Fifth Column (Op-Ed By James V. Ferguson, MD)

Never underestimate Joe Biden’s ability to [foul] things up. ~ Barack Obama

Image Credit: PeakPX / Public Domain

By James V. Ferguson, MD (contributor to the Tennessee Conservative) –

For the first thirty years of my life I was busy growing up, getting an education, then getting married, starting a medical practice and a family. As a result, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to world events and politics. I remember big events like my parents taking me out of elementary school during the Cuban missile crisis, and filling the bathtub with water in case of a nuclear attack. I remember the Watts riots, the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Vietnam War and the counterculture protests. 

I have paid attention for the last forty-two years, and I’ve never seen anything like the destruction of our once proud country.

Some have attributed the destruction to liberal Democrat insanity or miseducation of our youth and citizens. Actually, I hope they’re right because these are potentially correctable or treatable with a change of leadership and policy. 

My job as an internist was to diagnose what was wrong with my patients and treat them. Sometimes I understood how an illness happened. But, the fundamental question was why disease occurred. If you’re interested in how our destruction began and why we’re in a mess, search the archives of the Knoxville Focus (knoxfocus.com) for a column I wrote last year entitled What Happened?  

I’m no longer confident that even a dramatic election will change the decline of our nation, and certainly not in my lifetime. We have sunk that low. There is a root cause for our national disaster. It is called cultural Marxism and it is pervasive.

During my traveling years, I searched the world for an alternative to America. There is none. This is my home and where I’ll make my stand. The old saw goes, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” I hope so. My duty is to use my weekly column to speak the truth and call out liars and tyrants, at least until they take away my voice. 

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) General Emilio Mola Vidal coined the now famous concept of a “fifth column.” Vidal was a general of fascist Francisco Franco’s army fighting the elected, liberal government of Spain. As Vidal’s four army columns approached the capital Madrid, the general referred to his militant supporters within the capital, who were engaged in undermining the loyalist government from within, as his “fifth column.”

Webster defines a fifth column as any faction of persons within a group who secretly sympathizes with an enemy, and especially those who engage in activities harmful to the group. 

History is important. The Founders knew it. They studied history, especially the abuses of democracy, a term not found in the Declaration of Independence or The Constitution. The early Greek democracies were violent with abuses by the majorities. This is why The Founders fashioned a republic for us, a system of government predicated on the rule of law. 

I’ve grown up and now also realize that politics is important. The word derives from the Greek polis, the ancient city-state (country). To paraphrase Pericles (the statesman and leader of Athens), those who say they have no business in politics, we would say they have no business here at all. In many ways, this describes the “silent majority” in America. However, I’m not sure they are the majority any longer. And if they are still out there, it is past time to be silent or disengaged.

A vocal minority can control opinion, like a tail wagging the dog. The left understands this manner of asymmetric political warfare. The media is an obvious example of this truth. The dysfunctional educational system is another example where our youth have been indoctrinated in leftist ideology of class warfare instead of being educated and learning to think. This ideology has its roots in cultural Marxism and the Frankfurt School. 

Recently, I was “reeducated” in left-right terminology. In parliamentary systems the liberal faction is seated on the left and the conservative elements on the right. The seating is mere convention, but the policies and ideologies are real. Today, “Democrats”are seated on the left, although John F. Kennedy Democrats are all but gone. They have been replaced by leftists like AOC and her “Squad.” These are the tails that wag the proverbial Democrat “dog.” 

Neither liberals or progressives are necessarily leftists. The latter are anti-American, anti-capitalism and socialist. Leftists believe in open borders and “world citizenry.” They are intolerant of ideas or speech with which they disagree, and they promote Marxist economic and racial class warfare. 

Leftists are everywhere and now out in the open, and lauded by their lackeys at CNN, MSNBC, NYT, etc. And even more subversive are those who pull the strings of the Potemkin President. An example is the number two at the State Department, Victoria Nuland. A promoter of the Russian collusion hoax and the absurd Steele Dossier, she is the embodiment of the non-elected “Deep State” subversive. Her leftist ideology compliments the fifth column anti-American cabal.

Part of the solution to our problems is identification of leftists and their agenda. We also must have the courage to stand up and say, “No!” to the lies of, for instance, “Bidenomics.” And there are so many other lies and lunacies. Folks, sex is biological. That’s science. Gender is a social construct. And listening to a child who wants gender reassignment surgery is as perverse as abortion up to the time of birth. 

Charles Dickens’ famous lines, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times,” resonates with me. Despite my concerns for country and family, I am holding up. There are good people out there, notably the “sweetheart”of KUB (Knoxville Utilities Board). I was told that my wife is listed “as a very nice lady” on KUB’s site for service reps. I agree! 

I still have faith in the goodness of sane Americans. They just need to be awakened, and that is my mission. Perhaps it just hasn’t gotten bad enough yet. However, I’m encouraged that many are finally crying out against Democrat policies which have produced illegal invasion, crime, drugs, gender insanity and Bidenomics. Let’s pray this translates into votes and a change in direction. If not, we’re done.  

*Adapted from an article that recently appeared in the Knoxville Focus. Printed here by permission from the Author.

About the Author: Jim is a native of Knoxville, practicing Internal Medicine for more than 40 years, prior to retiring in 2020. Along with learning to become a “gentleman farmer,” he has written essays for the conservative weekly Knoxville Focus since 2007.