I cant stand it....I simply cant stand it! Our government, as of late, has taken over where Ringling Brothers left off. Our healthcare system is in even more of a downward spiral than it was in the eighties. Remember HMO's? Our electoral system has failed to reflect the popular vote yet again in two of the last five elections. Our welfare system is failing those who really need it due to it's misuse by those that don't. Taxes will be rising for the middle class even though our administration avidly denies that the tax breaks the upper one percent are drooling over this year will be carried on the backs of the working class next year. The new "Soooo Great" national budget will be making historic cuts to education, public television and radio, prenatal care, women's health services, food stamps, environmental protection, social services and law enforcement, just to name a few. There are more cuts than can be mentioned and they are equally just as shocking. We are closer to an armed engagement than we have been since September 11th. Our intelligence is reporting the highest number of terrorist threats in the last decade. And what does the majority of our population choose to focus their attention on these past few months?.....Statues.
To be honest, when all this effigy evisceration began a few months ago I had first decided that I wouldn't waste my ink or your time on the matter. It all seemed so ridiculous and idiosyncratic. We've all been down this road of political correctness leading to mock persecution a thousand times over. There's nothing new here. As long as there is some type of memorial that one faction finds offensive while another group does not, there will always be this argument. It's a pointless debate that usually ends in a stalemate and is soon forgotten due to it's futility. As I said, usually, however, for some reason, not this time.
For those of my fellow Observers who may be wondering how this all started this time (I was right there with you until I did some research) on August 12th 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia protesters from several groups, including white supremacists, marched against the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park. Labeling their demonstration as "Unite the Right" and carrying banners stating "White Lives Matter" it is of little wonder that they called a good deal of attention to themselves from liberal and anti-hate groups. More so to the point that many of these aforementioned groups scheduled opposing demonstrations on the same dates and times. The rest, as most of you know, is sad history. Instead of exercising their right to peaceful demonstrations, both sides in this never ending debate of far right and infinite left decided to attempt to settle their differences with outright violence which included the use of rocks, fists, two by fours and the occasional bumper of a good old red white and blue Dodge Charger. Nothing screams "Freedom!" louder than an all American made, 2000lb muscle car running down bleeding heart liberals.
As much to his credit (and I don't give him much) these actions prompted the cat like response from The Orange Wonder (place your Morris pun here) into commenting on the disgraceful display on the part of both factions. Stating that "We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many, many sides." "This has been going on for a long, long time." "It has no place in America." I have to admit that although I have been suffering this narcissistic moron for over the better part of the past 14 months, the circus peanut in the blue jacket and black pants is absolutely correct. If there is one thing to criticize this corporate CEO impersonating a president for the people over (and there are soooo many) it is not this instance. The blame clearly falls on both sides. Both sides chose to invoke their right to protest. Both sides chose to hold a demonstration. And both sides chose to let the friction between both side's right to exercise their each individual freedom of speech ignite into violence. I personally feel that racism and bigotry are intolerable in any society, but if some organization, group or even a single individual believes those ideals deserve to be represented, who am I or anyone to tell them that they can't voice them. Therein lies the point. Just because one side's opinion is considered to be archaic and ugly and the other is what some feel is morally correct is inconsequential. Both sides have the undisputed right to voice their opinions, therefore both are equally as culpable in regard to the inexcusable actions they took against each other.
What bothers me the most is all the propaganda that followed after the incident. Politicians, celebrities, social media, news broadcasters... all condemning the white supremacists, commending the liberal protesters and criticizing the president for not taking enough action or making a statement that would support and vindicate those who took up arms (in this case stones and bottles) against the racists. As I do so often, I wonder why? Why do so many people not understand that what took place that day was pure hatred from both factions plain and simple? Is that where our morality course is set to? Have we come to the point that certain hatreds are accepted and held in higher regard because the majority of us deem them more righteous than the other? If this is what we are going to hold as a justified concept, we must ask ourselves how we will explain this to our children? This is a no-brainer folks, as it should be. The answer is obvious. Hatred is hatred....period. Until we all figure that out collectively, we will be doomed to repeat these instances over and over and over again.
Why do we continue to look for things that we can use as a scapegoat to blame all the problems that trouble our society instead of focusing on realistic solutions? I've said it before and will probably say it a thousand more time before they wheel me out....Americans love to focus blame on inanimate objects, certain phrases or how we refer to each other. If this statue wasn't there....If we prevented people from flying that flag....If we refrained from using this figure of speech....or if we stopped using trans fats all of our social disorder would magically disappear!! The worst of it all is that a majority of our citizens actually believe that if we remove an object that is being blamed for the discourse, the problem would be finally resolved and our harmony would be restored. But it isn't....it remains, continues to fester and after the situation we have been ignoring ends in bloody violence sprawled out on the evening news, we simply move our attention to another object to blame in order to alleviate our guilt for not addressing the actual cause of the dissention in the first place. And if we're not looking for some piece of granite, slogan, advertisement or flagpole to point an accusing finger at, we rally around some ridiculous cause that has no merit and is devoid of a viable solution. All the recent sexual harassment claims are a perfect example.
Now before you hit the "Gone Too Far" button, please hear me out. You've read this far haven't you? Might as well stick around long enough to post some colorful comments below...but I digress....
The biggest beef I have with these accusations are all the continually regurgitated claims that all these women didn't come forward because they couldn't say anything for fear of losing their job or their promotion or their part. Really?!?!?!....You couldn't say anything twenty years ago....or even ten?!?! I'm sorry, but I find these statements a little hard to digest. I'ts not as if all of this went down in the 50's....Ok...maybe that was a poor choice of words, but it appears to me that the bulk of these occurrences seem to have happened quite recently and doesn't reflect the mentality of how we have perceived and addressed this problem since not long after Carter was in office. For Chrissake! Disclosure came out in 1994 and that movie depicted a man being sexually harassed by a woman all the way back to a time when Michael Douglas and Demi Moore were still considered attractive....Enough to make a movie anyway...you know, lights...makeup...works for the big screen. And if that's not enough for anyone to question the motives of these fifteen minute fornication fakers, I remember watching "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace" videos when I got hired at Burger King. No...that wasn't last month. I was a teenager and although some who have read my articles have suggested that I should still be working there, I left the food service industry in my early twenties and I haven't looked back. That's over three decades ago, my loyal reader, but for some reason...they couldn't say anything....hmmmm....curious.
What is also a mystery to me is that for some reason only celebrities or B-rated celebrities and outright nobodies are accusing famous or successful people of this terrible, dark, hidden tragedy that has to be dragged into the light of justice....Yeah, right!....And just how many zeros are attached to the bottom line of the lawsuit that they filed? Naysayers can label me a chauvinistic uncaring pig with the sexual mentality and attitude of a highschooler all they want, but something keeps nagging at me to submit that these women, some...not all (I would never presume to include children into this group) used their sexuality to get what they were after as much as the men used their position to get what they wanted. Yet another situation where both parties are equally guilty.
And speaking of children....Why is it that the people who have been accused of the most vile offenses are the ones who are not getting hung out to dry by their pedophilic genitals? Funny how all these bozos with blue jean bulges they can't keep their hands off or want other people's hands on (preferably under the voting age) are either holding or seeking public office and no one is doing anything about their transgressions. As a matter of fact, they are defended by their colleagues to the point of nausea. I suppose kissing babies just wasn't enough. The whole situation just frustrates the hell out of me. Can't we just blame the whole thing on Cosby and O'Reilly and be done with it? The point is, is that although there is plenty of evidence to punish those who truly deserve it, we choose instead to fire Matt Lauer and force Al Franken to resign in order to give ourselves false closure to a situation that we can do nothing about. And again we find our scapegoat.
Critics of this article will no doubt pose the questions, What if it was your wife?....Your daughter? What if it was your race?....Your religion? Wouldn't you do something? The answer is, in both cases, most assuredly, yes. If it was my wife, my daughter or even my son I would be adamant in making sure that they came forward immediately when it happened and would stand by them every step of the way. To answer the latter question, I would look upon those monuments, those flags, those figures of speech as an example of how far we have come not how we were. The past remains stagnant. The future is directed by remembering our mistakes....all of them. Not just the ones we feel are not offensive. In truth, I rely on the ugliness of the mistakes to ensure that we do not make them again.... so why would I want to erase the memory of them?
We cannot afford to displace our anger into pieces of hand shaped stone and metal draped in fabricated causes born out of sensationalism and vanity designed to attract attention to them rather than setting a course toward a solution. We have to be able to see these exaggerated outcries for what they really are. Distraction....carefully manipulated misdirection started by a few malcontents and then inflated into serious social issues by the media and our government to take our attention away from working together and keep us fighting among ourselves. That's the path our society has chosen as of late. False apparitions of morality heartily rooted in the soil of self centered thinking, but yet portrayed as worthy bandwagons to jump onto and raise a flag for the so called oppressed. If we continue to ignore what we have already learned in order to justify our hate, the past wont be the only thing to remain stagnant. Strictly an Observation. If you'll excuse me, I have David Copperfield tickets.
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