Riots, Intolerance, Censorship and the Destruction of American Culture.

 The protests and riots of the past few weeks and the calls for the total overhaul and transformation of American culture into something that pleases them and punishes their perceived enemies is illustrative of several things; bullying, cowardice, inconsistency and a desire to create racial strife where it did not exist before. It is hard to know where to start.

First of all, what gives Black Lives Matter, Antifa, 'woke' people, gays, transgenders or any other group, or confederation thereof, the right to be the sole arbiters of what is acceptable in American culture? What ever happened to freedom of expression? Why is it only the movies and music they enjoy that are worthy of inclusion, why only statues or art representing their viewpoint may be displayed, why is it only things that offend them need to be removed from the public consciousness? Their selective outrage is infuriating. They will deface and destroy statues of men like Robert E. Lee yet ignore ones to Margret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood and preacher of black genocide (statue in the Smithsonian), Democrat senator Robert Byrd, KKK leader and segregationist (statue in capitol building, Charleston WV), Che Guevera, murderer, communist (I repeat myself) and racist who wanted to nuke New York (statue in NY!) and Vladimir Lenin, communist, who deported or murdered minority populations (statue in Seattle). And they want to remove Gone With The Wind and take guns out of the hands of Elmer Fudd yet the rap music that echoes loudly in every minority neighborhood glorifies violence, sexism and racism. “Piss Christ” can offend Catholics (and all Christians) and the left just shrugs and says 'get over it' but the Stars and Bars....that is an outrage that must lead to boycotts, firings and resignations! Blacks have Black Entertainment Television to give their race and culture an exclusive voice. Do we need 'White Entertainment Television' so we can see Gone with the Wind, Blazing Saddles, The Help or Yosemite Sam's six shooter? My God that's racist! you say. Why is BET not racist but WET would be? Freedom of expression is the same as freedom of speech, it is the offensive that must be protected for it to have any meaning. If tolerance is only one way, then freedom doesn't really exist, does it?

While there is a small minority of leftist anti Americans providing the spark and momentum for the riots, the larger protests and their calls for radical cultural changes and their expressions of militant intolerance are a result of our culture of victimhood. Our current politics needs to create victims so the politicians will have a cause to champion and a consistent voting block to support their totalitarian efforts. This has been going on for decades and has been wildly successful. They have made victims from every racial minority, women, gays, and when they ran out of aggrieved groups they created more minorities by inventing a whole new assortment of genders. But just like socialism requires a group that still produces from whom they can steal, so the ideology of victimhood requires a group of oppressors - and the only group left are men of European descent. However, there is a problem. The oppressors don't, and actually can't, oppress anyone. There is no slavery (and the ancestors of most white men arrived after slavery was abolished-i.e. never owned slaves), no legal form of discrimination (save affirmative action which oppresses the so-called oppressors) and today very, very few whites harbor any racist attitudes. So victimhood has been transformed not to mean the victims of actual physical or economic harm but mental harm, being a victim of some offense. And since there are so many groups of victims each of them compete for attention by looking for things to be offended about, from the blatant to the ridiculously subtle. For when they run out of things that are actually offensive they contrive them by labeling offensive not what is actually said (or done) but how it is perceived by those looking to be offended. If all that is left is their subjective opinion of course they are going to find everything offensive to reinforce their worldview! It is sad that those who spend their lives seeking to be offended consider themselves so weak, that they allow the expressions of others they dislike to have such power over them, that their lives are paralyzed and they cannot move on, their existence reduced to a malevolent stagnation while they whine on Twitter and Facebook. (see also 'Trunp Derangement Syndrome) Once upon a time in America it was the overcomers, the rages to riches stories, the explores who braved the harshest environments and demonstrated the greatest endurance, who were our heroes. Now we glorify poor offended souls who suffer largely due to their own actions or downright stupidity, seeking anyone to blame other than themselves and their choices.

Our problem in America, as we are watching our nation being ripped apart and burnt down by those who desire it to be rebuilt in a form unrecognizable as a free country, is we have become complicit. The majority of Americans who are not racist (or sexist or homophobic) have either 1. bought the lie that they really are, they just don't realize it, or 2. are too cowardly to stand up against the bullying and risk having the scarlet 'R' pinned on them by radicals and troublemakers. The result is we are letting ourselves be silenced. Watching those idiotic people bowing down before Black Lives Matter absolutely infuriates me! We should not be bowing before any man or woman; after all, we are all supposed to be equal, are we not? And I am not going to be cowed by accusations of my white guilt. I have nothing to be guilty for. I have never owned a slave, I have not discriminated, I am not a racist. I refuse to apologize for an offense I have never given, the demand itself offends my humanity! Is it not the most racist thing in the world to condemn an entire race for the actions of a small minority centuries ago?!

I refuse to accept guilt for the actions of others. One of the great principles of the American experiment is that there are no hereditary titles, each man or woman is judged solely upon his or her individual actions, not on those of their ancestors no matter who they were or what they had done, good or evil. I am sure no black man wants to be judged by the worst criminals of his race; I would expect him or her to be offended if I looked upon him as just a potential looter and arsonist based on the current actions of a minority of others. So I am rightly offended if a black person looks at me and assumes my guilt, my racism. It is this assumption of inherent racial guilt revived and dramatized by black race baiters and bullies that is destroying race relations in this country by creating suspicions on both sides yet allowing only one to claim validity for its assertions. The end result of all these violent protests which ignore evidence and their own inconsistencies is to create racism, pulling us backwards and apart as a people for the purpose of destroying that which is most valuable in our country.

I for one will not go silently into this dystopian nightmare where the only expressions of art, politics and opinion are those which are acceptable to anti-American leftists, race baiters, thin skinned snowflakes, radical feminists and global warming environmentalists. No! No! No! The left and the protesters want to be the censors, the blacklisters, the arbiters of all expression. They want the right to redefine the meaning of our common words and symbols, removing all that fail to meet with their subjective and irrational approval. I refuse to acquiesce to their demands, I refuse to bow down for their ludicrous and preposterous claims about me, I refuse to be bullied or intimidated. You know what, this is my county too! I am allowed my own opinions, I am allowed my own expressions, I am allowed to decide what I find valuable and what I consider rubbish or offensive. I am allowed to interpret the meaning of our common cultural expressions and national symbols for myself and if I perceive a lack of respect for what I consider valuable, I have a right to voice my opinion. What ever happened to the ideal of tolerance...for everyone? I have a right to appreciate our common national history, good and bad. Without our scars, how will we appreciate our survival and growth as a people? If we reject everyone who contributed to advancing the American cause for their flaws, we will have no history! Will we reject the idealism of Thomas Jefferson and burn the Declaration of Independence because he owned slaves? Will we reject the Emancipation Proclamation because Abraham Lincoln advocated sending blacks back to Africa? These men represent the great contradiction of a bygone era, men who could display the finest virtues, promulgate the loftiest ideals, yet sustain an evil institution. Our admiration of the virtues does not excuse the vice but nor does the vice negate the virtues and the value of the ideals. If BLM erases all history except that which they approve of, when their children and grandchildren ask them why they are so aggrieved, what will they tell them? There will be nothing left to support their claims! Isn't that why Auschwitz still stands? To remind the whole world to say 'Never Again!'

So I ask you, are you duped, or a coward? Are you going to stand up for the truth, for that which is valuable in American culture, for freedom of expression? If the people of Virginia believe a statue of Robert E. Lee is a valuable part of their history, fight fire with fire. Show up and protect it, demonstrate your commitment to your history. If you believe that the vast majority of police are good people doing an increasingly impossible job, show your appreciation. If you think Gone With The Wind should not be blacklisted because a bunch of protesters said so, flood HBO with letters and e-mails or cancel your subscription. Stand with men like the Chicago police chief who threatened to fire any officer who knelt with protesters. Applaud the Florida sheriff who encouraged his citizens to protect themselves from thugs and looters. The bullies of BLM, Antifa and the left are organized and committed and they only have power because we give it to them through our silence or, God forbid, cowardly approval. We need to stop allowing their dominance! Business owners, stop bowing to their demands! We need to stand behind the courageous and punish the cowardly. There are many more of us than there are of them, they just look powerful because the leftist media portrays them that way. If we do not organize and find our courage, we will finally lose our country once and for all. This is either the end or a new beginning. The choice is ours.