Army Bob: So who backs losing causes?

by Robert M. Traxler

As this column has quoted the old proverb before “victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is a bastard.” So, with hindsight being 20/20 we can blame an abundance of reasons for the Democrats’ defeat.

One of the reasons is the progressives taking the wrong side of many 70%-30% issues, issues in which the American people are 70% against and 30% for, such as open immigration, making men the enemy, claiming there is no difference between men and women (indeed sex is a matter of preference not biology), large amounts of foreign aid to further progressive social issues, soft on crime, electric vehicle mandates, unfettered subsidized immigration and a few more. 

A problem with the progressive movement is that dissent is not allowed. Differing opinions are not allowed; the hardcore 30% do not cotton dissent under penalty of being labeled as racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted knuckle dragging neanderthals. Even today they have not learned the lesson and continue to champion losing social issues.   

The strange fact is that the conservatives are more inclusive of different stands on social and economic issues than progressives. President Trump is not a free trader; the party of President Ronald Reagan, an avid free trader, has not looked at President Trump as the enemy because of his stand on trade and his insistence on tariffs. Make America healthy again, evaluating food additives, immunization and banning unhealthy products is not a deal breaker with conservatives.

In short, the government controlling our diet was a progressive issue rejected by the right, but today it is also not a deal breaker. Not being an unquestioning supporter of a federal ban on abortion was a conservative imperative; most support President Trump’s stand on leaving it up to the states as the United States Supreme court has ruled is acceptable. 

Most Americans do not favor massive subsidies for electric vehicles; we subsidized three electric bus companies that went bankrupt. We invested $49.5 million in the Lion Electric Vehicle Company, only to see it go bankrupt in less than 2.5 years. Designline Corporation, a New Zealand company that moved its headquarters to the United States to get a huge windfall from you and me, also failed. Proterra is an electric bus company that received $50 million (even more when we factor in a share of the $4.9 billion in Federal Transit Administration funds) before going bankrupt.

Interestingly, much of the money was spent on repaying progressive investors, many also political donors. The issue is a loser for the progressives. 

President Trump has caused the sale and production of arms and ammunition to take a dive. President Obama was named the number one arms salesman by the National Shot Show, as his election saw an enormous demand for weapons and ammunition. Indeed, all calibers of ammunition were sold out for years. Some sites that received hundreds of thousands of 5.56 and .223 ammunitions were sold out within two hours. The right does not believe President Trump will ban guns and ammunition. 

The divisive social issues paid for and advocated by the left are not helping the progressive party. My opinion.