There’s a new icon on the conservative right, and his name is Michael Cassidy.
Last week, the former military officer descended upon the Iowa State Capitol, marched up to the obnoxious statue of Baphomet (strategically placed by the Satanic Temple), pushed it to the ground, and aggressively decapitated it, discarding the head in a nearby trash can.
Cassidy made waves by actually doing what thousands and thousands of Americans have felt like doing for a very long time. His actions embody decades of pent-up rage with a culture that brazenly celebrates evil and punishes anyone with the audacity to resist it.
Do I think this man is a hero? No. I think he’s a shrewd, opportunistic political candidate who zeroed in on an exasperation shared by countless Americans, and I think he should expect to ride the wave of their newfound support all the way to the polls.
But even though I think the antics were short-sighted and may ultimately prove detrimental to true religious liberty (because the entire point of erecting the statue was to evoke conservative outrage that would lead to this kind of response, thereby forcing the powers-that-be to forbid all religious displays, including the nativity scene, so Cassidy essentially played right into their hands), I think the most important thing to zero in on here is this: Americans crave boldness, and they’re desperate for leaders to model it. How the heck do you think we ended up with Donald Trump in the White House?
Conservative frustration
