An old Jewish joke tells the story of a Romanian peasant trying to protect himself from a nighttime vampire attack. Following traditional methods, the peasant holds up a cross as the terrifying visitor approaches. The vampire sees the frightened peasant and utters a Yiddish phrase:Veterinarian Gunihito Helfen“, meaning “Nothing will help.” Vampires are Jewish, so they obviously didn't respond to Christian symbols.
This joke came to me while I was reading Well-intentioned comments A piece by Manhattan Institute staffer Jesse Arm about how Republicans are backing down on the left by repackaging the culture wars. If they succeed in presenting “cultural conservatism today” in an appealing way, they'll be able to show that the “kook” isn't J.D. Vance, but tampon Tim Waltz.
Twenty years ago, neither of our two national parties celebrated same-sex marriage or took part in Pride Month celebrations. But now, they both do.
Arm wants us to know that Donald Trump has “retracted his condemnation of same-sex marriage.” Furthermore, his campaign platform “changes pro-life language to focus his anti-abortion argument on late-term abortion.” Trump has also “removed calls for a federal ban (which he says he opposes) and supports policies that 'promote prenatal care, access to birth control, and in vitro fertilization.'”
Most importantly, Arm argues, Trump remains “a confrontational leader on cultural issues where party positions reflect national sentiment.” His platform “strikes back at 'left-wing propaganda' on gender, sexual orientation and race, promises to 'defund schools that engage in indoctrination,' and rails against illegal immigration and violent crime.”
Arm's commentary ignores the continuing momentum of a hegemonic left that seems to be increasingly radicalizing Western societies, especially women. Twenty years ago, neither of our two major political parties would have celebrated same-sex marriage or joined in Pride Month celebrations. But now, both parties are doing so with a fair amount of pomp, lest the media expose their politicians as not being enthusiastic enough about their obligatory nonstop adoration of LGBTQ people.
The Republican Party's careful avoidance of the abortion issue is yet another striking example of the ascendancy of the woke left. Most Western countries have much stricter abortion laws than many US states, but Republicans must reverse their attempt to restrict abortion to all but the last three months of pregnancy. Many left-leaning European governments restrict abortion to the 15th week of pregnancy. But any attempt to restrict the murder of unborn children in the US, even if minimal, would have the usual feminist crowds crying out that the patriarchy would make them out to be vile victims of “The Handmaid's Tale.”
Non-leftists and opponents of woke state religion won’t win the culture war until the other side (yes, I’m being provocative) is completely discredited. Instead, we’ll see a gradual retreat like the Republican Party is currently undergoing.
Arm isn't celebrating the key to victory, but another alternative in a series of tactical retreats: How losers can become winners is unclear, but until they do, and the Republican Party, where the cultural right now has its base of necessity, will remain weak outside its red strongholds.
In particular, the “Sisterhood,” the community of college-educated suburban women, is unlikely to flip politically because Republicans are lukewarm on their ever-expanding “reproductive rights,” and because this demographic is more inclined to fight back against men than against minor restrictions on their right to kill an unborn baby, which in many places includes a fully formed but not yet removed baby.
These “liberated women,” despite their unprecedented human comfort, see themselves as victims of male domination, a perception that may not be changed no matter what evidence to the contrary may present. In any case, victimhood connects these women with other false victims and allows them to be “heard.”
Interestingly, these perpetually aroused warriors don’t protest too loudly when politicians like Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz assert the right to take children and mutilate genitals in the name of gender fluidity, nor do they complain much when feminist governors lock them down for months in a largely bogus fight against COVID. But all of that may pale in comparison to the joy of fighting “the patriarchy.”
Pretending to win the “culture war” while the troops are withdrawing is not a convincing strategy. It would be more useful to acknowledge that we have been pushed back time and time again, and that new strategies are needed to thwart the further advance of woke hegemons. Jesse Arm is celebrating the imagined end of the withdrawal, nothing more. Whether a comeback is possible, given the broad and diverse challenges we face, starting with what Trump calls the “fake media,” is an open question. For now, I am not betting on our side.
