July 22, 2019
I've
long struggled over the difference between "the hero we deserve" and
"the hero we need." What do the two phrases mean, exactly? If Batman
is "the hero we deserve," and Harvey Dent is "the hero we need,"
what does that mean?
“Because he's
the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt
him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian,
a watchful protector. A dark knight.” – Lt.
Gordon
Batman did
what was necessary to overcome the rampant corruption in Gotham. He acted
outside the law and beat up criminals with his fists, saving the innocent and
stopping criminals because those charged with acting inside the law were
powerless— they were constrained by the law, while criminals were not afraid to
act outside it with impunity. There were few clean cops politicians and
bureaucrats, and most of those were intimidated, blackmailed, or killed when
they became inconvenient. Batman recognized that the system was damaged beyond
repair, that the overwhelming influence of criminals on Gotham's institutions
could not be overcome because the people of Gotham were too demoralized for it
to recover. Without a popular movement, there was no will or support for a
cleansing of the city government and police force, and then of the city. But
Batman's "reforms" could never ultimately win by themselves, because
they were desperate, brutal, and illegal—but it was the only way to pave the
way for "the hero we need."
Harvey Dent
acted from inside the system. First, as Internal Affairs, he exposed corruption
in the police force, and later as District Attorney, his reforms were only
possible because of the hope Batman gave to the people of Gotham. If the Joker
hadn't managed to defeat him, Harvey would likely have proceeded to clean up
the city, and goodness and niceness would have largely prevailed. Only because
the enemy was brilliant and insane did he manage to twist and turn Harvey Dent
against Batman, and force him to continue his vigilantism a little longer (for
one more movie, to be precise).
Harvey Dent
and Batman were both "the hero we need," just at different stages.
Gotham needed Batman first, and Harvey Dent second, but that was too much
nuance to turn into an inspired soundbite at the end of the movie.
And here's
the real point, if you're still with me. Donald Trump is Batman—the parallels
are uncanny.
The loony
left has had a stranglehold on our institutions. Much like the mob in Batman
Begins, they ran everything with coldblooded criminal efficiency for years,
with only the occasional costumed villain showing his powdered or masked face.
I'm not talking about normal, run-of-the-mill corruption here (though of course
that is a factor); I'm talking about the rampant politically correct, reality
defying, collectivist, intersectional politics nonsense that has controlled the
country for the past decade or two, and had been growing silently since long
before. The left is the mob, and everything that came from that.
The forces of
order—Republicans and the ever dwindling sane Democrats—were unable to cope,
because they themselves were corrupted and overrun, and they failed to
recognize the threat. The traditional media, almost completely compromised by
these lunatics, worked tirelessly to churn out propaganda, which too many
"centrists" bought like the chumps they are. Political normals
thought that these gangsters on the left could be reasoned with, that there
could be compromise. They thought that "surely they love America just as
much as we do—they just have a different way of achieving freedom and
prosperity."
But too many
years of one-sided "compromise" saw normal Americans demoralized and
dejected much like the people of Gotham, as it became obvious that compromise
with totalitarians would only mean the encroachment of insanity from the left could
only be slowed, never stopped. Eventually, enough normals said "enough,
and to hell with the status quo—you people on the left are dangerous and
insane." They had a Tea Party, but they had no champion. They were ready
for their Batman to act outside the law—i.e., outside the social norms and
status quo of political decorum.
Then Donald
Trump defied the odds and was elected president. The left thought his
nomination would be a landslide for Hillary, but they underestimated that
normal Americans saw great value in Trump, someone who wasn't afraid to act
outside the social norms. Just like Batman dresses up and flits around the city
at night, punching people who deserve to be punched, protecting normals from
being preyed upon, so does Trump ignore the decorum that the media has
traditionally used to shield their favorites even as they viciously slander
their enemies.
Their
strategy worked so well for so long that now that it is no longer working, they
have been driven careening off the ledge of sanity, mouths frothing and tears
of rage streaming behind them as they try to continually turn it up to 11, not
realizing normals have put on their ear plugs and aren't interested in
listening anymore. They scream "racist" and "Nazi" even
louder and more frequently, but normals are no longer fazed, and neither is
Trump.
Gotham PD
tried to hunt Batman, blaming him for the fall and murder of Harvey Dent,
blaming him for the crimes he did not commit along with those he did. In a
similar manner, those who some thought to be allies like Max Boot, Anna
Navarro, and Jennifer Rubin, the professional "conservatives," now
hunt Trump and blame him for anything and everything, because he is a threat to
the normal order, and thus a threat to their comfortable position as loyal
opposition.
Just as
Batman defeated the garden-variety criminals only to be faced with a new breed
of super criminals, wearing costumes and hatching devious, hare-brained plans
to variously control and destroy the city, we are seeing that super villains are
emerging on the left. No longer are they interested in pretending they are for
freedom, or tolerance, or any of the other American concepts Democrats once
gave lip-service to. No, they are full-throated communists who are interested
in literally beating you up in the streets if you dare to disagree with them,
or fail to shout your agreement with them loudly or enthusiastically enough.
They are looking for reasons to harm you across the spectrum—financially,
emotionally, physically, however they can. They are arrogantly calling
literally every normal American a white supremacist, regardless of ethnicity,
because they hate you; and they are calling you the worst names they can think
of, and don't give a damn about being logically or factually consistent. They
are demanding the destruction of the economy for what even disinterested
parties agree is little or no gain, because they want to punish you for defying
them.
Are we are
approaching the zenith of unrest? Will it continue to grow even as Trump is
undoubtedly elected again? What will happen after Batman's second term ends? We
can only pray that there is a Harvey Dent ready to pick up the pieces.
But there may
not be. This isn't a comic book, where the good guys are destined to win. In
world history, the good guys usually lose, and the price is often the death and
enslavement of millions. What happens if the left manages to pull out a
political victory? If they gain political power, I believe they will pull out
all the stops to make sure there is never another free election in the United
States again. If that happens, there can only be war.
I was
skeptical of Trump, and I will still criticize him when he deserves it, but my
criticism is muted by the fact that, like it or not, he is what stands between
us and the demonic left.
The left must
never be allowed to wield power. The collectivist left must be destroyed
utterly. The gloves have to come off on the right; they've been off on the left
for a long time.
* *
*
