Liberal reactions to 2024: isolation, insurrection, secession

Democrats who campaigned on need “joy” and “saving democracy” are strikingly dissatisfied with the results of the 2024 democratic process.

Before the election, slips like President Joe Biden’s calling Trump supporters “trash” were immediately dismissed or dismissed. But once voters gave Republicans control of both houses of Congress, the popular vote and the White House, top Democratic figures and celebrities dropped any pretense of civility. They are now open about their disdain for voters, calling them “f—-ing fools” and “arrogant, ignorant” teenagers.

After asking Americans to rally for Kamala Harris, MSNBC’s Joy Reid sent a delightful holiday message to those who voted for the GOP to “make your own dinner, MAGA. Make your own sandwiches, wipe your own tears.”

Those who don’t fight Reid’s rage increasingly express themes of isolation, insurrection and secession.

For years, contempt for Trump voters has been open and evident in much of the media. The “Let’s Go Brandon” movement captured the craziness of the media and politicians by simply denying what citizens could see, hear and experience for themselves.

When pressed for answers on issues like the economy and immigration, Harris paraded an army of celebrities to tell the public how to vote — shiny objects they thought would suffice for shallow American voters.

They were wrong. Now that the public has made its choice, leading figures condemn most voters as a mixture of misogynists, self-haters and fascists. Whoopi Goldberg, 69, even joined the “4B” sex strike. against men. Others appear to be turning into exactly what they said Trump would become as president: isolationist and insurrectionist.

Some responded to the losses by retreating further into echo chambers protected from opposing views. Many have ditched X in favor of BlueSky, a safe new social space for liberals who fear being triggered by opposing views. In particular, censorship advocates such as Nina Jankowisz they ran to BlueSky.

The site is described as a throwback to the old days when liberals controlled all social media and maintained a massive system of censorship and blacklisting of political speech.

New York Times technology reporter Kevin Rose wrote a column last week offering the familiar “I Can Breathe Again” account: “After about an hour of scrolling through Bluesky last night, I felt something I haven’t felt on social media in a long time: free.”

It is the ultimate irony. This election shocked many on the left precisely because they were writing and commenting on each other in their entrenched circles and political silos. They are unlikely to improve themselves by retreating further into that safe space to gloat over the “damn fools” who make up the majority of America.

Other Democratic politicians have moved beyond the chest-beating of leaders such as Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) to engagements of more direct obstruction or inflammatory rhetoric.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnson (D) said he was preparing the Mile-High city for its “Tiananmen Square moment” to fight the federal government in any attempt to deport illegal immigrants. Johnson warned that not only would Denver police be “stationed at the county line to keep (ICE) out,” but also “50,000 Denverites.”

Not so long ago, Democrats called similar protests “insurrection.” Johnson later walked back his remarks but insisted his city would fight federal efforts to enforce immigration laws.

Rather than such trench warfare, most Democratic governors and mayors simply pledge not to cooperate with federal authorities, which is a legal choice. The worry, however, is how others will react to months of overheated rhetoric that this will be “our last election” and that Trump is the new Hitler.

Such rhetoric of anger gives people permission to say and do things they would not ordinarily say or do. Leaders calling on citizens to “fight” ICE and “fascists” can easily inspire violence, as we’ve seen in recent years. Indeed, this was the very premise of the criminal case against Trump supported by many of these leaders, claiming that his calls to “fight” against certification were a call to insurrection.

Some liberals are very publicly fleeing the country. Sharon Stone (who called American voters “uneducated”) is apparently he went to canada. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi go to a manor house in the Cotswolds, England. Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman is, too according to reports is exploring a departure from the country after his millions of dollars failed to produce a victory for Kamala Harris.

Some, however, want to take part of the country with them. New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Upper East Side) has received praise for her call for New York to join Canada. Where Alexandre Dumas believed that “Nothing succeeds like success”, some believe that after losing an election, nothing succeeds like secession.

Kruger previously searched to block Trump from voting in the name of protecting democracy. That would have prevented the 45 percent of New Yorkers who voted for the president-elect, but those voters would find themselves either Canadians or refugees under her proposal.

Krueger suggested that secession simply makes sense when the majority of the country disagrees with you. She believes that New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont could form a new Canadian province.

“We’ve had a couple of informal responses and I’ve heard that this can be sold in Ottawa,” she said. “And look, if we were Europe, during the time we were a nation, for Canada, if we were European countries, our borders would have moved about 20 times by now, right?”

She explained that this is all just “thinking outside the box”. The box she and other liberals are in is called “democracy” and they don’t like it.

Just for the record, the last time people thought “outside the box” and seceded, we had a war with about 700,000 people killed.

Still, assuming New Yorkers can get used to milking in a bag and cheese curds as a snack, there might be an obvious appeal to the true northern left. Formerly “strong and free,” Canada has become a nightmare for free speech with the ever-expanding criminalization of political discourse. A teacher, who said that Trump’s plans to fight censorship have left many fearful, said that if free speech protections are restored, “I’ll be on a plane (out of America).”

For New York Times reporters and officials alike, they will be able to “breathe again” in the controlled and regulated air of censorious countries like Canada.

The only challenge to our displaced and disaffected diaspora will be that Canadians tend to be nice.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Freedom of Expression in an Age of Anger.”

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