Greener: The Real Priority Isn’t Virtue—It’s Winning

One of my sons is fixated on having me admit that President Trump does not deserve the support shown to him by me. Without belaboring the point, it has long seemed that getting me to “admit it” was more important than any set of particulars. He can finally exact his pound of flesh. Nothing I have heard excuses the image of President Trump healing the sick.

A Line That Shouldn’t Be Crossed

If it is true that the intent of using that image was to portray the President as a doctor, then whoever approved its use should be immediately fired for being a blithering idiot. Defending or criticizing the actions of someone ought to be based on the actions, not the individual involved.

The One Unforgivable Sin

My contention is that among progressives, there is a total of one deadly sin. That would be an inability to further the cause. So long as you are advancing the ball in that cause, almost anything is acceptable. An individual becomes expendable the moment this ability to move things forward comes to a halt. Of course, the simultaneous ability to be righteously indignant in the name of progressive values being compromised is all part of the process. Throw in the sickening “news” coverage of these incidents, and it is enough to make some of us want to puke.

When the Narrative Suddenly Changes

Perhaps most maddening is watching this same media shift from crushing someone to suddenly seeing virtue in the individual when they switch teams. Liz Cheney and Marjorie Taylor Greene immediately come to mind. Just go from supporting conservatives and Republicans to emphatically criticizing them, and presto, you are now one of the good guys.

The Rise and Fall of Political Favor

All of this brings us to Eric Swalwell. Until this week, he was a Democratic Member of Congress from California and the leading Democrat in the race for governor of the state. That all came to a screeching halt, supposedly because a group of his former staffers had come forth to accuse him of sexual abuse and misconduct.

Timing Is Everything

What happened? Well, the data showed that should he finish first or second in the open primary, he stood the chance of losing to a Republican in the general election. Presto, the lad becomes persona non grata.

Swalwell had been the darling of the left, leading the charge to impeach President Trump in his first term. He probably should have bought his own cable channel, given how much he was on-air. During that time, it was no biggie that Swalwell had been sleeping with a Communist Chinese operative. Nancy Pelosi loudly announced she had no concerns.

Selective Outrage

Now, we see the “I believe her” crew screaming from the rooftops that Swalwell needed to resign, which he did. Giving away national security secrets is not a problem, but being a drunk playing grab ass with a staffer is a hanging offense. It is hard to keep track of those coming forward to say it was an “open secret.” This was par for the course for Swalwell. In other words, it was not news in the sense of it being new information, just in that it finally being reported.

For the record, it should be a hanging offense, but so too should any number of things Democrats and their cheering section (the legacy media) intentionally chose to turn a blind eye to.

Power Over Principle

What do we have now? Well, billionaire Tom Steyer has become the leading Democrat, amassing support from those who previously touted the virtues of Swalwell. Apparently, this No Oligarchy thing has an exception for really rich folks who can advance the progressive cause, just as was the case in 2024 with Kamala Harris overwhelmingly being the candidate supported by the wealthy.

A Pattern That Repeats

Of course, this is not anywhere near the first instance of the “only winning counts” approach to things. While sane Americans watched in horror for years as President Biden repeatedly showed he was cognitively incapable of performing the duties of the office, we were told he was “sharp as a tack,” and that questioning this was an unfair attack deserving condemnation.

Rewriting the Rules

Using any standard resembling consistency, please tell me how it is that Monica Lewinsky was not a victim of sexual abuse by President Clinton. Yet, the Democrats and the media rallied to make it “just a matter of sex,” including his lying about it under oath. You see, Clinton still had political juice, so everything was fine.

The Bottom Line

If progressives want to operate under a single standard that all that counts is winning, I might not like it, but it would not offend me. However, to have it be reality that this is the case while they parade around pretending that they are defending moral virtue is a bit much.

Common Sense: For a group that claims to simply be defending virtue, progressives repeatedly show their real priority is power. That is a fact.