: Four months before my daughter’s wedding, she told me that her uncle (my brother, “Dave”) would make her feel unsafe if he was a guest. She asked me not to invite him.
     My daughter is very politically progressive, as are many of her friends, and although she and Dave have always had a good relationship (I thought), he is a conservative voter and has supported candidates we all abhor.
     Dave has always been very nice, so my daughter’s request surprised me.
     I wrote Dave a very nice note, telling him that we would not be comfortable with him at the wedding and that he would not be invited.
     Dave did not respond and did not attend.
     Afterward, I sent him a card and pictures from the wedding, all in an effort to make him feel like he was not being totally left out.
     I have not heard from Dave since then. When my siblings found out what I had done they were angry with me.
     That is just one problem.
     Another problem is that Dave has not sent my daughter and son-in-law a wedding gift.
     In the past, Dave has given family members wedding checks in excess of $1,000.
     She says she was counting on receiving the same type of gift.
     My husband says I should drop it – but I can’t. Dave’s behavior is upsetting and embarrassing to me.
     How can I get my brother to recognize and change his petty behavior?
     Please don’t tell me that I’m the one who started this by not inviting my brother to the wedding. After all, he’s a grown man, while my daughter is young and just starting out.

     Other writers have already ridiculed the attitude expressed in this “complaint.” I won’t bother. Rather, I’d like my Gentle Readers to ponder what it says about the arrogance of the Left. Plainly, the “progressive” correspondent above has decided that she will do the rule-making, whereas her excluded brother Dave must do the rule-following. Is this not a perfect miniature of the Left’s sociopolitical stance?

     “Rules for thee, not for me” has always been the attitude of self-proclaimed superiors. We see it everywhere today. “Our speech is violence; their violence is speech” is merely one example. “Unsafe” always applies to persons in the Right; never shall that characterization pertain to anyone in the Left. And of course we have many cases of prominent Leftists proclaiming that we must sacrifice our freedom, safety, and prosperity for their causes, while they insulate themselves from the implications of their pronouncements and the consequences of their policies.

     Black-letter law? Forget it. If the Constitution of the United States can be endlessly reinterpreted as a “living document,” then why not any other statute? Haven’t we seen that already? Offenses against federal gun laws are never prosecuted against Leftist figures, their families, or their allies. Tax code violations? Does the name Al Sharpton ring any bells? And what’s this about our “carbon footprints?” The people shrieking about that fly around the world in private jets to lecture us about it.

     The remarkable thing about it all is how uniform and unreflective that attitude is among Leftists. The contradictions penetrate very few heads. Of course those at the top know what they’re doing; how could they not? But what defect of the mind accounts for the slavish dedication and adulation they get from their followers? Do they really think that after the revolution they’ll all be made commissars?

     We theophages have a saying: “God is not mocked.” Sometimes it’s phrased a bit differently: “God sees the truth, but waits.” The completion of this argument requires no great penetration or intellect, but it can try one’s patience all the way to its stops. Tom Petty was more right than he knew.

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    • pc-not on July 2, 2023 at 9:22 AM

    Our family had a similar wedding experience.  My two stepsons could not be further apart in their belief systems.  Older one, whom I dearly love, is a 31 year Navy Diver vet.  When he and wife and son attended his younger brother’s hippie, Zen, green wedding in the mountains of North Carolina 5 years ago, it did not go well.  When the Progressive man-bunned group found out he was active-duty military they literally tried to engage in fisticuffs with him.  The bride, a product of an extreme liberal upbringing, was the one who stopped it from becoming very ugly.  These people are so dedicated to “the cause” that they do not think with any clarity.  Needless to say, my wife and I were not in attendance.  Just like during “The great unpleasantness”, our family is forever broken.

    • David Davies on July 2, 2023 at 10:08 AM

    I read that account and kept thinking that this MUST be a piece from the Bee.
    So hard to believe it is not parody.

    1. Well, there’s always the possibility that advice-columnist “Amy” made it up. Frankly, I’d put it in the “You can’t make this stuff up” category.

    • Glenn H on July 2, 2023 at 7:46 PM

    By a strange coincidence, karma, or “Great Minds Think Alike” event, this very issue was brought up in the American Thinker blog today.

    Check out “A letter to an advice columnist about a problem wedding perfectly captures leftism” by Andree Widburg.

    Here is an excerpt: “Have you ever read a more perfect distillation of American leftism? You get up on your high moral horse and tell someone that he is a disgraceful human being with whom nobody should associate. But then, good leftist that you are, you add, “Give me your money for the benefit of ideas and people you find repugnant.” And if the pariah from whom you demand money refuses, rather than examining your position, you castigate the person as petty and cheap.”

    • Evil Franklin on July 3, 2023 at 10:32 AM

    And then there is Bud-Light, Target and so many others.
    I will not support their cause.

    Evil Franklin

  1. I’ll give you the short version from Saturday afternoon related on radio.

    Host and wife say grace over meal in restaurant on Friday.

    As they’re finishing the meal, the man in neighboring booth leans over and says

    “This is not a conversation. I want you to know I was offended by your prayer,” and attempts to walk away.

     

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