A Marxist is credited with saying “by any means necessary” in a 1960 speech entitled “Why we use violence.” In other words, the reason Marxists use violence is that violence is necessary to accomplish their goals.

Later the slogan was commandeered by communist sympathizer Jean-Paul Sartre. He stated, “It is not by refusing to lie that we will abolish lies: it is by eradicating class by any means necessary.”

French philosophers always complicate things. This one thought the way to abolish lies was by eradicating class, violently if necessary. Wouldn’t it be better to just tell the truth?

Malcolm X later declared he intended “to bring into existence” a new day “by any means necessary.”

Malcolm was a former member of the radical Nation of Islam. He went down under a hail of bullets and sawed-off shotgun pellets from Nation of Islam members shouting the “N” word at him. They apparently thought it was their day, not Malcolm’s day, that should be brought into existence by any means necessary.

Ah, that’s the rub. This slogan sounds great but it conspicuously fails to mention exactly what is to be accomplished “by any means necessary.” When the proponents of a “by any means necessary” strategy disagree on the objective of their strategy, watch out. They’re apt to resolve their conflict by – you guessed it – any means necessary.

The left has always found this slogan catchy and infectious despite, and perhaps because, it’s slightly menacing. What they’re really thinking is, “we’ll obtain our goals by any means necessary, and also by some that are unnecessary just because the unnecessary ones are enjoyable.

Why else would they kill 100 million people in the 20^th century? Really, was it necessary?

Now the fellows on the left have traveled into the second quintile of the 21^st century, and their ballyhooed arc of history has taken a detour. Away from killing. Conservative governments have been elected in America, the UK, Italy, Brazil, Hungary, Israel, India, Japan, Poland, Austria, Greece and elsewhere.

The left’s reaction is to fight back. Guess how.

Leftwing terrorist thugs like Antifa shout, bully and physically attack those with whom they disagree. Their creed expressly includes “by any means necessary.” A radical group calling itself BAMN for “By Any Means Necessary” violently advocates affirmative action and elimination of the border. Similar groups include Redneck Revolt, Bastards Motorcycle Club, Huey P. Newton Gun Club and others with names that are not printable.

But these fringe groups are not the real peril. It’s the mainstream left, even some mainstream Democrats, who now think they should and must win by any means necessary. These mainstreamers aren’t usually threatening physically, but they are threatening in ways that used to be out of bounds.

An example is the COVID crisis. At a time when the country should be united in battling a pandemic, many Democrats are consumed with finger-pointing and politicking.

They blame the president for acting slowly at a time when they themselves criticized him for acting hastily, a criticism they expressed at the time in harsh rhetoric like “xenophobia” and “racism.”

Their rhetoric continues and escalates today with ridiculous, slanderous and childish charges that the president is “murdering” people by allowing Republican and Democrat state governors to reopen their states as they see fit.

As when they exterminated those 100 million people, the left under the pretense of this virus seems to delight in exercising authority just because they can. They chase a lone jogger down a beach not because it’s necessary, but because they enjoy it.

We’re now at least a month past the peak of the pandemic, and the numbers are dropping. A country with a political party in power and a loyal opposition would unite in cheering the improvements.

But the Democrats seem to be rooting for the other side. For the virus. They’re like a kook on the street corner – this time wearing a face mask and maintaining a six-foot distance – with a sign proclaiming “THE END IS NEAR.”

Like that out-of-power and out-of-mind kook, the Dems fervently and feverishly hope they’re right. They deny the drop in numbers and warn that in any event we’re in for a “second wave” of death and despair, even as the first wave produced only a small fraction of the forecast deaths.

In this upcoming second wave, they promise and hope, the end really is near.

I understand the Dems’ political motivations. They want to regain power, and they’re willing to regain it by any means necessary.

But these particular means – rooting for the virus – go too far. It’s bad for the country. It kills people. It destroys small businesses. It lessens our liberty. It exacts a terrible toll in financial and human suffering. It’s wrong.

If you’re a Dem and I still haven’t convinced you to abate your indecency, then consider this. It’s backfiring. According to the Dem political action committee that calls itself CNN, the president’s approval rating is now at an all-time high.

So, what’s next?  What means will Dems deem necessary to beat this president?

(Published May 21, 2020 in American Thinker at https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/05/lying_to_the_cops_should_not_be_a_crime.html)