Feb 13 2025

Mobilization Strategy

     If you’re a would-be aggressor, and you want “your people” to mobilize behind you, you’ll need to present them with:

  1. An enemy they can be taught to hate;
  2. A hateful action against them by that enemy.

     Among conflict-studies’ scholars, this is sometimes referred to as the “Pearl Harbor” gambit, owing to President Roosevelt’s highly provocative November 26, 1941 ultimatum to Japan: Get your intended enemy to strike the first blow. The unifying effect of having your regime seen as the innocent victim of aggression is well understood. Examples of its effectiveness abound. However, there’s an important caveat: you must have the media firmly under your command.

     Just now, the American Left – particularly its political wing, the Democrat Party – is in disarray. It was dealt a shocking setback in the recent elections. Then came an even more severe blow: President Trump, immediately after his inauguration, turned Elon Musk and the newly chartered Department of Government Efficiency loose to ferret out those old standbys that everyone is against: “waste, fraud, and abuse.”

     It may at first have looked like a grandstanding stunt, pure playing to the crowd. It wasn’t and isn’t. Musk is a serious man who’s built an exceptional team for DoGE’s purposes. Trump gave him the greatest possible latitude to probe federal activity and expenditures. The revelations of the past three weeks testify to the initiative’s drive and effectiveness.

     The Left, by far the principal beneficiary of federal fraud and excess, is apoplectic about it. While we in the Right are celebrating, Leftists are losing their minds:

     Political anxiety has been building for years as a 24-hour news cycle, social media and algorithms create seemingly endless outlets for strife.

  • But President Trump’s pugnacious style and the breakneck series of changes he and Elon Musk unleashed has ratcheted everything up, delighting his supporters and leaving his critics panicked and without a single rallying point.
  • Mental health professionals say even people who don’t see themselves as directly affected by administration actions are feeling frazzled by the dizzying pace and Trump’s enduring ability to command attention.
  • They may feel it through the venting of a spouse, the distress of a neighbor with a trans child or an anxious friend who works for a government contractor.

     “There is an element of chaos right now,” said Andrea Bonior, a Georgetown University psychology professor who sees patients in the D.C. area. “A sense of not knowing what’s coming and not being able to control what’s coming is really hard on the stress response.”

     While there is a lot of disarray on the Left, those in its inner circle know what they need to restore unity among Leftists generally: a distinct blow against “the people” by the Trump Administration. For which reason we’re seeing ever sharper provocations from the Left in the hope of eliciting such a blow:

     Our Gentle Readers will surely recall rants from Maxine Waters, Jasmine Crockett, Ilhan Omar, et cetera to the same effect.

     The Left is desperate for a unifying provocation. It needs more than that, of course. It also needs a leader, a central cause to rally around, and a plan of action that goes beyond shrieking in the streets. But the major figures of the Trump Administration have kept their heads down and continued to work. Praise to them for their excellent maintenance of focus.

     We in the Right must not expect any degree of peace, so long as the Left is capable of agitation. The rants and raves will continue. The media will give them as much space as possible. Any shred of substantiation for the Left’s claims, however absurd, will be magnified many times. No matter what any of its luminaries may say or do, we must not present them with an injury that they could use to rally their forces.

     The Left’s disarray is our second-best weapon. The best, of course, is the Trump Administration.

2 comments

    • Houston on February 13, 2025 at 8:44 AM
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    Fran,

    I work for a large pediatric hospital.  There are groups within the organization going nuts.  I had a doctor in a meeting state “I am really sad”.  Recently back from Africa and fearing cut off of funds to other NGO orgs working there.  Research group encouraged all employees to contact Senators and Reps to request NIH funding etc etc.  As for me?  Go DOGE!  Go Trump!

    • OneGuy on February 13, 2025 at 12:08 PM
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    OK the NGO’s in Africa are a perfect example of why Africa can not and should not be “saved”.  Africa is over flowing with natural resources.  Africa is a huge continent that could grow enough food to feed the world, could supply enough natural resources to produce everything that is currently manufactured in the entire world.  It also has a huge untapped work force.  This isn’t new it has always been true but Africa (the Africans) seemingly are unable to do anything except procreate.  When they have leaders the leaders take everything and starve the poor.  The single most innovating idea that Africans have produced in their entire history was “Necklacing”.  That is killing someone by putting a tire around their neck, putting some fuel in the tire and lighting it.  That’s it!  That is the epitome of African invention.  Let’s stop trying to “save” Africa.  Stop sending money and “do-gooders” and let Africa figure it out.

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