At BYU’s College Republican debate, the Right’s future looks stuck in 2015.
On Wednesday, October 15th, the BYU College Republicans hosted an open-floor debate surrounding four key political issues. There were “resolutions” attached to each topic in which the individual would provide an argument on if they opposed or agreed with said resolution. These issues were: the international recognition of Palestine; a federal ban on abortion except in the cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother; immigration with mass deportations continuing or not as the crux of the issue; and whether or not people should be publicly penalized for offensive speech.
The turnout was spectacular, perhaps more people than expected by the club as it became quickly apparent that the system of “whoever raises their hand first gets picked on” became too much. Regardless, the moderators took it in stride. A plurality of the people there, who did express to be part of the “big tent” that is the Republican Party, gave their views on the presented issues.
These views ranged from a more libertarian-esque pro-choice argument arguing in favor of keeping abortion legal, to being against illegal immigration but leaving an exception for those who come to the country legally. It was as if I had entered a strange time vortex as I stepped into the WSC’s Varsity Theater. Like the Twilight Zone, it was as if the discussions that occurred in other, more Right-Wing, spaces such as those that can be found on X/Twitter had never even happened; like there was no huge debate about the viability of H1Bs just this last month. I was getting whiplash because the talking points were verbatim; everything spouted in the last ten years since President Donald J. Trump rode down the escalator and changed American Conservatism forever.
Although these issues were, and still are, “planks” in the GOP platform and discourse, it’s important to realize that the circumstances of the game of politics, defined as the art of the possible, has changed. Israel and Palestine are, honestly, old news outside of those who have a vested interest in keeping the discussion going for clicks; the future of the Pro-Life movement has been in shambles since Trump took decisive action in repealing Roe vs. Wade; Freedom of speech is somewhat more relevant within the context of those dancing on Charlie Kirk’s grave.
It came to the point where I was asking myself: “What exactly is the point of all this?” When it comes to the issue of immigration, we live in a time where the administration has cut back on illegal border crossings by an astronomical amount, the Left is in rabid disarray, and “The Base” is galvanized as a result of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The room temperature of what is currently going on in the administration and in political discussion nowadays was not accounted for in the minds of the people in this room! These people are in the business of producing Discourse rather than that of any actual consensus-making!
It is important to bring this claim of “discourse vs. decision-making” into reality by stating that obviously a bunch of college students in Utah are not the ones pushing and pulling on the machinery of Capitol Hill. However, I am filled with foreboding if this is the forecast for the youth of the Republican Party as it stands in the current year. Do the events of the last eighteen months need to be repeated for all to hear? The game has changed. Our president, Donald J. Trump has had two attempts on his life. Charlie Kirk, a man who was by all means on the moderate side of the tent, was shot in cold blood. These people are getting more and more desperate with every Republican victory and this will continue so long as Republicans have a chance of gaining any semblance of power.
There are issues at hand that simply are not on the minds of most of those who attended the event, and perhaps even those within the club itself. Compare the aforementioned issues with this semi-recent quote from Stephen Miller:
“The issue before [sic] now is very simple and clear. There is a large and growing movement of leftwing terrorism in this country. It is well organized and funded. And it is shielded by far-left Democrat [sic] judges, prosecutors and attorney generals. The only remedy is to use legitimate state power to dismantle terrorism and terror networks.”
There is no more room, or time, to discuss whether or not we want a “small government versus a large government,” or what is truly aligned with Libertarian “principles” or not. For what was the Classical Liberal, Libertarian, or whatever you wish to call it, response to President Trump except to accept defeat at the hands of the Left?
They cry of the potential of “broken precedent” while socialists brandish weapons in our once-great American cities; a leading-candidate in Virginia fantasizing about the death of their opponent and their children leads to no loss of endorsements; and the Biden administration spying on Republican politicians. They cry out in pain as they say to those who now wield Power, “Just you wait until the Democrats get back in charge!”
The reality is this: There is a spirit of 2016 just as the Left invokes the spirit of Woodstock. Anything in the Republican Party prior to MAGA is in the minority now, their ideas are not up for debate because they were decimated in 2016. Their legacy is with Dick Cheney voting for Kamala and Jeb saying “Please clap…” They are at best dupes and at worst losers who want to kick Trump, and anyone else who wishes to change this country for the better, in the name of precedents which the Democrats have already long-broken. The Left has gone insane; the real threat is here at long!
It is not enough to merely say that “the left has gone insane” or to watch SJW owned clips from 2018 on YouTube. We must take decisive action to defeat Leftism. You are not just voting against, you are voting for. You’re voting for what you are. You’re voting for this land, this community, and this republic. You’re voting for what your ancestors fought for and what your posterity shall inherit. Vote, and advocate for, an America built by and for Americans.
Donald Trump did more for the Pro-Life cause in his first term than the Pro-Life movement did for its entire existence; abortion being turned to the states was not on the table prior to this! This perpetuation of endless discourse with no actual resolutions in sight is a form of national suicide. It is the duty of all those who attended, and for anyone who pays attention to politics, to be informed that Charlie Kirk could be you some day, and Iryna Zarutska, who was stabbed by a repeat-felon, could be your daughter or wife. If we put Discourse over Decision, then we stand to lose all the momentum we have gained in the last decade. If we wish to be victorious, then we must trade the talking shop for decisive action.
Cover Photo Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/photo-bloodied-trump-raising-fist-032915904.html
I’ll comment my opinion here for all to see because I came up with the idea for the debate and then moderated it.
Decisions are preceded by discourse. Charlie Kirk understood that. Your critiques against the process of discourse itself are undermined by the very fact you note in your article: that it was young and inexperienced college students talking amongst themselves. But better to have talked and failed to reach a decision than to never have talked at all. Many of these students have unfortunately never had an opportunity quite like the one they just received, and this is an important step for them. Critique the method of discourse if you wish, or suggest improvements for future debates and open discussions so that the arguments and discussion become more advanced, but I would contend that the process of discussion itself is inherently good. Our nation will prosper or fail to the degree we promote or silence discussion.
Great!!!