President Trump has declared war on the liberals. He has designated Antifa as a terrorist organization.

That raises two very important questions:

1. What is the definition of a liberal? (Or for that matter, a conservative?)
2. What is Antifa? Who is their leader? Where are they headquartered? How do you join Antifa? And do you have to pay dues?

Let’s address the first part. We use the terms liberal and conservative all the time. They are often used to marginalize a group of people and accuse them of being the bad guys. But next to Stephen Miller, Mitt Romney is a liberal, and next to Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden is a conservative.

So what does it really mean?

I truly wish we’d stop using those terms and replace them with just calling Americans, Americans.

Because when you get right down to it, we are all Americans with different views on different topics. When people ask me if I’m a liberal or a conservative, my go-to response is “On what topic?”

Because when it comes to some things like fiscal responsibility or a strong military defense, I would consider myself a conservative.

On the other hand, I guess you could call me a liberal when it comes to social issues like food assistance for the poor or improving our immigration laws to allow more people from other lands to live and work peacefully in our country.

And then there are the gray areas. For instance, I believe in the importance of a strong family unit. To some, that would imply I was conservative. But I also think that members of the LGBTQ community can have a solid family and raise good law law-abiding children. So, does that make me a liberal?

I think most people, except the most diehard left and diehard right, feel the same way. But you’d never know that by the way the politicians and much of the media talk.

Because we like to pigeonhole and label people. It’s easier if we put everyone in a group instead of taking time to deal with the nuances of human existence.

Take Charlie Kirk, for instance. Depending on what media you consume, he was either the most horrible person since Stalin, or the holiest person since Mother Theresa.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. Charlie Kirk said some awful, racist, misogynistic, hurtful things. But he also had a strong faith, a loving family, and a countless number of followers whom he inspired. People are complex.

And I am baffled by the whole Antifa thing. I think some believe in Antifa the way that some believe in Bigfoot. They know Antifa is real, even though they’ve never actually seen them. Maybe Antifa needs to get some ball caps and sell merchandise like MAGA does, so we can figure out just who this so-called terrorist organization is.

Are there some anti-fascist anarchists? Of course there are. But are they a well-organized, heavily funded operation? I seriously doubt it.

The fact that they aren’t organized and heavily funded is beside the point. The president has designated Antifa as a terrorist organization, which helps him rally the troops to fight the leftists. It’s all part of an us-vs-them strategy meant to divide us.

We can’t let that happen.

I have been on a crusade for over a decade to try to get people to stop identifying as a Republican or a Democrat and start identifying as Americans. Americans who want what’s best for our country and fellow citizens, even though we may have different ideas on how to get there.

I think most people are kind of like me. I don’t mean they are like me because we agree on everything. I mean, they are like me because they are more liberal on some things, more conservative on others, and somewhere in between on a whole lot of other issues.

President Trump has declared war on liberals. Antifa (whatever that is) is now part of the war on terror. It’s up to us not to fall into the trap and hate someone just because of their political views.

If a gunman or activist commits an act of political violence, we need to realize it was those involved in that action and not everyone who may have the same party affiliation at fault.

President Trump has said he hates his enemies. We, the American people, need to stand up and tell him that we don’t.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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