And they may have found it in The Federalist’s Ben Domenech. Fox News has given him the show for the entire week, and last night he delivered an absolutely killer monologue on what it means to be a nation, including the things that are supposed to bind us. It’s worth the short watch.
Ben begins by pointing out that a nation is far more than just a random selection of people sharing a geographical space. Rather, our shared values and a respect for the rule of law have bound us since our founding. Part of that founding included incredible bravery and spirit of those who crossed the Delaware River, beaten and nearing defeat at the time. They were fighting for something bigger than themselves and ended up changing the world.
Contrast that with what we have today in what Ben describes as self-proclaimed “happy-warriors.” These are the Republicans who are more than happy to fight any number of foreign conflicts or for Amazon to pay less in taxes, but when the true cultural battles present themselves, they run away, hiding behind supposed principles that only serve as an excuse for their weakness.
Ben goes on to note that someone is going to rule, whether it be race radicals, big tech, Hollywood, or something else. The other side isn’t looking to lay down their arms. The only question is whether Republicans and lovers of freedom, in general, are willing to actually fight.
The monologue closes by pointing out the tension between those who want to govern themselves and an ever-growing segment of Americans and their chosen politicians who don’t believe you have the capability or the right to do so. That tension isn’t going to go away by making another appearance on Face the Nation or bleating about free trade. Yes, economic issues are important, but as Andrew Breitbart famously said, politics is downstream of culture. You can win the battle on tax rates today and wake up tomorrow to find the culture has moved so far past your position that you’ve lost the war.
In many ways, Ben espouses a lot of the same viewpoints you’d expect to hear from Tucker Carlson, though, some of his remedies might differ at times. That’s a good thing, in my opinion. We need more conservative voices who are willing to engage in the culture in a way that makes many Republican politicians squeamish. They’d rather sit back and do things as they’ve always been done, but the left isn’t interested in preserving the status quo for them. The GOP can understand the war being waged, or it can fade away, crushed under the weight of its own failures.