Posted on 08/14/2017 12:58:26 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
This past weekend I was honored to be in a most picturesque place with some great and hospitable folks ib Prescott (Yavapai County) Arizona. I was there to address the Republican Women of Prescott, the nation’s largest Republican women’s club, on their 75th anniversary. The scenery there was just breathtaking and there was just a sense of solemnness that we all need experience from time to time. How great a contrast it was from what was happening across the country in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Let me begin by saying, I deplore any form of supremacist view — white, black, Hispanic, Islamic. I will be the first to openly state and embrace, a sense of American exceptionalism and supremacy that is rooted in our founding principles and values. Any and all else that is contradictory is to be condemned. What I have witnessed post the events of Saturday 12 August is the typical Rahm Emanuel mentality and political posturing: “never let a good crisis go to waste.” Therefore, I seek to assess what really happened in Charlottesville, Virginia.
This past weekend I was honored to be in a most picturesque place with some great and hospitable folks ib Prescott (Yavapai County) Arizona. I was there to address the Republican Women of Prescott, the nation’s largest Republican women’s club, on their 75th anniversary. The scenery there was just breathtaking and there was just a sense of solemnness that we all need experience from time to time. How great a contrast it was from what was happening across the country in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Let me begin by saying, I deplore any form of supremacist view — white, black, Hispanic, Islamic. I will be the first to openly state and embrace, a sense of American exceptionalism and supremacy that is rooted in our founding principles and values. Any and all else that is contradictory is to be condemned. What I have witnessed post the events of Saturday 12 August is the typical Rahm Emanuel mentality and political posturing: “never let a good crisis go to waste.” Therefore, I seek to assess what really happened in Charlottesville, Virginia.
I certainly did not appreciate former President Barack Obama taking a photo op in Cuba before the image of Che Guevara, nor do I enjoy seeing anyone wearing said image on t-shirts here in America…but I do not go into some whimsical state of “oppression.” And so it is that we do possess in this Constitutional Republic a freedom of speech and freedom of expression. It would appear that said group who didn’t wish to see the statue of Virginian, General Robert E. Lee, who was a commissioned U.S. Army officer, graduate of West Point, and served the nation in the Mexican War, taken down did apply for a permit to hold a rally. We can dislike these individuals, but they took proper measures to secure permission to express their First Amendment right. Contrary to their position, the word went out for a counter-protest to occur which included groups from a different side of the political spectrum, who have also been very guilty of hateful rhetoric and violence. What should have happened is that these two groups should have been kept miles apart. I do not understanding why any local law enforcement agency would allow these two groups close proximity…first lesson learned. And we must also ascertain, did the counter-protest group seek permit or did they just “show up” in order to provoke, and elicit a response they could use “politically?” Yes, motivations are important to understand in this case, if we’re serious about getting to the bottom of what happened in Charlottesville and not just the typical media-driven frenzy.
I find it rather odd that so many are seeking to lay blame on President Trump for what happened in Charlottesville. And there are some voices out there who want to blame all white people, and all Republicans. How odd that when it was the New Black Panther Party outside a voting precinct in Philadelphia in black fatigues and with clubs, nothing was said. As a matter of fact, they weren’t even prosecuted for voter intimidation. And when it was the riots in Ferguson and Baltimore fueled by media false narratives and a presidential administration’s rhetoric, there was no blame laid on Barack Obama. It appears to me that there is a blatant hypocrisy when an individual commits a horrible crime, such as in Charleston, South Carolina, and a collective group of people are to be held accountable. But, when there’s an Islamic terror attack people say, “we cannot rush to judgment” or “this is not indicative of all Muslims”…to wit I agree, but why not call the enemy for what it is” militant Islamic terrorism or jihadism? Why must some be browbeaten into condemning the actions of a few, yet we have others who have fully admitted their support to groups calling for a “resistance?” And where were the voices to condemn the violence in Washington DC on Inauguration Day, or even at UC-Berkeley…or the violence committed against those who support the current president or hold beliefs aligned with Constitutional conservatism? If we want to condemn groups such as the neo-Nazis and others, then we must also condemn groups such as BLM and Antifa. And we need to stop the cherrypicking, as they all should be investigated. Let’s end this absurdity of trying to connect the Republican Party with the Ku Klux Klan, since it was a creation of the Democrat Party. And I seem to recall Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, infamously known as a grand wizard of the Klan, lauded over at his memorial by Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton. It was Senator Byrd who was vehemently against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but it was Republican Senator Everett Dirksen who supported its passage.
James Alex Fields will be punished to the full extent of the law, and I truly believe he should never see the light of day again. But if we blindly do not realize there has been an atmosphere of hatred fomented in this nation, we are ignorant. Who even remembers the fella who attempted to gun down several Republican Members of Congress at a baseball practice, severely wounding Rep. Steve Scalise? The mainstream liberal progressive media pushed that aside rather quickly, and let us not forget MSNBC commentator, Joy Reid, who on her Sunday show actually sought to justify Rep. Scalise’s shooting because of his voting record. Now, where was the condemnation there, and why is it that Ms. Reid still has a position and a show on that network? Fareed Zakaria praised the Central Park play depicting the “Caesar-like” stabbing to death of President Trump — last time I checked he was still on CNN. And how many Democrat elected officials were pressured into making statements of condemnation of one Kathy Griffith who notoriously held up the bloodied severed head resembling President Trump? There’s plenty of guilt to be passed around here, but the progressive socialist left will sadly exploit this for all they can. They will horribly believe this will provide them some sort of electoral advantage. They fail to realize they’re just as complicit in what happened in Charlottesville. Let me ask that age-old rhetorical question: “if a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there, does it make a sound?” If we were to go back and ponder this incident and just let a small group of disaffected individuals hold a rally to protest the possible taking down of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, and no one had showed up…Instead a call went out and trouble, violence ensued. Or maybe, if we had courageous elected officials who would just say, those statues aren’t offending anyone; they’re part of American history, and they stay. Imagine that, would there even be a story, any rally, and violence? What happened in Charlottesville must not be allowed to happen again. And that means we need to hold ANY group responsible that promotes violence. “What do we want, dead cops; when do we want them, now”…”Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon”…no more. Our streets aren’t the place for hoods and masks, such as Antifa wears, and their violence and destruction of property. Let’s call them all out, and not have this selective enforcement mentality rooted in partisan political hackery. If we don’t stop the blatant hypocrisy, which is truly the problem, then we’re sitting on a powder keg — which I believe some wish for. I have an idea. If y’all want to fight, sign up in the U.S. military — if you meet the standards. There are plenty of folks who do indeed hate the United States. Channel your angst against them…not each other.
“There are plenty of folks who do indeed hate the United States. Channel your angst against them…not each other.”
Well spoken, Colonel.
Why I there no reporting on the Seattle march? The left is out of control there with no violence from the right. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/washington/articles/2017-08-13/the-latest-arrests-in-seattle-amid-dueling-demonstrations
Boom!
Ib? Really?
Maybe related to Eb from Green Acres?
If you’re going to try to write a high-minded moral tome, then at least give some lip service to the foundational principle of law, innocent until proven guilty.
Nobody yet knows what the arrested suspect actually did, or why he did it. Maybe he was confused, maybe he had a medical issue, maybe he was insane. A trial will explore all of these possibilities as well as the prosecution’s theory of the case, and perhaps the guy will “never see the light of day” but until that trial finishes, nobody should pass judgement. The videos are incomplete and in any case prove nothing directly.
<< Ib? really? >>
Spelchek is for luzers.
Allen West lost me with the following comment....
“James Alex Fields will be punished to the full extent of the law, and I truly believe he should never see the light of day again.”
Can we at least wait until this investigation of what happened and why it happened is complete, and have a trial first?
” the foundational principle of law, innocent until proven guilty”
That principle only applies in court. Because the state has vast resources, the burden of proof is on the state. Our courts intentionally are biased toward letting the guilty go free since the alternative would be to have more innocent people go to jail.
I think OJ is a murderer. He was acquitted in criminal court (beyond a reasonable doubt) and convicted in civil court (preponderance of the evidence). But I was free to PERSONALLY decide he was guilty before the trial. After all, if I was wrong, he would suffer no loss.
Sorry Col West. Jesus is Lord. There is the only supremacy needed, but if you don’t think it is supreme, don’t call yourself one either.
Thank you for bringing this up. I have heard more than a few people today who have decided this guy needs the death sentence prior to a trial.
Trump should have picked Allen West as VP
Excellent piece.
One thing that I think it’s worth pointing out about Lee, just in passing, is that he was a great general, fair and honorable to those he defeated - and when his cause itself was defeated, he settled down as a good citizen of the United States and did his duty. Not like the Dems and the left, who are so enraged that they lost that they won’t accept it and are out fomenting violence like this.
Amen!
Make THAT man the Press Secretary.
Would love to see him run again, this time against Bill Nelson for US Senate. ........................... Many would agree*, but West moved to Texas.
* Don’t count on the S/E coast and I 44.
This and similar columns will never see the pages of the WP or the NYT. The mass leftist media has already set the message and are pounding it into all readers. The same can be said for most of the broadcast and cable media.
Wouldn't mind seeing this man as America's first, legitimate black president.
bkmk
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