CNN Screenshot from 9:15 P.M. August 15, 2017
Two days ago, James Alex Fields drove his car into a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville, killing 1. James Alex Fields should spend the rest of his life in jail, or get the death penalty, depending on your politics. Different news agencies have covered the story rightly condemning Fields, but, instead of presenting solely facts, they have tried to paint him as a Conservative or a Republican when it is very clear that he was a Neo-Nazi. When people are mad at the media, it is because many outlets are using their agenda to paint a broad brush portraying Republicans who don't condemn the attack fast enough as Nazis or White Supremacists, also.
But is America really a country of Nazis and White Supremacists? Absolutely Not. But, let's string this line of thinking out a bit. Let's say 1% of the nation falls into that category. What can you do? Round them up and kill them in the night? No. If they make direct threats you can prosecute them under the laws of the United States of America. If they are American Citizens, you can't deport 'em, you have to use the laws of the land. And inversely, for those Black Supremacy Groups, the same rules apply.
Trump is being excoriated for saying both sides are to blame in Charlottesville. There is one side that is much more to blame (Neo-Nazis) than the other, but Trump stumbled across a truth of living in the United States of America. Why weren't you (the reader) in Charlottesville, on either side? Because you have a job. When you're done with your job, you have a family or domicile to take care of. Who are these people who have time to protest, on both sides, over a statue that's been standing for over a century? Even the most important issues in anyone's life, how often do you have time to go out and march about anything?
When Trump says both sides are to blame, let me give you an example of why he's accidentally right, from my own backyard. I remember Michael White, ex-mayor of Cleveland, received a notice of a legally obtained permit from the Ku Klux Klan to march in Downtown in 1999. Michael White, a black man, was taking heat for allowing the march to take place, but he said his hands were tied, and the march took place behind a heavy police presence and barbed wire. Michael White, despite the criticism from his own party, managed a bad situation to the very best of his ability and there were few issues from the KKK.
Privately, White had to be furious that the Klan was marching through his city. How many times do you have to deal with things you literally hate, just in your everyday life? You know a racist, admit it. I know racists, and you know what? I have to tolerate them, I don't get to kill them, or, at the very least, shout at them in the streets. CNN screams that we have to call James Alex Fields a White Terrorist. Okay, he's a White Terrorist. Now the other side is screaming "well you better call ISIS Muslim Terrorism." Okay, ISIS is Muslim Terrorism. What did we just solve? What the U.S. is supposed to be is a melting pot. Instead of loving one another, that's for your religion to dictate, let's try to tolerate one another. Try the Golden Rule. Did the counter-protesters really think they were going to change the minds of the Alt-Right? No. They were on the wrong end of mixing it up.
Donald Trump is the President of all the United States. Awesome people, horrible people, all people. People who say Trump is Not My President have missed the point. We are stuck with him and, stupid or not, there are only certain mechanisms to remove him and marching over statues isn't one. That's why you have your representatives. If you want to start an Impeach Trump movement based on violations of law, instead of him just being a numbskull, sign me up.
You remember when George W. Bush's Katrina response was racist? In actuality it was an overwhelmed city government response, inept state government response, and painfully slow federal response. When Katrina happened, I believe Bush didn't even know New Orleans was under sea level. There was no conspiracy, unless you buy into the conspiracy of stupidity and laziness.
Again, let me reiterate, I denounce Neo-Nazis.
But the Constitution limits what you can do. "Well, we should change the constitution." Okay, there are mechanisms for that, too. For the ONE MILLIONTH TIME, once they restrict their speech, next time around they restrict YOUR speech. The Alt-Right did not randomly chose Charlottesville out of a hat, they chose it because the city was removing a statue of Robert E. Lee. A historical figure who's been dead for over a hundred years. So in Trump's un-eliquent way of speaking, I think he was trying to say that the Alt-Right wouldn't have swarmed Charlottesville had the statue been left alone.
Do I think Robert E. Lee deserves a statue? Hell no. I live in the North. But here we go again imposing values on a figure who lived in a different time. Some yocals in America still live in that time.
Riots and killing over a statue. The left had been mobilizing to remove Confederate Statues based on an agenda, and the right is digging in to stop it, based on an agenda. Now it's not about the statue, it's about what that statue represents to each side. The left plays the racism card and the right defends with the heritage card, then it's off to the media hype machines to publicize their views.
At some point, people need to move forward from being manipulated by artificial sensationalism and realize that we're all in this together. What is the end game? Once all Robert E. Lee statues are down, is racism over? Of course not, because it's not about the statues. It's about the easily manipulated and the unemployed buying into fabricated constructs and battle lines of the culture wars.
Trump's 'both sides' gaffe underscores a bigger problem. Americans were tired of politicians and they elected businessman Donald Trump. What Trump has cultivated is an environment where he has inadvertently emboldened the far right, not unlike Obama's term emboldened elements on the far left. You could be screaming at the computer "TRUMP"S MORE DANGEROUS!" And I would agree with you, but Obama's term paved the way for the mainstream acceptance of Bernie Sanders. Socialism would have brought America a whole different set of problems. What free thinkers and free speakers need is a leader who has a vision of America as a uniter and a vision of moving the country forward. When you (the general public) have a good job, and a good life, the voices on the fringes tend to wither away. When you have no hope, you blame "them" and the communists and the fascists fight it out in the streets.
Side Note: Did you know that there's a statue of Vladimir Lenin in Seattle, Washington? (Left, pun intended.)
Added on 8-17-2017: As all media outlets continue to spin the events Charlottesville to fit their agendas, I found an interesting perspective on a small Libertarian website that questions the constructs of some of the counter-protesters: THE DAILY LIBERATOR.