2024 Is the Revenge of the Weird

I’m weird. At least according to Tim Walz, Minnesota’s Democratic governor and America’s would-be vice president, people like me are weird.

Does it trouble anyone that so many Democratic Party leaders – from Joe Biden to Nancy Pelosi, from Kamala Harris to Walz, to those whom they appoint to high offices, like Anthony Fauci and Merrick Garland, make a point of denigrating millions of Americans? The party that talks about “unity” and declares that “hate has no home here” seems to spew a lot of contempt.

Heck, even another would-be president or vice president, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, has gotten into the act. His recent introduction of the Harris/Walz ticket dutifully included a punch list of all the ways in which Democrats view Donald Trump, J. D. Vance, and their supporters as “weird.”

This isn’t just politicians being politicians. The word “weird” was focus-grouped. It was chosen purposefully for maximum political impact.

In no segment of America is this left-wing tactic more targeted than the suburbs. In general, no one in my old neighborhood in South Philly – or West Philly, for that matter – cares if a politician or TV host calls them or their ideas weird. They’d call it a badge of honor.

Nor would anyone in rural Bradford County be offended if a politician or the New York Times called them or their values weird.

But in the suburbs – those formerly Red and now Blue communities, where people are more likely to read the Times than the Inquirer – people care deeply about belonging, about fitting in, about doing the right thing. Whatever the latest cause is, it’s important for them to be aligned with it. At a minimum, they don’t want to be publicly opposed to it.

The last thing that you want in the suburbs is to be called “weird.” It’s vital to fit in – for you, your family, and your social network. And, if you do have “weird” views, you don’t discuss your “weirdness” at swim meets or country clubs.

A generation of suburbanites went off to college, and some went further on to grad school; they got jobs in corporate America, where they dutifully list their pronouns in their email signatures. They worked hard to “make it.” They don’t want to ruin it by becoming an outcast.

The Democrats understand that. “Weird” is a tool created to help Democrats win. The party is already concerned about losing support among blacks, Hispanics, and even young Gen Z men. They can’t afford to lose any support in the suburbs, where people live in terror of “weird.”

“Weird” is a national peer-pressure campaign targeted at suburban and younger voters.

No matter what Democrats say about “democracy” or “unity,” their sole goal is to win. Every word, phrase, and tactic is crafted to do that. Holding office is their oxygen.

The current chanting, calling millions of Americans “weird,” is meant to make us feel alone and embarrassed, as if no one else believes what we believe. We should never say what we believe out loud to our neighbors, or at the grocery store or at a family gathering. We should never post it online. And we certainly shouldn’t be proud of it.

“Weird” is the end result of over a decade of politicians, left-wing activists, and the legacy media labeling conservatives and Republicans as “bad guys.”

Right-wing. Fascist. Anti-choice. Christian nationalist. Extremists. Racists. Anti-women. Anti-LGTBQ+. Ageists. Ableists. Patriarchal. Bigots.

It’s a miracle that our kids still take photos for Christmas cards with us.

Think of all that the Left deems weird. You just might be weird if you:

• Believe that antisemitism is real and has to be combated.
• Encourage or celebrate the traditional, two-parent family.
• Want our national borders to be secure.
• Look to the content of one’s character, not skin color.
• Assume that student dormitories should be separated only by biology, not race.
• Understand that there are two and only two genders.
• Want shoplifters arrested as the criminals they are.
• Assume that people taking out student loans should pay them back.
• Find it immoral that third-generation Irish-Americans, second-generation Vietnamese Americans and first-generation Ukrainian-Americans should have to pay reparations for nineteenth-century slavery.
• Believe that school choice empowers parents and helps families lift their children out of danger and poverty.
• Defend the First Amendment – because all voices should be heard.
• Believe that flying the American flag is a sign of pride and unity, not hate.

Hillary Clinton called us deplorables. Barack Obama complained that too many Americans cling to their God and their guns.

Attorney General Merrick Garland told his Department of Justice officers that a leading threat to America was Christian nationalists. The Virginia field office monitored people attending Catholic masses in Latin.

And now Tim Walz – who let Minneapolis burn for three days, mandated tampons in boys bathrooms, and signed legislation to make Minnesota a “safe haven” for sex-transformation surgeries for minors – comes out of the gates swinging. He has repeatedly called Vance, the GOP’s vice-presidential nominee, weird, and he has further attacked his values.

Well, as we would say in grade school: takes one to know one.

“You’re not alone,” the late Rush Limbaugh often reminded his millions of listeners. “You’re not the one going crazy.” It has been a tactic of the Left and their media allies to make you feel as if you are alone – and weird. That no one holds your views and that no good person would think what you think.

They’re lying.

Their word choices are intentional and purposeful. Catch your breath. Smile. And fight back.

We are not alone – even in the suburbs. 2024 might just be: “The Revenge of the Weird.”