That’s not who we are

It’s not uncommon for politicians (especially Democrats) to say, in reaction to some action or statement they don’t like, that “that’s not who we are.”

It’s ironic, because Democrats are making it clear every day that they have nothing in common with the foundational principles of America and no interest in sharing commonalities.

The code meaning behind it, when used by American politicians, is that it’s un-American. For example, “stopping people from protesting on highways and disrupting traffic is not who we are.” (No one, that I know of, said this. I’m just using it as a hypothetical example.)

It’s a great rhetorical trick, because it assigns some sort of nobility and integrity to the person saying it and attempts to discredit and dispense with anyone who disagrees.

But as usual with Democrats, it doesn’t address anything on its merits, and doesn’t even correctly characterize the other side of the argument. It is almost always preceded by a faulty premise, and it’s actually a sneaky personal attack because it attempts to belittle anyone who speaks in opposition.

Whenever I hear this said, I can’t help but think, “OK, then who are we?” Because I can’t think of the last time I appeared to have anything in common with the politics of the person who said it.

For example…

Obviously, there’s no context to any of the 46 utterances of the phrase. But I’d wager that every time he said was a mischaracterization of whatever he was describing as “not who we are,” and I probably disagreed with him on who he thinks we are.

The thing about “who we are” is who’s to say? We’re a pretty big and diverse group of people, and right now, we couldn’t be much more divided.

So… who are we?