“Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.” – Frank Zappa
by Frank Sharpe, Jr.
On June 11th a psychopath entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC, and murdered 9 people. There’s been no hesitation on the President’s part to politicize the tragedy, nor has any race baiter with an internet connection refrained from spewing oceans of misrepresentations, falsehoods, and outright lies to the 4-electronic winds. To the point that the event – the lives of the victims, the funerals, the grieving and mourning – has been hijacked by a ridiculous Confederate Battle Flag debate.
Was the murderer in SC a racist? Looks that way – but, what that has to do with the Battle Flag flying over a memorial at the SC State House is a mystery. Am I supposed to believe that somehow that flag is the cause of the shooter psychosis, and stamping that image from the memories of all humanity will prevent such murders in the future? Doubtful. It’s just a typical statist tactic to turn tragedy into control over others. History is history, regardless of who finds it “offensive.” The flag in question does not fly above the State House rotunda, as so many idiots are perpetuating as fact – it once did, under the state flag and the Stars and Stripes, but it was removed in 2000 – a proper action, in my opinion.
In reality, the flag on the receiving end of this firestorm is displayed as part of the South Carolina Civil War Soldiers Monument on the State House grounds. The memorial honors the soldiers who died in the war from 1861-1865. Along with it stands a multitude of other memorial statues, as well as bronze makers where Union cannon balls struck the original building, and a plaque honoring the late Democratic Senator Strom Thurman (one of the most unapologetic segregationists that ever lived.) So, this begs the question: At what point is anything even remotely connected to the Confederacy going to be considered verboten, and at what point will it all be destroyed in the name of political correctness?
I’m seeing the future, and it looks a lot like those Islamic State bastards destroying artworks and statues they consider blasphemy throughout the Middle East. Ignorant, emotional, violent tyrants, erasing history because…well, because they can. In fact, it took all of a week for the first sign of it to show up in South Carolina when, on June 21st, a monument for the Solders who came to the defense of Charleston during the battle of Ft Sumter, was defaced in red spray paint with the phrase “black lives mater.” And, yes, the word matter was misspelled. Emotional, violent, and IGNORANT – a most dangerous combination if our goal is the preservation of liberty.
As of today, Wal-Mart and Amazon have declared they will no longer sell anything with the image of the Confederate Battle Flag on it since so many consider it a symbol of racism and slavery. [I’ll leave the irony of Wal-Mart and slave labor to the reader’s imagination.] Warner Bros. has issued a statement that they will be removing the flag from the roof of the Dukes of Hazzard Dodge Charger they have on display – a more empty, placating, and self-aggrandizing gesture is hard to imagine. In contrast, Warner Bros. appears to have no plans for erasing the swastikas from films like Kelly’s Heroes (yet), or apologizing for their ownership of Six Flags [Look up the meaning – I’m not going to do everything for you.]
Along the same lines, had the SC Church murderer been an avowed communist, it’s doubtful any discussion would be forthcoming about it in the press. We wouldn’t be hearing about Amazon ceasing sales of flags of the former Soviet Union, or Che Guevara shirts. Che, of course, being a major league racist, criminal, and murderer – but since he’s the left’s racist, criminal, and murderer, that makes him ok.
The thought police are hard at work right now, and it has me pondering at what point sales of the Bible, Pentateuch, and Quran will be considered criminal since slavery is approved of and encouraged in all three. We often talk about events “shaking the foundations of liberty”, but we may just be on the verge of a major earthquake – all based in ignorance, lies, and political manipulations.
What actually peeves me the most is just about every American in this nation walks around with technology at their fingertips that literally can find the answer to every question humanity has ever decoded. Has that dawned on everyone yet? Every time you see some protester spewing ignorance they’re usually grasping the latest Apple product in their hand; a device which can access all available information in the world! Coroner’s reports, police reports, law and statutes, court transcripts, statistics, studies, Civil War History…even English lessons! It’s all there! [Well, all there but Apple’s Civil War Game apps, which they just removed due to their containing images of the Confederate Battle Flag. …No. Really. That just happened.]
The term ‘willful ignorance’ often gets thrown around in legal proceedings, but I find it most apropos to the majority of Americans with 3G. Stupid of their own volition, with no excuse. I don’t have an answer to any of this, but I would make one suggestion – Rather than get into Confederate Flag debates, ask yourself this: What’s flying under the radar while everyone else is arguing? What important event or situation that actually affects your life slipped by while everyone was distracted?
Maybe, just maybe, it was the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that just passed the Senate…or, maybe it was something else. Then again, perhaps the best use of national energy is debating the removal of a flag over a war memorial in South Carolina.
If you’re still not sure, ask Siri.
“…our War of 1861, erroneously called a civil war. Civil wars, by the way, are when two or more parties attempt to take over the central government. Jefferson Davis no more wanted to take over Washington, D.C., than George Washington, in 1776, wanted to take over London. Both wars were wars of independence.” – Dr. Walter Williams, taken from his article Virginia’s Black Confederates
Nicely stated, Mr. Sharpe.
The simple fact is that the flag was used as a symbol by the South as a stand against desegregation and equal rights. Is it also a symbol for “Southern Heritage?” Sure it is. But to deny that this so-called Heritage has some skeletons in its closet is totally disingenuous.
It’s like the argument for the cause of the Civil War/War Between the States/War of Northern Aggression/whatever people decide to call it. People like to smugly say that the South seceded because of “states rights.” And you know what? They’re right, I absolutely agree with that. But the followup question never seems to pass their mind – What was the one right that the South really wanted upheld? The right to own slaves. To deny that is just ludicrous.
As for the over-reaction on the part of Amazon, Walmart, and the like, it is a silly show for PR. They have the right to do it though, so there’s nothing more to really say about that. People will be able to find their battleflags elsewhere. White Power websites will be more than happy to sell them along side their “Original Boys in the Hood” t-shirts and totenkopf lapel pins no doubt.
Honestly, I personally like it when people festoon themselves with the battleflag as it is a great indicator of what kind of person they are. Much like a Che Guevara or an “I’m With Stupid” t-shirt where the arrow points up. So if you want to make a statement by using that flag, so be it, you have that First Amendment right. But the First Amendment doesn’t protect a person from criticism.
I agree that this whole thing was a distraction though.
Who’s denying the South supported slavery, or has “skeletons in its closet.”
The fact that you chose to write 4 full paragraphs about the flag/South/slavery proves my point – giant waste of time – diversion of galactic proportions.
And, by the way, do some reading about the Corwin Amendment. 😉