Indeed, the hard left knows it cannot possibly keep its machinations under wraps as they have in the past. Before the COVID-19 pandemic became a thing, school districts were already injecting so-called progressive ideas regarding gender identity and sexuality without parents knowing. It was only when children were forced to learn from home that parents discovered what teachers were presenting to their children.

One of the ways progressives have pushed back against the inevitable backlash is to cow people into remaining silent on the issue. Indeed, they label people as “transphobes” and bigots. They emotionally blackmail parents and others into believing that if children are not allowed to receive “gender-affirming care,” which includes puberty blockers and even surgical treatments, their kids will end up committing suicide.

But even worse, those who showed up to protest at school board meetings to protest, among other things, the troubling material being presented in K-12 classrooms were labeled as extremists. Indeed, we all remember when the Department of Justice collaborated with the National School Board Association to portray them as “domestic terrorists,” don’t we?

It was recently revealed that the American Medical Association (AMA), along with other organizations, wrote a letter to the Justice Department making a similar request. They urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch criminal investigations into journalists who have been busy exposing how medical facilities are encouraging minors to undergo questionable “gender-affirming care” and performing “top surgeries” on young girls.

Of course, these groups are claiming conservative journalists and news outlets who have reported on these matters are somehow guilty of inciting violence, which is the excuse they suggest the Justice Department use to justify such a tyrannical move. So far, Garland has not indicated whether he will acquiesce to the request, but it is not difficult to see what progressives are attempting to do here.

They have now sought to use the Justice Department on two occasions to intimidate those opposing their bid to make it acceptable to perform irreversible treatments and surgeries on minor children who are not even allowed to drink, vote, and in many cases, drive. After all, if you have to worry about federal stormtroopers showing up at your door because you’re speaking out against mutilating children, you might be less likely to say something, right?

But these tactics signal an underlying reality the progressive crowd would rather keep hidden: Their arguments defending these practices do not stand up to scrutiny. This was evidenced during an interview Jon Stewart held with Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.

Stewart pressed her on why she was not listening to the guidance of the state’s medical authorities when it comes to allowing “gender-affirming care” for minors. At one point, he asked her whether she would trust a pediatrician’s advice if her child became ill with cancer. She, like any other parent, answered that if she did not trust the doctor’s advice, she would get a second opinion.

But there’s an even better answer to that ridiculous question.

If a child expresses symptoms of gender dysphoria, any doctor that immediately suggests damaging medical treatments and lopping off body parts should probably not be trusted, given the fact that the vast majority of children grow out of it. Instead of pushing them to go on puberty blockers, it makes more sense to use talk therapy and the “wait and see” approach.

Almost every argument in favor of transitioning children is just as easy to knock down. This is why progressives try to obfuscate the issue by pretending it’s not really happening or frightening people into silence. Unfortunately for them, this isn’t simply a matter of policy disagreement. Progressives are messing with people’s kids. No level of threats is going to keep people quiet once they realize what is going on. This is what makes me believe we have a fighting chance in this battle.