Going back to Saturday’s post about the e-scold I received from a former colleague, I included a summary of my original message and the full text of his response. I’ve since been asked if I replied and, if so, what I said. Fair questions.
Yes, I did. It was brief:
As you wish. Be well.
Absolutely,
[signed]
Honestly, I figured that was all the circumstance called for. Whatever the relationship was, professional or personal, those six words completed it and I moved on. I learned years ago that it’s a waste of time and energy to get sucked into an argument which, even if I make my point, doesn’t carry a payoff that matters to me.
That describes this situation perfectly.
Deb’s been known to say, “I don’t recognize my country.” She says it more often than she used to and so do I, reacting to what we see and hear in America these days. What once was unthinkable is commonplace. Yesterday’s comedy gold is today’s fait accompli.
Take this tweet (pictured). Last week POTUS #44 used 19 dead children as a parenthetical springboard to recall the death-by-cop of a career criminal and drug addict. Kind of a “Dope and Change” play. Or maybe it was “Keep Dope Alive.” Or something.
This from a guy whose race-baiting generally is more implicit than explicit, his identity politics more subtle than others’ (but no less vitriolic). Now he’s getting slammed for being clumsy, not because he traded empathy for an agenda. Pretty slimy.
While Deb was gone yesterday I puttered, most of it productive, with news on in the background (natch). At one point I caught an interview with a survivor of the 2017 concert massacre in Las Vegas. He admitted that he’d given up pushing for a ban on “assault weapons,” what with political headwinds and all, but then he said,
“We have got to get these people to give up their precious civil liberties, or we’ll never be safe!”
There was an unmistakable sneer to his tone. Look, I can’t imagine what it must be like to carry a memory as awful as that October night. I hope I’d emerge with my principles intact, however, and wouldn’t deride my fellow citizens for exercising their “precious civil liberties.”
The criminal carnage at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival happened less than five years ago. A single madman took 58 lives (plus two more who died later), making it the deadliest such incident in U.S. history. A mind-boggling 411 others were wounded. But have you noticed that whenever “gun control” starts making headlines, you don’t hear much about it?
Why is that? Why don’t Democrats use this worst-ever “mass shooting” to make their case?
Well, the first reason should be obvious — emotion. Pardon my bluntness, but progressives know that a story about dead schoolchildren evokes more compassion (and is more likely to make Americans abandon their principles) than a tale of dead concertgoers. So even though Sandy Hook was twice as long ago and the body count was less than half that of the ‘Vegas massacre, they go straight to a narrative about dead kids.
(Which is odd. Considering that Democrats are the party of infanticide, I mean. But whatever.)
The second reason, of course, is that this was the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival. Although Nashville is lousy with liberals, country-music fans tend to be traditional, conservative, flag-wavin’, gun-totin’, let’s-go-Brandon ‘Mericans. Some of the 22,000 in attendance that night — unlike many of their favorite country artists — came out publicly afterward in opposition to “gun control.”
When pushing fear and “safety,” let’s just say that this isn’t Dems’ most receptive demo. Progressives can’t summon much sympathy for the victims, either. So they don’t talk a lot about ‘Vegas.
Keep in mind that the murderer barricaded on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay had fourteen AR-15s, eight AR-10s, a .308 bolt-action rifle, a .38 revolver and a total of 1,600 rounds of ammunition. (He ended up firing an estimated 1,057 rounds before taking his own life with #1,058.) All that, and yet the only hay Democrats managed to make from five dozen deaths was (with the aid of the NRA) a national ban on “bump stocks” (an administrative action which ultimately will be overturned).
Their hearts weren’t in it — no dead kids. They couldn’t even play The Race Card.
On those rare occasions when a sharp interviewer presses hard on a “gun control” advocate about what they propose, they’ll ask, “Is it constitutional? Will it work?” The answers, wrapped in doublespeak, always are the same:
“No and no. But we don’t care — somebody has to do something!”
Like the ‘Vegas survivor I heard yesterday, it’s never about doing what works. It’s about chasing the illusion of “safety” and punishing Americans who cherish our “precious civil liberties,” people who believe differently, people who have nothing to do with criminal violence.
People like you and me. They hate us.
A political cartoon I posted here the other day depicted six infamous (and murderous) historical figures to illustrate the inevitable result of “gun control.” And we often point to Australia to remind folks that “it can happen here” (as it nearly did in the 1770s). There’s another country (and another dictator) we should add to that list, and it’s close to home.
Canada.
Yesterday in Ottawa, Kid Turdeau [sic] trumpeted sweeping legislation — “It will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada,” he said with a trademark smirk.
Given the disturbing political landscape of The Great White North, passage of the bill is certain. It’ll take effect this fall, freezing handgun ownership and prohibiting transfers — see what they did there? — along with limiting magazine capacity to five rounds.
One of Turdeau’s toadies is the country’s “minister of emergency preparedness,” who said,
“In Canada, gun ownership is a privilege, not a right. This is a principle that differentiates ourselves from many other countries in the world, notably our colleagues and friends to the south. In Canada, guns are only intended to be used for hunting and sport purposes.”
Imagine that, Americans — the guy in charge of “emergency preparedness” supports disarming the populace. You’ll have that in a country that values the collective over the individual.
Take another look at the photo of Turdeau’s announcement, the one I shared above. I count 25 people arrayed behind the Kid. Every last one of them is dutifully masked, even though the pointless practice no longer is mandated.
“Some people may continue to wear masks, and others may not,” says Canada’s official WuFlu website. “Remember to be kind, understanding and respectful of people’s personal choices.”
Do you mean to tell me that there isn’t an independent, free-thinking Canadian in the bunch? Not even one?
To my Canadian friends — and I do have several of those, by the way — I truly feel for you. Y’all never had everything that we have down here, and what you had is being stolen from you. It’s not right.
And to my fellow Americans, I’m tellin’ you, it can happen here. Wise up.
I teased yesterday that Ubi Libertas Blog is about go quiet, probably for several days, while Deb and I unplug to take care of some business. I’m posting relatively early today so that I can dedicate myself to last-minute preparations.
Again, all is well. We’ll see you on the other side.
One year ago today, we celebrated Memorial Day by having Ernie’s refrigerator repaired. Less than a half-hour after the tech confirmed it was working again and left, it caught fire.
Only by sheer luck were Deb and I in the right place at the right time, allowing us to spot the flames, grab an extinguisher and put the fire out before it took the whole bus with it.
Looking back at our near-year on the road, this would be our biggest test. We passed, but 12 months ago right now we felt like the rope in a tug-of-war between shock and relief.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB
(Today’s header image is from a cartoon by Alexander Hunter.)
One thought on “Wise up.”
Comments are closed.