By Capt. Tom Burbage, USN ret
President, Calvert Task Group
America is no longer a two-party political system guided by a Constitution founded on Judeo-Christian principles, guaranteeing fundamental rights and governed for and by The People.
That America paid a high price in blood and treasure to sustain its role as the beacon of light in an often dark world. That America is in a different place today.
That America now has three critical forces positioning to lead that America into the future.
First is the Democratic platform versus Republican platform and the difficult ability to clearly articulate the difference.
Second is the Islamic and Marxist ideology cancer that is growing inside this country. Like it or not it seems to be tied to the Democratic Party or at least to the left.
Third is the resurging conservative youth movement that Turning Point, under the leadership of Charlie Kirk, has led up to now. Like it or not it seems to be tied to the Republican party or at least the right.
But are those alignments real or justified?
Charlie Kirk’s tragic death is an unprecedented awakening across the country and the world to a movement that has been largely ignored by any media source, both legacy and social, until now. The awakening crosses multiple generations which is a trait unseen in recent years.
His three principles of faith, family and freedom were founding principles of our nation. But we have allowed all three to become minority traits in our national DNA.
It may truly be that a modern-day martyrdom and the powerful force that it can generate, is our only real hope to recover the basics of the American ideal.
It also must come from the emerging generations, not from our generation looking backward and asking what happened to the America we fought and died for? Did we do our best to leave an America for our kids and grandkids that we are proud of?
That emerging generation we now depend on was raised in a world far different than the one we grew up in.
We had fathers and role models, we had real schooling, we had American flags in the classroom, we said a pledge of allegiance every morning and even a prayer now and then. We had proms and high school graduations.
The leading edge of this new generation of leaders lost all that when the twisted years of Covid, Critical Race Theory, transgenderism, and other elemental pieces of the Marxist ideology suddenly showed up in their classrooms.
The only measurable benefit of COVID was an awakening in parents and subsequently in School Boards to the evil indoctrination happening in plain sight.
Despite the fact that the outspoken vocal outliers of the Democratic party and the hateful rhetoric they spew, gets the attention in legacy and social media, there are other evil forces at work.
There are many Democrats and Republicans that co-exist close to the center. Labeling all our problems as “those damn Dems” is incorrect.
The fight is not between them and us; it is between Americans and those that are trying to destroy America as we know it.
There must be something in the good side of the human spirit that, when finally energized, can look beyond all that and emerge with a new form of vengeance.
The challenge will be the test of time and the ability of the coming generations to sustain the fight. Enduring attention spans to long term efforts is not a hallmark in today’s rapidly spinning world of misinformation.
So, who are they? They don’t wear uniforms and they live amongst us.
The one clear differentiator is that Conservatives tend to be, well, conservative; polite, tolerant, live and let live, etc.
Lefties tend to be irrational, intolerant, and when they don’t get their own way, violent.
It’s a mischaracterization to label them democrats. We used to be on the same team. One party in the ascendant, one in loyal opposition.
To use a football analogy one group wants to run the ball, one wants to pass. But they both want to move the ball toward a shared goal.
Now they aren’t even in the same stadium. Their voices are amplified by sympathetic media. Combined, they are a force that must be reckoned with if we hope to restore the American ideal.
We must not let this potential “Turning Point” in our American history escape. The energy that Charlie and Erika have released must be leveraged for the America we leave behind.
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Mr. Burbage is a Naval Academy graduate, former Navy Test pilot and industry leader. He is working with a group of like minded individuals concerned with the ongoing movement to fundamentally change the focus of our military and specifically our Service Academies.
First published on Armed Forces Press
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