For those of you who do not know her, Bari Weiss is the journalist who had the courage and intellectual honesty not only to leave her gig as an opinion writer at The New York Times in 2020 but to pen a public resignation letter that exposed the oppressive culture there that prompted her departure.
Weiss thereafter launched The Free Press, a subscription-based online news and opinion journal that has already acquired a reputation for ideological balance, in-depth coverage of complex issues and willingness to interview and publish articles from individuals who have been effectively banned from “traditional” media.
Weiss has written extensively about the horrific terrorist attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, as well as what those attacks portend for America. The address Weiss gave at the Federalist Society’s annual Barbara K. Olsen Memorial Lecture (“You Are the Last Line of Defense”) garnered a standing ovation and made headlines across the country, not least because the Federalist Society is a politically conservative legal organization, and Weiss is neither an attorney nor a conservative.
This week, Weiss published a piece titled “The Holiday from History Is Over.” In it, she describes conversations she had on her recent visit to Israel with survivors and family members of those killed on Oct. 7. According to Weiss, Israelis believe they are fighting “a second war of independence — an existential war necessary for the survival of the state.” Israeli journalist Gadi Taub told Weiss that “one of the slogans of this war is lo noflim midor tachach! which loosely translates to ‘do not fall short of the ’48 generation'”(referring to 1948, the year the modern state of Israel was founded).
Weiss opines that it’s “nearly impossible to imagine” a comparable sentiment in the United States, a “rallying cry about not falling short of the 1776ers.” Toward the end of the piece, she asks rhetorically:
“What would the people I know do if we … had to fight for homes and our families, and the homes and families of our fellow citizens? … Does courage emerge spontaneously out of necessity? Or is there a quiet wellspring inside some people or some cultures waiting to be tapped? Do we have that here in America? Would we answer the call if it came?”
Weiss fears that Americans think we live “outside” of history.
I think she’s wrong.
Does this country contain citizens who view themselves as inheritors of the mantle of the Founders? Would Americans step up to defend their homes and families, and those of their neighbors? Do we have the courage we would need in a crisis?
The answer to each of those questions is “yes,” and the proof is in the headlines every day — although perhaps not in the way Weiss might see it.
Americans who take seriously the wisdom of the Founders are fighting vigorously to defend the natural law principles in the Declaration of Independence, for judges who use originalist interpretations of the Constitution, for the preservation of the Electoral College and the current composition of the U.S. Senate, for checks and balances and limited government.
And for that, they are denounced as beneficiaries of “white privilege,” defenders of “systemic racism” and (most recently) as “Christian nationalists.”
Millions of Americans are prepared to defend their homes, families and communities; they are the ones fighting for our rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
And for that, they are blamed for the deaths of children at the hands of every lunatic who decides to commit mass murder, for urban gun violence and for crimes committed by those unlawfully in possession of a weapon. If they happen to live in the country, they are now accused of harboring “rural white rage.”
And as for courage? The average American displays it every day in droves. Courageous Americans are fighting school administrators and teachers trying to insert pornography into school libraries and curricula. They are fighting against activists encouraging vulnerable young people to undergo chemical castration or surgical mutilation to “change” their gender — often without the knowledge or over the objections of parents. They are fighting to preserve sports and safe places for women and girls. They fought for truthful science and against COVID-19 lockdowns and forced inoculations of experimental drugs. They fight for the free exercise of religion, free speech and the lives of unborn children, praying and protesting outside abortion clinics. They fight for the integrity of our elections and government accountability, and against vote fraud.
And for displaying the courage to fight for their rights — and the rights of others — these Americans are denounced as racists, bigots, “deplorables,” “domestic terrorists” and “insurrectionists” by the same “elites” Weiss accuses (rightly) of having “all of the noblesse with none of the oblige “; they are doxxed, censored, shamed, silenced on social media (other than X), sued, arrested, prosecuted, convicted and even incarcerated.
These Americans are not too blinded by bread and circuses to see the very real threats facing us.
The Americans who are paying attention — and there are millions — are all too aware. These are the same Americans fighting to close our borders, for the enforcement of our immigration laws and the deportation of those who violate them. They are fighting against the two-tiered “justice” system and the use of “lawfare” by the politically powerful against their opponents. They are the Americans who decry the degeneration of our cities and the proliferation of homelessness and substance abuse in our streets. They are demanding that crime be punished and criminals be imprisoned. They want an end to foreign policies that kill millions of innocents abroad, enrich sponsors of terrorism and embolden our enemies.
No, Bari, Americans do not think we live outside of history. But they do understand that those in power at present are setting the stage for a disastrous future. When the inevitable crisis comes, will Americans “answer the call”?
Some already are.
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