Stories about people’s Trump signs and placards being stolen have become so common that only the ones with “bonus” features are bothering to register in the zeitgeist nowadays. One man electrified his signs after seven were stolen and after video records proved insufficient motivation for the town to act. Another tied leashes to his signs, with comical results. A Google search suggests that theft is far less common on the other side of the fence i.e. Clinton signs seem far less likely to be molested.

Considered on its own, we could simply write this off as a manifestation of the latest incarnation of “[fill in the blank] Derangement Syndrome.” There’s too much else going on, though, to dismiss this phenomenon as stray individuals losing their shit over a genuinely polarizing political figure.

We bear witness to free speech zones on college campuses, where people who wish to exercise their right to say something that others might find unpopular are corralled like livestock. The “safe space” concept, which are rooted in a spurious “right” not to be exposed to ideas that might be unpleasant, marries with free speech zones in a totalitarian anti-liberty union. A college professor was recently caught on video tearing down 9/11 “never forget” posters. And destroying them. She claimed she was simply enforcing rules that required advance permission to hang posters, but, please, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.

Hillary Clinton has stated one of her top priorities is reversing Citizens United, a priority that reflects and echoes one of the great desires of the Left. Few issues induce as much bilious frothing in those quarters as the Supreme Court ruling that affirmed freedom of speech for people that aggregate into a particular legal structure. They’ll tell you that they want to keep the corrupting influence of money out of politics, but what they really want is to silence opposing voices and entrench their own politicians in power.

Gun rights are another issue that lathers up the Left. The plain language of the Second Amendment, affirmed by the Supreme Court, protects our individual gun rights, but the Left seizes every opportunity to vilify both guns and gun owners and is relentless in its efforts to nibble away at gun rights.

Religious liberty gets a pat on the head from the Left, but is in fact only acceptable when it doesn’t butt up against any of the Left’s regulatory and coercive ways. In other words, you are only free to practice your religious beliefs when they don’t interfere with the whims of a virtually omnipotent government. Not exactly free, in my book.

Freedom of association? Please. This fundamental of liberty – the right to choose with whom you wish to interact, has been eradicated from the economic realm through the fabricated “principle” known as public accommodation.

Freedom of the Press? The Left has spoken of writing rules to specify who qualifies as “press” and is therefore protected by the First Amendment. This idea has arisen in response to the growth of the blogosphere, and it’s all about suppressing dissent and criticism.

Is there outrage from the liberal rank and file over all these actual and proposed infringements of liberty? Of course not. The Left long ago abandoned its advocacy for actual liberty, choosing instead to embrace its own modernized form of totalitarianism. Big Government, populated by its own, is the goal.

Liberty is the enemy of Big Government. It always has been. Only by reining in Big Government can liberty survive and thrive. This isn’t a new idea. It goes back beyond the Constitution and the Revolution all the way to the Magna Carta. Big government loathes liberty, as well. They are the true polar opposites on the political scale. You cannot have both. Modern liberals have made their choice. Through their words, their actions, and the politicians they support, they’ve made it obvious that they hate liberty. If you call yourself a liberal but love liberty, take a good look at what your brethren are doing to that which you love, and decide if you still want to keep the label.

George W. Bush was roundly mocked for stating that terrorists attacked America because “they hate our freedoms.” Perhaps the mockers felt a bit uncomfortable by the observation, given that they, too, seem to hate our freedoms.

• About the Author

About Peter Venetoklis

I am twice-retired, a former rocket engineer and a former small business owner. At the very least, it makes for interesting party conversation. I'm also a life-long libertarian, I engage in an expanse of entertainments, and I squabble for sport.

Nowadays, I spend a good bit of my time arguing politics and editing this website.

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