Today we celebrate the publishing of the Declaration of Independence proclaiming us no longer subject to Great Britain’s rule in 1776. This year it comes at a time when our nation is being shamed by those who supposedly represent us for not living up to our potential or being a racist, evil capitalist society. Some are offended by the mere sight of the American flag, the sound of the National Anthem or the words in the Pledge of Allegiance. What a crock!
For those who wish to malign our nation and way of life, to say we are a systemically racist and oppressive society, I support your freedom to do so as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. But don’t expect me or anyone else to promote your lies and indignation while exercising the same guaranteed rights you are trying to deny to others. Your ability to say these things without legal repercussions is due to the very system YOU are trying to destroy.
Our nation is the shining beacon of freedom it is today because 245 years ago today, patriots from the original 13 colonies decided it was better to live dangerously free than under the relative safety of an oppressive government that no longer represented their interests. Our Bill of Rights, those inalienable Rights unique to the United States of America, have never been duplicated anywhere. Why is very simple. Free people with guaranteed and protected rights are difficult for the government to control. And that my friends, is the whole idea.
Last week I had the occasion to spend some time in several small, rural towns. What struck me was the level of patriotic spirit being displayed in preparation for the Fourth of July. Not only was Old Glory proudly displayed on nearly every home, but also on every single utility pole along the main streets of the towns. Most of these towns will be celebrating with their own small parades and community get-togethers, proudly and respectfully.
Patriotism is not dead or even declining. It is as strong as it ever was and getting stronger every day. The more we are told to be embarrassed by our patriotism and national pride, the more people are waking up to the words written by our Founding Fathers.
Independence Day is for every American, even those who are too foolish to realize it. Be proud of our nation and don’t be afraid to show it. You are the majority, and you are among a nation of patriots.
If you haven’t read the Declaration of Independence lately, today is a good time to do it. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Libertatem diu vivere!
Bob
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Tag: #history
Re-fund The Police
For two months we’ve heard the call to “Defund The Police” and “Reimagine Public Safety” from extremist city councils, mayors and governors who have labeled all law enforcement agencies and every officer a racist. Police budgets are being ‘defunded’ while some cities are actively working to completely abolish their police departments. In the meantime, the remaining officers are being prevented from doing their jobs. While many of the budget cuts have yet to go into effect, we are already seeing the result in these American cities. Every category of crime has skyrocketed. Brutal, random violence has become commonplace.
Maybe it’s time to stop living in this fantasy dreamland and recognize that evil will always exist and if you don’t have the police, that progressive model of a community love is going to be a war zone. Maybe it’s time to stop experimenting with people’s lives and re-fund the police.
The numbers speak for themselves. Chicago homicides have increased 50%, 139% in July alone. Atlanta 240%. New York City 277%. Houston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle have all seen significant spikes in homicides and shootings. And this is ONLY homicides and shootings!
Yet contrast these numbers with areas of the country that have NOT given in to the ludicrous accusations of systemic racism within their law enforcement agencies and you find no increases. Amazing. It’s almost as if giving the mob what it wants makes life for every citizen in that city worse.
But it’s not just the act of crime, it’s the fact that some people now feel it’s perfectly acceptable to simply beat the crap out of anyone, or just outright kill them, if they disagree with the current mob position.
What kind of violence have these “defund the police” politicians enabled? Shooting and killing a man walking across the street with his daughter holding his hand. Beating a pregnant woman and head stomping her toddler daughter. Shooting and killing a woman who had the nerve to say “All Lives Matter”. Killing an eight-year-old passenger in a car driving through a BLM controlled intersection. Beating airline employees because a flight was delayed. This is to say nothing of the extortion demanded out of stores and restaurants who don’t give into the social and economic demands of the mob movement.
Why is this happening? Because there is nobody there to stop them. Criminals, anarchists and thugs are able to do whatever they want because there are no consequences. Even if the police are allowed to apprehend them, they know there is little chance of being charged or held as extremist prosecutors have been dropping charges against rioters as quickly as they are arrested. Should they ever find their way into a courtroom, as long as they say “systemic racism in the justice system” they will never have to pay for their crimes.
But now there’s an interesting trend happening. Citizens in these ultra-liberal cities are fed up with the violence, the extortion, the discrimination and the disruption caused by these social justice warriors and the governments that support and sponsor them. They are starting to demand their police departments be re-funded and re-enabled to actually fight crime in the streets.
New York City residents are demanding the NYPD anti-crime unit be reinstated. Seattle residents are demanding their police department not be abolished. Minneapolis residents are demanding police protection in their neighborhoods. These people, along with others around the country, have already seen what happens when the police are pulled back just a little bit and they don’t want anything to do with it.
For whatever problems any law enforcement agency has, sacrificing the safety of the general public for some false utopian vision of an ideal society is not the way to solve it. Law enforcement has made incredible progress from where it began in this country, and it will continue to do so. Allowing the very same city councils, mayors and governors who have always been responsible for these departments to suddenly declare them as being too systemically racist to continue to exist is not the answer.
And for anyone who missed it the last time, I’ll say it again:
Just in case you’re thinking that because I was a law enforcement officer, I’m going to support officers no matter what, you need a reality check. Nobody hates bad cops worse than other police officers. Each and every professional officer out there wants nothing more than to see bad cops stripped of their badges and held accountable for their unlawful actions. Period.
It’s time to support the good men and women of law enforcement and enable them to do their job. It is NOT acceptable to kill, rape, assault, burn, steal or extort others in your community. If you make the conscious choice to break the law, you should be apprehended and face the full consequences of the law. It doesn’t matter your race, gender, nationality, religion, vocation, status, wealth or appearance. If you break the law, you should pay the price.
It’s time to let justice be revered in our country once again. It’s time to re-fund the police.
Bob
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Apparently, I’m A Racist
Like so many others across our country, I have been labeled a racist. Like so many others, it has nothing to do with who I am, my heritage, my history, what I believe in, the life I’ve led, my values, my thoughts, my words or my actions. Like so many others the label was given to me by people who do not know me. Like so many others the label was given because of my appearance. Like so many others I was given the label because of my current or past vocation. Like so many others the label was given because I refused to buy into the current mob mentality and kneel to it in some form of mock submission. And most importantly, like so many others it is not a reflection of who I am but who the accuser is.
I’ve come up with two definitions of racism, one is factual and the other is from the mob mentality point of view.
- The belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racial separatism is the belief, most of the time based on racism, that different races should remain segregated and apart from one another.
- Disagreeing with anyone about racism.
While you can also be labeled a racist based solely on the color of your skin and the color of your ancestors’ skin, anyone regardless of their skin color can be labeled a racist if they violate rule #2. Of course, the only surefire way to not be considered a racist is to admit you are a racist. It’s the 2020 version of Catch-22.
Calling someone a racist is the simple solution to pressure them to think or act the way you want them to. We have become a world where simply disagreeing with someone makes you a racist. Presenting an opinion, even one backed up with research, well documented facts and credible witnesses, that goes opposite to the current mob mentality says is “truth” makes you a racist.
If you think, so what, I am entitled to my own beliefs. Consider that people have been fired, had their businesses ruined, looted and burned to the ground, ostracized from their communities, extorted, had their lives, families and properties threatened, been assaulted – and worse for speaking out against the mob mentality. Imagine having the sheer audacity, or if you are white, the caucasity to dare say “All Lives Matter”. It’s no wonder so many people are afraid to speak their mind these days.
I would never suggest that racism does not exist in our nation. It has existed since the beginning of mankind and exists in every corner of the world today. Anyone and everyone, from any race, gender, religion, vocation, status, wealth or appearance can be a racist. What I will suggest however is that not everything is racism and not everyone is racist. The epitome of human understanding is not being able to find racism in every situation, it should be to respect every human for who they are.
The sad truth is I’ve been called a racist, and far more horrible things, in many languages, many times throughout my life. Each time it followed the same pattern of hate and anger used to deflect the blame from something they did to someone else, hoping for a better result for themselves.
These are people who take one look at me or see something I have written or said which goes against the popular narrative of the time and immediately know enough about my life, my history, my beliefs to say, YOU ARE A RACIST. Which, in order to follow the stereotypical racist accuser pattern, is followed up by a litany of personal insults.
Now if someone who actually did know me, who has spent time with me, has seen me interact with others, were to come to me and say, ‘Bob, I think you’re being a racist’, then I might have to take stock of what they are saying and take a good look at myself. Am I doing something that is being misinterpreted or am I really being racist?
For me, the way I was raised, the values I was brought up with, it simply would not have been tolerated. Like so many others, I was raised to treat everyone the way I wanted to be treated, equally and with respect. You know, basic Golden Rule stuff. Race, gender, religion, vocation, status, wealth, appearance or anything else that could possibly set us apart are never an excuse for treating anyone else less than what we expect for ourselves. It’s really that simple.
I am by nature a very private person. Even among those who know me, very few know many details of my own or my family’s history. Even fewer know my original family name or the circumstances that caused it to be changed because of…. racism. But that’s okay because that is my own personal history and history is what you make of it. You can learn and grow from it, or you can attempt to erase it and pretend it never happened. But no matter your past or the collective past of our nation, you – and you alone – are responsible for your actions today.
So, what am I going to do differently now that I have yet again been called a racist? NOT A DAMN THING! Like so many others the only kind of racism I am actually guilty of is the kind that doesn’t agree with the current mob mentality on racism. And that’s not racism, that’s integrity.
I am going to continue to advocate for basic human rights, for everyone. I am going to continue to advocate for Constitutional protection of our inalienable rights, for everyone. I am going to continue to work for solutions to issues with family, education, employment, inequality, crime, justice, accountability and responsibility – for everyone.
Like so many others, I’m proud of who I am and the nation I have been brought up in. I will continue to fight for the rights our nation was founded on, for everyone. Not because it’s easy or because it’s politically correct, but because it’s the right thing to do and what I would want for myself.
Bob
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Fourth of July Patriots
I’d like to thank all the patriots in my town who gave a big ol’ fashioned FU! to the crown Saturday night and participated in an impromptu community Independence Day fireworks display. With a 180-degree view, a full moon rising and a thunderstorm passing in the background, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect spectacle. And it was all done without burning the down the countryside. Imagine that… people celebrating freedom responsibly.
That so many people were setting off fireworks at home this year is due to the insane gathering restrictions put in place by our Governor. With all of the COMPLETELY non-protest/riot related COVID-19 cases spiking, fireworks presentations across the state were cancelled, for our own protection. Protests/riots are of course still approved mass gatherings, as long as they are for the cause sponsored and supported by the angry mobs and extremist politicians.
Much like mandate to wear non-medical, permeable cloth facemasks in public to stop the spread of a virus that can pass right through them, cancelling Independence Day celebrations across the nation was nothing more than another measure of extremist control and quite frankly, an insult directly targeted at anyone who values our nation’s history and freedom.
To see so many fireworks in defiance of oppressive, do nothing orders in celebration of our nation’s independence confirms the silent majority is still alive and kicking. While the fringe of the nation continues acting out in violent temper tantrums carefully scripted to divide and distract us, real patriots are celebrating freedom.
Libertatem diu vivere!
Bob
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Where’s The Police When You Need Them?!
What better irony could there be than the words of the District of Columbia Delegate after she and a reporter were nearly attacked in the so-called ‘Black House Autonomous Zone’. This while standing on words “Black Lives Matter” painted on the street, looking for the police to protect them while advocating to defund the police. Politicians kowtowing to the mobs are doing all they can to defund, disband and abolish local law enforcement agencies across the country. They are more than willing to sacrifice your safety, but still demand the police protect them. It’s the future of law enforcement and it’s all about who controls it.
It’s an injustice every Second Amendment supporter can relate to, all law enforcement officers are being blamed and punished for the actions of a single, bad officer. Without proof to support the accusations, and abundant evidence showing the opposite, the entire law enforcement community is being accused of systematic racism so severe that the agencies themselves cannot be salvaged and must be completely dismantled. The pre-history of police in the Southern states going back to the days of slave patrols is being used as indisputable proof of their continued racial bias and support of white supremacy nationwide today. It doesn’t matter how many years have passed or how much progress has been made since then, the old ties to slavery is considered a fatal flaw that cannot be corrected.
Again, I’ll state there is nothing more patriotic than exercising your First Amendment protected right to petition the government for redress of grievances along with the right to peaceably assemble. But what was a legitimate protest for justice has become a full-scale effort to erase history and reshape society to conform to some utopian dream. Eliminating local police departments, which has long been the goal of centralized government advocates, was ever so easy to slip into the current mob agenda.
What we are seeing today are not peaceful protests, they are riots. The MOMENT these so-called peaceful protesters start shooting at police, throwing rocks, bricks, bottles filled with urine and other substances, breaking into stores and looting, vandalizing private property, tearing down statues, vandalizing public property, beating, raping and killing, you no longer get to call it a “peaceful protest.”
We’ve already seen some of this new vision for our country. Those who can afford it will be protected by well-armed private companies. Example: The Minneapolis City Council’s hiring of a private security company for $4,500/day of taxpayer money to protect themselves, a job formerly handled by Minneapolis Police Department they are defunding. Elsewhere, gangs control their own neighborhoods as they have since the riots. Sharia patrols enforcing Sharia law in their communities. At the same time, private citizens who take up arms to defend themselves are ostracized and severely punished.
Municipalities defunding their police departments will invest that money in the new “public safety services prioritizing a holistic, public health-oriented approach”, “restorative justice” and social services. These massive new government agencies will in very short order, fail miserably.
Why they will fail is easy to understand. Criminals, thugs, gang members and terrorists who already don’t fear the police, the courts or prison systems, aren’t going to give a damn about what the community thinks about them or taking responsibility for their actions. These are the same people who attack, rob, rape or kill innocent people on a whim, steal whatever they want and will fight an armed police officer to death if they get in their way. These are the same people who loot stores and burn down businesses in their own neighborhoods. A “holistic, public health-oriented approach” isn’t going to turn them into better citizens, ever.
At some point, the people and any remaining businesses in these communities are going to get tired of being victimized by the criminals, thugs, gang members and terrorists as well as the local government agencies. Local governments won’t ever be able to defund social services, even the ones that aren’t effective, and they won’t have the money to establish police departments again. Everyone then turns to the state for help.
State law enforcement agencies who have been spared the accusations leveled at the local departments, will be tasked with limited law enforcement in these communities. All policy, direction, oversight, control and accountability will be taken out of the hands of local elected officials by a state level appointee. It will never be as timely or effective as the former local department, but it will be just enough to say the state is doing something. Welcome to the state-controlled local police.
Of course, this is just my take on what will happen and it’s only one of many possible scenarios. Opening the government wallet to people who have no concept of public safety, criminal justice or history beyond their own vision of an ideal world is going to produce many costly and ineffective plans. When they fail, the lives and property lost can be blamed on the next scapegoat and another plan devised.
Keeping your community from becoming a government funded sociology experiment where the conclusion has already been written means you have to speak up now. It is your safety and the safety of your family that is on the line, not the politicians or special interest groups who will always be protected. It means taking control back from a vocal minority of moral elitist politicians who are willing to sell their votes to the loudest mob and the biggest contributor, all at your expense.
What do you want for your community?
Bob
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Welcome to Mob Rule
In just a few short weeks, the United States, a republic with a Constitution and Bill of Rights guaranteeing individual freedoms unparalleled in the world has digressed to a country where public policy, law, criminal justice and societal norms are being set by the loudest mob. For anyone who still believes these so-called “peaceful protests” where public and private property is looted and/or destroyed and anyone who disagrees with them is beaten and even killed, I invite you to get your head out of your asses and look at what is going on. What began as a legitimate protest for justice has devolved into a full scale assault on American history and culture. No longer is there a grass roots effort to seek positive change, but instead an extremist political wish list to reshape society to meet their utopian dreams. Welcome to Mob Rule in the USA!
As I’ve said before, when it comes to protesting our government, I fully and enthusiastically support it, even if I don’t agree with the cause. Just as I would expect someone who doesn’t agree with my cause to support my right to protest. There is nothing more patriotic than exercising your First Amendment protected right to petition the government for redress of grievances along with the right to peaceably assemble.
But that’s not what is happening now. We now have mobs of rioters, thieves and thugs doing whatever they please, often with the passive or even active support of the politicians whose only desire is to please them. After all, the mob is doing their work for them, attempting to reshape society into their new ideal image.
We’ve gone from demanding justice for one individual, to use police use of force reform nationwide, restricting, disarming, defunding and eliminating police departments, eliminating qualified immunity for law enforcement, and eliminating legal due process for law enforcement officers, all to address the alleged systemic racism running rampant in every agency in the country. And that’s JUST as it pertains to law enforcement!
But then, when you look at the actual facts, you find it isn’t true. Police departments around the country keep incredibly detailed accounting of enforcement activities and race to combat the very allegations being leveled at them today. Very much like the previous push to put body cameras on all officers to expose bad and illegal police behavior, when the recordings are made public, we find the that vast, VAST majority of contacts were exactly as the officers said and it was the public that was lying. But all that doesn’t fit the emotional narrative. It’s much better to take one bad example and use that undeniable proof that it exists everywhere with every officer.
And for extremist politicians who have been unable to get symbols that offend them removed through the normal process; they simply have the mobs do it for them. The new woke politicians at the local, state and national level can now get all those Confederate statues and paintings torn down without having to waste public funds. And for those that aren’t torn down by the mob, the extremist politicians can have them removed for “safety”. The end result is still the same, things they don’t like are removed.
By why stop there? Let the mob rid us of any other symbol that might offend someone, somewhere, or sometime. Statues of Christopher Columbus, the Texas Rangers, Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as well as General Ulysses S. Grant. Also vandalized, destroyed and removed have been law enforcement memorials as well as memorials for military heroes including Shaw’s 54th Regiment Memorial of Black soldiers marching into battle during the Civil War. If you ever wondered the downside of not teaching American history, well… there you have it.
Not to be outdone, one Minnesota mayor is moving to remove the word “chief” from all city job titles because the term is offensive to Native Americans. For example, the chief financial officer will now be called the finance director. The mayor is still working on the titles for the heads of the police and fire departments since the usage there is so widespread in the nation. While there have been exactly ZERO public complaints about the titles, the mayor is trying to be proactive about this since “chief” is used as “a racial epithet, and it turns into a microaggression.”
Corporations have been quick to jump on the kowtowing bandwagon to appease the mob. NASCAR has banned Confederate flags at all their events, including those carried or worn by fans. Also banned, any firearm related advertising on race cars.
Hollywood has done their part by pulling pro-police shows like COPS, Live PD and the pro police animated children’s show PAW Patrol. Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam will both lose their guns in upcoming episodes. Elmer will still be hunting rabbits, but he’ll now use a scythe. Because chasing a rabbit with the big ass sharp implement the Grim Reaper carries is a LOT less violent.
The iconic product lines of Mrs. Butterworths, Uncle Bens and Aunt Jemima are rebranding their products and following Land of Lakes by removing the long-time symbols on the packaging. While these products and packages are part of Americana, the saddest part is the real-life people whose images and stories were the basis for them were inspirational and heroic figures for their time and beyond. Look up the story of who Aunt Jemima really was and it makes you sad to realize Nancy Green’s story is being spun and erased for political correctness.
In the ongoing coverage and glorification of mob riots, one woman’s statement struck me as telling about our current state of racism in our country. “F*ck white people, they owned slaves!” Again, we look to history that tells us slave ownership goes back as far as human history and across all race, color, ethnic and religious boundaries. It also tells us the European slave traders purchased their slaves from the black African tribal chiefs who already had a slave trade themselves. Horrifically, slavery continues to this day not only in Africa but in other parts of the world. Recent reports from Libya show a slave can be purchased for as little as $400.
Like every other nation, our history has had its share of dark and turbulent times. There are things we look at now and wonder how could this have happened in our land of the free? But our history is just that, history. We don’t have to be happy about the dark times, but we must be proud of how far we have come and where we are going. We cannot – and should never try to – sweep our history away. As painful as the past may be, the only way to not repeat the past is to learn from it.
Sadly, our nation’s political process is under mob rule. Pointing out logic and facts gets you labeled as a racist. Defending the history of our nation, the good, bad and the ugly parts, makes you insensitive, uncaring and an obstructionist to change.
There are a few who are willing to stand up and saying no to mob rule. I encourage you to use your own mind, your own heart and your own conscience to decide what is right, not what the mob tells you to do.
Bob
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