Kamala’s “Freedom From Freedom” Hoax
Don’t be fooled—the Harris campaign promises old-fashioned government paternalism.
In her closing spiel at the Ellipse on Tuesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris was flanked by giant banners with the word FREEDOM. Harris returned to her Democratic National Convention theme, along with the “joy” and “positive vibes” motifs that marked the launch of her campaign after President Joe Biden’s defenestration. Tuesday night’s theme echoed her website pitch: “Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are fighting for a New Way Forward that protects our fundamental freedoms…”
But Harris is offering a vast expansion of federal power cloaked with a venerable ideal. Traditional American freedom rests upon the constitutional and legal rights of American citizens—rights that restrain government officials from domineering citizens’ lives. Kamala Freedom requires unlimited interventions to deliver whatever benefits politicians decree.
Speaking almost in the shadow of the White House, Kamala again promised to give Americans “freedom from gun violence.” The Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights pledged in perpetuity that Americans’ right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. But Americans won’t have “freedom from gun violence” unless government controls every trigger in the land. Harris previously supported banning private ownership of pistols, warrantless searches of people’s homes to inspect their firearms, and confiscating the most popular rifle in America. Disarming Americans will leave them in total dependency on the same politicians who lied to confiscate their guns in the first place.
In a speech last Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Harris promised to safeguard “freedom from fear, violence, and harm.” Pledging “freedom from fear” entitles politicians to seize power over anything that frightens anyone. People who sound the alarm about excessive government power will be guilty of subverting freedom from fear. Would the Biden-Harris administration justify its false claims on a decrease in national violent crime rates to provide “freedom from fear”—even if it were a delusion?
Kamala Freedom depends on politicians having unlimited sway to decree who pays what—or who pays nothing. Harris bragged, “President Biden and I are removing obstacles to financial freedom. We have forgiven $167 billion in student loan debt for more than 4.7 million people.” Biden and Harris have trumpeted their contempt for rulings by the Supreme Court and other federal courts striking down the student debt forgiveness schemes as illegal. But fidelity to the Constitution is a paltry benefit compared to letting politicians scatter benefits and buy votes across the land.
Kamala will deliver “freedom from inequality” by seizing boundless sway to determine who gets what. Her Opportunity Economy will deliver “equity,” which Harris defines as equal results: “Some people need more so we all end up in the same place.” How much more? It’s a secret. Which groups receive more? You’ll find that out after you elect Harris. (No wonder she dodges interviews where she would be pressured to explain how she will use the power she seeks.)
Harris endlessly proclaims: “I believe in the fundamental freedom of Americans to make decisions about their own bodies and not have the government tell them what to do.” Unless, of course, politicians want to forcibly inject citizens with experimental vaccines. Harris has shown no remorse for the vaccine mandate that Biden decreed after he falsely promised that the vaccines would prevent Americans from getting or transmitting Covid.
The key to Kamala Freedom is that government victims don’t count—they simply don’t exist for official scoring. Thousands of women were wrongfully fired for refusing to comply with Biden’s illegal vaccine mandate, which he issued in September 2021 and which the Supreme Court struck down in January 2022 (except for health care workers). But, unlike the women who oppose limits on abortion, those who lost their jobs due to illegal vaccine mandates have been totally ignored by Harris and other politicians.
A Harris campaign video promised to deliver “freedom from extremism.” In Washington, anyone who doesn’t worship government is considered an extremist. Distrusting the federal government is extremism at its worst. So Americans won’t have true freedom until politicians forcibly suppress any idea they label as immoderate.
Harris is hellbent on giving Americans “freedom from misinformation,” regardless of how many people must be muzzled. In her first presidential campaign in 2019, Harris vowed to crack down on social media companies that refused to kowtow: “If you don’t police your platforms, we are going to hold you accountable.” Her Vice Presidential nominee, Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Walz, bluntly declared, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy.” But the First Amendment explicitly bans any federal Ministry of Truth. Harris effectively ignored the federal court decisions condemning the sweeping covert censorship by the Biden administration.
Harris has also promised Americans “the freedom to simply be.” Does she intend to provide new subsidies for psychobabble? Will Harris appoint a “Simply Be Czar”?
Harris promises liberty via unleashing Leviathan. And there is no danger to freedom because Harris is the best friend and protector that any citizen could want. Well, at least any good citizen—defined as people who submit and live as they are told. But how can doubtful citizens have “freedom from fear” that their rulers think they are garbage, as President Biden said of all Trump supporters on Tuesday night?
Kamala Freedom is simply a new label for old-time paternalism. It presumes that citizens will be better off forced to rely on political promises rather than inviolable legal and constitutional rights. And if Kamala wins, any cavils about the wisdom of that switcheroo could vanish very quickly.
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