FODDER FOR YOUR CANNON OF COMMON SENSE
By Andy Weddington
Monday, 27 July 2020
Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you. Alex Haley
While working on a couple of flag painting concept studies in watercolor this morning I was, too, amidst mental gymnastics fine-tuning commentary.
Then came lunch.
About to wander back to the studio came email from a longtime Marine friend; as good a Marine as they come.
Today's title his words.
And his short note followed by the below Open Letter - which I decided since "Open" is license to republish.
I know nothing more about the author than what is offered below.
I do know people, legions of people, who feel similarly.
Most of those people own guns.
And they know how to use their guns. And will use them.
They are good people going about life doing the right things but, make no mistake, they can be "bad"(ass) when necessary.
The legions are losing (if not lost) their sense of humor.
To point, in Texas a rioter pointed a rifle at a man - by default, attempting to impede the man's freedom of movement. Fearing for his life, the man, carrying, shot the rifle bearer dead; the expected outcome. [The man immediately turned himself in to police and is cooperating with the investigators.]
Lesson: Protest, peacefully. Fear not. Riot (including pointing firearms at others) then fear bad consequences.
Whatever on my mind for commentary shelved.
Space relinquished to E. P. Unum with his take on reality and common sense.
By: E.P. Unum July 13, 2020
It is a fact of life in our country today that there are people who live to be offended. They’re called Progressives. They are offended by Confederate statues and the Confederate Flag, by monuments that they say celebrate white supremacy and colonialism, by Trump supporters, by Trump himself, and by those who refuse to get on their knees and grovel before Black Lives Matter.
Well, I am not one of them, and I’ve got a big revelation for them.
Here are ten things for which I will never apologize, and I don’t [care] if you’re offended by any of them:
1. I’m white – I was born white and I don’t feel guilty about slavery, segregation, the Trail of Tears or the treatment of Chinese railroad workers – because (now get this) I didn’t have anything to do with any of these. I’m no more responsible for these injustices than the Indian of today is responsible for the Black Hole of Calcutta. The idea of racial guilt is absurd. White privilege and white supremacy is a myth. Where is the White Miss America Contest, White History Month and White Entertainment Television? Where are the white-only colleges and universities, white-only dating sites or white-only bars and restaurants? Where are the quotas and set-asides for Caucasians? Do we need to address these things? To some degree, yes, but not by rioting, tearing down statues, looting and destroying businesses, changing names of sports teams and products. We can and should address these things with civility and dialogue by all concerned.
2. I love America – I believe in American exceptionalism. America pioneered representative government guided by a written constitution. We fought a war with 620,000 dead to end slavery. We defeated Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan and liberated the death camps. We saved Europe from tyranny, twice, in the 20th century and then, with American investment, innovation, resourcefulness and generosity, rebuilt the economies of 17 nations of Europe and the nation of Japan. Our arms kept communism from conquering the world. Our factories and workshops produced a flood of inventions and products that benefited humanity. We built the greatest most respected medical system in the world and earned more Nobel Prizes in Medicine than any other nation on earth by a factor of ten! What country has done as much – especially in 244 years, a relative hiccup in time?
3. I’m a Christian – I love God and his son Jesus Christ. I am proud of my faith, but I do not wear it on my sleeve. I respect all religions. I also believe in the State of Israel. Modern Israel is a miracle and a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Israel is a beleaguered outpost of civilization in a savage region and a bulwark against the forces of darkness. The next time your physician gives you a shot of penicillin, look up who discovered this miracle drug.
4. My heroes include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt – Washington and Lincoln were indispensable men. Washington defeated the greatest army on earth and led our country for the first quarter-century of its existence. Lincoln saved the Union, abolished slavery and inspired generations with his rhetoric. The Declaration of Independence flames with the eloquence of Thomas Jefferson, arguably the most intelligent man to ever serve as President of the United States. Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, represented the pioneer spirit. Teddy Roosevelt led the charge into the 20th century, the American Century. Together, they gave us a country so free that malcontents like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib can dump on it without fear of reprisal. Indeed, if you listen to all the complaints voiced from all the liberal/progressive democrats and communists like NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio, you are hard pressed to understand why there are so few people leaving our country! It is harder still to understand why, with all of our so called “problems”, millions of people from around the world want to come here!
5. I support our Police, and I believe police officers are generally decent/honorable men and women who are doing a difficult, dangerous, often thankless job – You couldn’t pay me enough today to do it. Besides risking their lives every time they go to work, they bear the added burden of listening to insults shouted at them by spoiled, ungrateful people many of whom are wet behind their ears and probably still wearing diapers. Police today have become the punching bag for the nation and, sadly, they receive little or no respect or support from their superiors and the gaggle of incompetent democratic mayors around the country. And, like our military, they are all that stands between us and the abyss. When the Twin Towers were attacked in New York City on 9/11, we were reminded by liberals to not judge all Muslims by the actions of a few. Yet today, mobs are willing to judge all police by the actions of a few police. Explain that one to me. Defunding the police because of a few “bad apples” is just plain STUPID because the end result will be more crime. If you find that difficult to comprehend, just check the crime statistics for these liberal democratic controlled cities: New York, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Newark, Trenton and check out the number of shootings and stabbings on any given weekend! You would think these cities are in a war zone.
6. I support the Second Amendment, and I own weapons – It’s one of the reasons why Japan thought long and hard about attacking us. It’s a major reason why we’ll never have a Holocaust here. Europe has had the divine right of kings, religious persecution, Communism and Nazism. We have the Second Amendment. The anarchy in our streets, coupled with calls to defund the police, only serve to underscore the need for civilian gun ownership.
7. Reparations are racial plunder. The idea of racial guilt is an obscenity from the dark recesses of 19th century European history – There’s no group in the world that hasn’t been oppressed at some point in time. Will Denmark pay reparations to the English for the Danelaw? Will Mongols and Manchus compensate the Chinese? Will Japan compensate the Chinese for the Rape of Nanjing? How about the English and the Irish, the Mongols and the Russians, the Cossacks and Jews? Will bi-racial Barack Obama take money out of one pocket and put it in another?
8. There are only two genders. Deal with it – Gender is determined at birth by your DNA. Just as you can’t change your DNA, you can’t change your sex. You should not be able to force others to participate in your fantasy. Reality isn’t hateful.
9. I support President Trump and will vote for him in November, 2020 – The president loves this country. He really does have Israel’s back. Who else is strong enough to stand up to China and Iran? Unlike almost everyone else in Washington, as a businessman, he understands finance and the market economy. He’s giving us judges who deliberate instead of legislate. And he has the guts not to be liked. Prior to COVID-19, President Trump built the greatest most prosperous economy in the world and he gave power back to the people. He understands that we are a people who happen to have a government, not the other way around, and this American experiment in which government derives its just power from the consent of the governed is still the most unique, treasured and progressive form of government in the history of mankind.
10. You have a right to disagree with me, but you do not have a right to try to silence me – Being offended doesn’t trump the First Amendment. Attacking statues and assaulting those with different values is the kind of thing we saw in Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Russia. Generations of Americans died for freedom of speech, not freedom to suppress speech. To say you’re offended is merely an attempt to prioritize your feelings above everyone and everything else. It’s not an argument, but a call to end discussion – an admission of intellectual impotence. Being offended isn’t a mark of virtue; it’s a sign that you’re a big, blubbering baby who will throw a tantrum if you can’t get your way. Wagging fingers and shouting obscenities at me is just plain disrespectful, and might get you a punch in the nose. Sadly, that is what we see today with liberals and progressives. They do not maintain a dialogue, they respond with insults and attacks, and that is fundamentally because they have not done their homework, are poorly educated, lack historical perspective and context and have no inclination or desire to reason. We have the right to disagree… but what I see taking place in our country today is simply not right from any reasonable perspective. Many in politics have lost their sanity for political reasons. I heard AOC state this morning that the Riots and looting are taking place because of the pandemic.. people don’t have food, so they have to riot. Does anyone believe this dribble? For what food were they looking at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Macys, Gucci, Louis Vuitton , etc? I may be wrong, but I would bet that the Reverend Martin Luther King is looking down from Heaven at all the rioting looting, black on black killing, BLM and saying to himself, “I can’t believe I died for this.
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