Kontos Column: I tell you this because I love you
By Dan Kontos
If you are a regular reader of my Metro Wire columns, you know that I have tried to convince my more liberal readers of the value of a more conservative point of view.
You know that I love the people of Central Wisconsin, but many of you frustrate me with your blind dedication to the Democrat Party, even if you live your personal life as something else.
I have come to the realization that perhaps my attempts are in vain. Perhaps I should concentrate on focusing on a different tactic. Sadly, this means that I must abandon many of my efforts to persuade some lost souls. That thought bothers me so because as a Christian I was raised to love my fellow man, even those who hate me. And I certainly do.
So, I must tell you, because I love you, that I need to be honest with some of you. You are being played, and you don’t even know it.
Before I received my first degree in Political Science or Public Administration, before I was granted my first security clearance, I became familiar with a Russian term. That is the полезный идиот, pronounced similarly to pole-E-ez-ni E-D-ought. Translation: “useful idiot,” or UI for short, as we say in the West.
The term means a naive or gullible person who can be manipulated or easily persuaded to advance a cause or political agenda without fully comprehending the cause’s goals or effects, and who is cynically used by others to blindly advance the agenda even at the cost of their own demise.
While the phrase dates back to the 1800s, Vladimir Lenin was credited with reviving the term in the early 1940s and using it to describe people of a non-communist country sympathetic to communism who were regarded as gullible and susceptible to manipulation for propaganda or other purposes.
Sadly, many of our fellow citizens have fallen into the role of a UI. This explains how normally right-thinking members of our own society can pursue lines of “reasoning” that run contrary to all actual evidence or logic. They have been sold the big lie, and they believe it wholeheartedly.
To satisfy my own need to reach out just one more time, as painful as it is, I need to tell many of my fellow citizens that you are indeed a UI. Now, the next question: Is that you?
Not sure if you are trapped in a self-obscuring loop of illogic and deceit? I have taken the liberty of drafting a little quiz for you to take if you are so brave, or curious, or both. You may need some paper to keep score.
Start with zero points. We will review your total at the end.
First, add one point if you believe that the US Constitution is a “living document.” Add two points if you think the Constitution should be suspended during a pandemic. If you think the Constitution is outdated and should be scrapped altogether congratulations; you can stop here – you are a confirmed UI.
Now add one point if you thought the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was a success in any way. Add one more point if you didn’t realize that American citizens are still involuntarily trapped there today. Subtract one point if you knew that your government is actively fighting efforts by private citizens to rescue them.
Add one point if you think elected and other high-ranking government officials have an inherent superior understanding of where our nation should be heading. Add another point if you think our country is heading in the right direction. Add yet one more point if you trust the mainstream media to be unbiased.
Add one point if you still have a Biden/Harris sticker on your vehicle. Subtract one point if you removed it already. Subtract two points if you left it on, but wrote “SORRY,” “MY BAD,” or some similar message across it in bold letters.
Add one point if you believe that “my body, my choice” should apply to women who want to abort their unborn baby, but should not apply to people who want to control what substances are injected into their bodies. Add one additional point if you support abortions, but oppose capital punishment.
Add one point if you support the government and businesses firing employees for not becoming vaccinated. If you just added a point, then add one more if you also have no concerns that untold illegal aliens and Afghan refugees are permitted into the country without being vaccinated.
Add one point if you believe that “the science” supports the proposition that wearing a mask will protect you from COVID-19. Add another point if you think that a mask on someone else will also protect you from COVID-19. Add even one more point if you wear a mask so people will not confuse you for a Republican, an anti-vaxxer, or simply so that people will leave you alone. Add one bonus point if you wear a mask while you are by yourself in your car; you’ve earned it.
Add one point if you believe Googling something and reading online opinion articles and blogs is actual research. Add one more point if your primary source of news is social media. Subtract one point if you are familiar with the term “confirmation bias.”
Add one point if you believe in the use of vaccine passports as proof of vaccine status. Add an additional point if you oppose voter ID requirements as proof of voter eligibility.
Add one point if you think you should be 21 to purchase alcohol or tobacco, yet you believe that 12-year-olds should be given birth control or the morning-after pill without parental consent.
Add one point if you support the banning of assault weapons or high-capacity magazines. Add another point if you are unable to give a concrete definition of what an assault weapon is.
Add one point if you believed the 2020 riots committed by BLM and Antifa were either mostly peaceful or were in some way justified. Add one more point if you believe the January 6th “insurrection” was the worst attack on the United States in history. Subtract one point if you can name just one previous attack on the Capital.
Subtract two points if you can name one police officer killed during the January 6 “insurrection.” Careful, this is a trick question. Now, subtract one point if you can name the only person who actually was killed.
Add one point if you believe that most fact-checking outlets (like Politifact, Snopes, Facebook, AP Fact Check, or WashPost) are unbiased.
Subtract one point as a reward if you made it this far in the quiz. Your perseverance has not gone unnoticed.
Add one point if you believe that school boards have the children’s best interest at heart more than their parents do. Add one more point if you believe parents should have no say in what is taught in our schools.
Add one point if you know what “2SLGBTQNIA+” means. Add one more point if you just added a point, but really don’t actually know exactly what it means – you just did it because you think that you are expected to know what it means. Subtract one point if you really don’t care what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own bedroom.
Add one point if you have ever seriously used the term “birthing person” in a sentence. Add another point if you think that women are not the only people that can give birth or get an abortion.
Add one point if you believe that people should be treated differently merely because of the color of their skin, rather than by what they actually do. Add another point if you think that minorities can’t make it without governmental help, except for Asians trying to get into college.
Add one point if you think the United States is a systemically racist nation. Add one point if you think that China is not. Subtract one point if you know who the Uyghurs are.
Add one point if you believe the United States was founded on slavery. Add one more point if you believe most people were enslaved by evil white Europeans. Subtract one point if you know that millions of people are estimated to be in some form of modern-day slavery, mostly in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific region.
Add one point if you don’t use your turn signal. Ah, never mind, don’t do that. I’m just kidding. But seriously, you really should use them.
Add one point if you support the censoring of “misinformation” or “hate speech” by social media. Add another point if you support the government promoting or helping with this.
Add one point if you think that free-market economies (i.e. capitalism) are failed systems. Add two additional points if you think that socialism is a superior system to free markets. Add three more points if you support communist systems.
Add one point if you ever wore a shirt with a favorable image of Che Guevara, Mao Tse-Tung, or Fidel Castro. Subtract one point if you own a shirt with an American flag on it.
Subtract one point if you have ever heard of the term useful idiot before reading this column. If not, no worries, there is no penalty.
Now, stop. Reflect for 10 seconds, and then move on…
Subtract two points if any of these items made you pause for a moment and reconsider your position. There may be hope for you after all.
If you scored zero or below, you are good to go; nice job. If you scored one to five, there may be hope for you after all; let’s talk later. If you scored six to ten, I’m seriously worried about you; but all hope is not lost, yet. More than that, I’m sorry to tell you, but you are well on your way to UI status. I had to tell you—because I love you.
It’s time for us to put cutesy time behind us and speak the truth, no matter how much it hurts. Pray for our fellow citizens still in Afghanistan, back the Blue, support our military, implore God Almighty to save our nation, and #LGB. Until next time, God bless.
Dan Kontos is a paid columnist for the Metro Wire. He chooses his own topics and his opinions do not necessarily represent the staff of the Metro Wire. He lives with his family in Whiting.
We are seeking a liberal columnist. Anyone with interest should email [email protected].