The American Trucker Convoy Is a Really Bad Idea

Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP

Sometimes an opinion pops into my head that I know probably isn’t going to go over very well with some of the readers here at RedState, but hey, what kind of writer would I be if I was that easily swayed? So, if you disagree with what I’m about to say, live and let die on this one, and our minds will meet back up on the next one.

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And on that note, the American trucker convoy headed toward Washington, D.C., to disrupt Joe Biden’s State of the Union address is a really bad idea.

I know, I know, but hear me out.

No doubt, I was a strong supporter of the Freedom Convoy in Canada. I felt their cause was just and that the crackdown by PM Justin Trudeau was truly authoritarian and disturbing.

The thing about that protest movement, though, was that it had a clear goal: To get rid of the federal vaccine mandate affecting truckers. While the ideological boundaries were stretched at times, it was never a question that the Freedom Convoy was fighting for something tangible and just.

On that note, what is this American trucker convoy protesting? There is no federal vaccine mandate for truckers (or private employees in general) in the United States. COVID-19 mandates at the state level have also been nearly universally lifted. Further, the fact that the U.S. is a republic has always presented a far different dynamic compared to Canada’s top-down, federal control of the populace. In short, you cannot have a successful political movement if it isn’t focused, and if the point is just to bait law enforcement in hopes of getting attention on CNN, that doesn’t seem like a very good reason for its existence.

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Still, the murkier nature of the American trucker convoy wouldn’t normally be enough for me to speak against it. After all, people are free to protest for whatever reason they want, whether I agree with it or not.

Rather, the reason I’m addressing the matter is because of how politically stupid it is.

Understand that Joe Biden is not just on the ropes. He’s been thrown out of the ring already. The president’s latest approval numbers are horrific, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine underway, leading to serious issues abroad and at home, things could actually get worse. It’s not just Biden who’s in the dumps, though. Republicans lead on the congressional generic ballot by a large margin. 2022 is shaping up to be a massive wave year for the GOP.

Given all that, the one thing Biden and Democrats are desperately hoping is a political event to reignite their right-wing, domestic terrorism trope. The biggest gift in the world to the left-right now would be for this trucker convoy to shut down traffic and become a big story, serving as a distraction from Biden’s State of the Union, which is likely to be an utter disaster. When your opponent is drowning, do not throw them a life-ring.

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There are some very selfish elements on the right, and they don’t just exist within the establishment. Be skeptical of anyone pushing something that could actually be counter-productive to your cause. The goal is to survive the Biden administration via obstruction, and the time to be strategic in achieving that goal is now. If Biden’s federal vaccine mandate hadn’t been struck down by the Supreme Court, I’d be on board with an American trucker convoy. But right now, it doesn’t make sense and is handing fodder to a Democrat Party already in full-scale collapse. Let them burn.

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