Most Democrats Would Flee If America Were Attacked

Republicans and Independents would stay and fight

Jonathan Turley shines the light on a new Quinnipiac poll that asks, if America were invaded like Ukraine, would you stay and fight or flee like a rat? Here’s the answer, broken down by party affiliation (via JonathanTurley.org):

When asked this question 68 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Independents say that they would fight. However more than half of Democrats (52%) said they would flee before fighting for their country (Eight percent did not have an answer, a shrug that is equally alarming).

Knowing that more than half the Democrats would flee if America were invaded kind of makes me hope for an invasion. Anyone with me on this?

I can’t help but laugh at the brutal honesty of this poll, but I kind of feel bad for the Democrat Turley. He expresses well, I think, how the 40 percent of Democrats who would stay and fight for their country must feel:

As someone who came from a liberal, Democratic family in Chicago, I was shocked by the poll. My father and grandfather fought in the World Wars and everyone I grew up with on the liberal Northside of Chicago was both intensely liberal and intensely patriotic. Indeed, I often heard my parents challenge Republican friends for suggesting that conservatives were more patriotic or more willing to sacrifice for their country.

Sadly, for Turley and America, Democrats as a whole can no longer claim patriotism or courage as their super powers.

Of course, polls that ask a hypothetical are wildly unpredictive. People generally don’t know how they’ll respond to a situation they’ve never encountered. But usually people overestimate their own courage under fire. Only a rare few underestimate their own bravery.

In other words, I’d expect less than 40 percent of Democrats to stay and fight if they saw a chance to escape. To be fair, the actual numbers of Republicans and Independents who would join the battle would be lower than this poll suggests.

For the record, I don’t know what I would do if America were invaded and I had a chance to escape. (Just being honest here.) I pray for the courage to stay and fight, but I know myself. I am as capable as the next guy of advanced levels of cowardice.

Were I to stay and fight, it would be the hand of God that stood me up, nothing in my own will or character. Left to my own devices and bereft of God’s grace, I’d head to the nearest country with an excellent bar scene and lots of hockey.

Turley also points out that many of his fellow Democrats now openly and eagerly promote the abolition of the Constitution and even the country itself.

Elie Mystal, who writes for the Nation and Above the Law, called the Constitution “kind of trash.” In his new book, “Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution,” Mystal says that we should just ignore what the Framers thought or said. When asked “if are you arguing that the Constitution needs to be scrapped altogether?” Mystal said he would be “all for” a move to “throw out” the Constitution. Others, including lawyers, agreed with Mystal and declared “the Constitution is trash.”

Let’s give Elie Mystal his due. If that’s how he feels, he probably shouldn’t hang around until the shooting starts. The airfare will be much higher then.

But I’m not responsible for Mr. Mystal, only for myself. And, on that front, I need help.

I pray that God would grant me the courage to stay and the wisdom to know the cause was just. (Something we can no longer take for granted, sadly.)

Turley ends his very sad piece (which I implore you to read—after you read and share this wonderful post) by reminding us of Democrat John F. Kennedy’s famous words in his inaugural address in 1961:

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

—President John F. Kennedy

Turley asked of Kennedy’s assertion, “The question is whether Americans are willing to answer the same call today.”

As of this moment, I believe America still deserves the last full measure of my devotion. But I am not so sentimental as to assume she always will. Without God’s help, this country could become the menace that Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are today. Again, I pray for the wisdom to know, the courage to act, and the humility to recognize I can do nothing but sin without Him.