Ok, you very cultured people will know the title of this week's missive from Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, which was turned into a film in 2012 but has been a Broadway stage production for years. I am not one of those cultured fellas but for the sake of domestic tranquility. I subjected myself to the demands of my wife Angela and went to see this on stage. See, being from down South, my idea of a cultural event is watching a University of Tennessee home football game in Neyland Stadium on the banks of the Tennessee River and singing "Rocky Top" in unison with 100,000 of my Orange-clad friends. Sometimes however, you must bite the bullet in order to have peace, such was the occasion of my being dragged to this show. I still believe Val Kilmer should have won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Doc Holliday in the movie "Tombstone." I digress.
Being the studious fella that I am, I read up on this Les Miserables thing so I could have some idea of when to fall asleep or at least feign napping. It appears that the English translation of Les Miserables is "the miserable ones," my sentiment exactly. However, the French translation is "the disenfranchised." As I read about the plot of the production (Hugh Jackman will always be Wolverine to me), the theme was about "social justice," aka "equity," aka "equality of outcomes."
Needless to say, after three hours of this show, I left miserable, but hey, Angela was happy. But, I am glad that she forced me to go to this show because it hit me...the progressive socialist leftists in America are indeed Les Miserables.
I mean, everything about them is miserable unless they are having their way imposing their ideological agenda upon everyone else. Look, if you do not want a firearm, do not get one, but do not tell me that I cannot have one. If you want to eat bugs, fake meat burgers, and arugula, knock yourself out. I will have my occasional Five Guys burger, brisket and eat a nice grilled salmon with sauteed spinach when I want. And I will continue to rise six times a week for a nice 3-5 mile run and Army grass drill workout of push-ups and crunches. If leftists want to drive an electric vehicle, fine. I do not want to, as I enjoy my Jeep Wrangler Gladiator.
Sir Winston Churchill aptly described leftists and socialism in this way. "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
I don't know about you, but I am not into the equal sharing of misery, which is the end state of "social justice," which is determined by leftists. I guess it is social justice to allow hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal immigrants into the country and feel they need protection as they rape, assault, and kill Americans. Think about it: the Democrat party and their candidate, Kamala Harris, wanted us to believe that she was all about "joy." Just like Obama was all about "hope and change." In the end these are just empty rhetorical themes that, if rejected, make progressive socialists Les Miserables. They denigrate, demonize, and disparage anyone who does not accept their agenda.
Think about what is happening now. Leftists in DC restaurants are talking about denying service to those associated with the Trump administration or just Trump supporters. This comes as President-Elect Trump ran on a campaign issue to make tips non-taxable income. That's what miserable people do. Leftists are now changing the spelling of the word woman/women to "womyn." That is just dumb. Then again, they cannot define woman, women or womyn.
Now, all of a sudden, MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) has been reframed as "fat shaming." Well, obesity does lead to multiple comorbidities: Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, fatty liver, sleep apnea, stroke, high cholesterol, breathing problems, depression, chronic kidney disease, hip pain, infertility, metabolic syndrome, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, pregnancy issues, and gout. Just about every one of these health issues plagues the Black community, the reason why there was such a high level of COVID-19 deaths among blacks. Say that being white and Les Miserables leftists will castigate you as a racist.
The Les Miserables, the miserable ones of the left, are disenfranchising themselves. Heck, even James Carville recognizes this. Yet, they continue down the path, seeking folks to play in their sandbox of misery. To what end? It is all about control. Les Miserables of the American Left remind me of the miserable, goofy, nerdy kids who never got picked to play. They were miserable in their own existence and the goal was to heckle and try to make others miserable. They have self-anointed themselves as elitists who are superior in every way to the common everyday man and woman. Nah, I ain't using their delusional spelling.
Joe Biden, as a lame-duck president, actually wants us to believe that he is leaving the incoming Trump administration a better economy—utterly laughable and dismissive. The elites of the Les Miserables left think you're too dumb to realize how good you have it. Hey, forget about not being able to afford basic food commodities, that your savings have been depleted, your credit cards are maxed out, and you cannot afford to gas up your vehicle. Doggone, if you would just sign up to be part of the cast of the leftist stage production of Les Miserables, you would be fine.
I truly believe that the progressive socialist left in America is looking at a long-term political exile. Americans rejected their adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel. We prefer a good old American story, perhaps like another Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America." Am I glad that Angela forced me to go to see Les Miserables? Heck no, but it did make me realize how I did not want to live. I do not want to be with the miserable ones, disenfranchised, and certainly not a believer in social justice. I was able to glean all that in a Cliff Notes summary of Victor Hugo's novel. I did not need three hours of misery watching people sing too loud, and none of them sang “Rocky Top!”
Steadfast and Loyal.