Socrates is one of my heroes. He was the wise philosopher everyone knows – true enough. But he was also one of the greatest teachers in history. He once said, “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” I hope this blog post will cause someone, hell anyone, to pause for one brief moment and give me your undivided attention.
Rodney King became famous in 1992 for this video. (If you don’t know or remember, google him).
Here are a few qualifiers before I begin. I love our Republic, The United States of America, as much as anyone – probably more than most people. The fragile, divided state of being we currently abide causes me to ponder the deep issues logically, and do my very best to stay above the fray and emotion of politics. However, enough is enough. I really don’t mind or care if you love our current POTUS, or if you are 180° in the opposite direction on the train headed toward impeachment, I am going to TRY to make you see just how illogical and, frankly, insane people have become. Our POTUS is our POTUS and I intend to respect the office, if not necessarily the person (be he/she Republican or Democrat). The facts should speak logically on the current investigation – we MUST leave emotion out of it. Let those in the House of Representatives do their job and provide a complete report when finished so the Senate (and frankly the American people) can sit in judgment of the FACTS, not the man. Daily leaks and 24/7 arguments on who is right and who is wrong only muddies the water – but I digress. There is nothing wrong with being patriotic and a staunch defender of individual freedom. The irony everyone misses is that once one divides the country and picks a “side” (or party or person), that person ceases to be patriotic and becomes a partisan instead. Don’t believe me? Use a dictionary and decide for yourself. Then, read any of the documents our founding fathers wrote: I have read more than enough of them to be sure of this: they would be surprised and happy we lasted this long under their model, yet profoundly sad and disappointed with our current state of affairs. Please. I can’t beg you enough to think — DEEPLY — on this quote from our 16th POTUS – Abraham Lincoln (which he learned from Jesus): “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/house.htm
I refuse to be a prisoner in the moment of political correctness. I live with the knowledge that my ancestors treated Native Americans horribly – a fact that continues to this day. Yet Sequoyah is one of my heroes. My ancestors also treated African Americans horribly – and that wound is still open and festering. Yet MLK Jr is one of my heroes. I wish everyone could celebrate the positive, good things heroes did and understand that their flaws, while tragic, were mostly due to being human, being wrong, and making mistakes. Celebrate the good: search out and learn how to be a better human from the bad. I cannot “fix” the past, but I can recognize the problem and try my best to build a better future – for all Americans.
During the 2019 MLB postseason, the “tomahawk chop” performed by fans of the Atlanta Braves was decried as racism, and a nationwide cry rang out for the “chop to stop”. Yet, our 45th POTUS was booed during the World Series game he attended in Washington DC – our nation’s capital.
Baseball is known as America’s pastime and, for the most part, is a friendly competition full of skill, patience, and hand/eye coordination. NFL (and college) football on the other hand, is a violent sport full of testosterone (pun intended) and almost military like tactics… Yet, the Kansas City Chiefs’ fans still perform the “tomahawk chop” at every home game – to (mostly) only local dissent.
https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article236882498.html
College football also entered the political scene when the same 45th POTUS attended the Alabama vs LSU game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama – itself named after a Choctaw Chief – literally “Black Warrior”.
https://www.yourdictionary.com/tuscaloosa
Students and fans of the University of Alabama were warned before the game that anyone “booing or protesting” President Trump’s attendance was subject to lose his/her seat and be banned from the stadium for the rest of the year.
https://time.com/5722341/alabama-trump-football-protest/
There is no circumstance I can think of which would cause me to “boo” a current or former POTUS. I respect the office too much to do it – regardless of the man holding the office. However, I will defend any and every individual’s right to peacefully protest – should one feel obliged to do so. Therein lies the beauty and uniqueness our Republic provides – the right to peacefully protest and have one’s point of view heard. Granted, there is a time and place for everything, and a football game would seem an odd place to do so. But I have no doubt at all that historical figures such as MLK Jr., Gandhi, and Thoreau would have intentionally protested and brought to light the authoritarian effort to prevent it – even if that meant going to jail. Forced compliance and taking away the right to protest (peacefully) is a dangerous (and large) step on the way to authoritarianism. We are literally watching our nation being rent, limb from limb.
My confession? I have no idea if our current POTUS has done anything illegal or unethical enough to be removed from office. To be honest, I’m not sure anyone does. Yet there are partisans on both sides who claim to know the “truth” and are on the “right” (correct) side of history. In the meantime, patriots watch the co-equal branches of our Republic being thrown into the gutter and dismantled in the process. We wait, peacefully and quietly, for the partisans to finish their dirty work, and pray there will be pieces large enough to rebuild when they finish their power struggle for the soul of our Republic. To those offended by this post – I respectfully ask that you consider it my first amendment right to write it, and I will respect your right to disagree with me. For the most part, I try to be open minded and will admit my errors due to ignorance and/or misinformation I may read. But we can only come to the truth together – truth still exists – don’t be deceived. Truth is found where love abides, and confusion and misinformation arise out of an effort to usurp the truth and love. Let us learn to care about each other as Americans – regardless of race, religion, political party, or gender. Those only offer access to the division lines we are currently witnessing. Pray for our country and our leaders – regardless of party, and truly believe we can bridge this gap – and pull together as we have in all moments of crisis in the past.
We owe it to our future generations to leave a better America than we inherited. Be part of the solution, not the problem.