There are some tragedies that have a way of lodging in our hearts, producing hidden images that often surface in times of crises. Forty years ago, I pastored a church in rural Tennessee. One rainy night, a distressed grandmother called and said that her granddaughter, fifteen years of age, had been killed in an auto accident. Later that evening, in trying to comfort the family, the grandmother kept on repeating the granddaughter’s name, and said, “You are too young to die.”
This past July 4th, America celebrated 244 years since the Declaration of Independence roused the sometimes-lucid King George III. We are a very young nation—too young to die.
Should a Mayor Apologize to Violent Protesters?
In Fredericksburg, Virginia, a frightened woman named Tara Durant dialed 911 to report protesters swarming her and her young daughter while driving through town. That 911 call has since been released (potomoclocal.com).
“They’re on my car. They’re on my car right now,” Durant tells the 911 dispatcher.
“So we would suggest that you slowly drive through the area. Don’t hit anyone with your vehicle,” the dispatcher responds.
To that the woman says, “I can’t. I cannot get out of here, okay?”
The dispatcher then tells the caller: “Please be patient. I’ll let the officer know, OK?”
“Are you serious?” the woman who dialed 911 asks.
The dispatcher responds, “We can’t do anything, ma’am. The city told us this is a sanctioned event.”
“Get out of my car! You know, this is going to get dangerous. I got a kid here,” the woman shouts.
But the dispatcher only calmly replies, “Yes, ma’am. We would suggest you call up the city hall to let them know about your frustrations.”
Durant is then heard yelling: “Get out of the way! Get out of the way! This is getting scary! They’re on my car! They’re on my car! I’ve got a little girl in the car crying. Are you kidding me?!”
Once Fredericksburg mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw got involved, the true state of our nation became very evident. Greenlaw apologized to protesters after police tried to disperse the crowd. She wrote, “I am personally sorry. I apologize to those who went through this fearful experience.”
Note, the Mayor “apologized to protesters.” Should a mayor be apologizing to criminals? Should a city be supporting a mob and describe their activities as a “sanctioned event”?
Wake Up Before It’s Too Late
Americans have been living the good life and we are not used to deprivation and suffering. We think we are experiencing a disaster of epic proportions if our smart phone doesn’t work or if we have to wait more than three minutes for our bacon cheeseburger. We would rather compromise, bend, hold back on doing the right thing than doing the right thing. We hope problems would go away, and we have adjusted to the fact that they usually don’t.
Our failure to confront serious issues will be our downfall. We are still stuck with North Korea and have to tremble when the country’s fatso nuclear brat makes a threat. We’ve allowed China to steal our secrets, tap into our technology, infiltrate our centers of higher learning, and expand exponentially through the Belt and Road Initiative.
In his “End-Of-The-Day Report” (7/8/20) Gary Bauer writes:
For decades, the American political class and the corporate chieftains have embraced a myth that is now disappearing before their eyes. They believed that capitalism would tame communist China, that trade with China would change China. Once hundreds of millions of Chinese started reading the financial pages to see how their stocks were doing, they would put down Mao’s Little Red Book. Or so they thought. History may eventually conclude that this was one of the biggest mistakes ever made by free people in the history of free people making mistakes. … While American youth are tearing down statues of our founding fathers, the communist mass murderer Mao Zedong is enjoying renewed adoration among Chinese youth.
Speaking to the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, as reported by bbc.com (1/8/20), FBI director Christopher Wray said China has begun targeting Chinese nationals living abroad, coercing their return, and is working to compromise U.S. coronavirus research. “China is engaged in a whole-of-state effort to become the world’s only superpower by any means necessary,” Wray said.
In his presentation Wray mentioned “Fox Hunt,” a program President Xi developed to round up Chinese dissidents, rivals, and critics abroad who are seeking to expose China’s barbaric human rights violations. In one case, when the communist government couldn’t locate one Fox Hunt target, the government sent an emissary to visit the target’s family here in the United States. What was the message they said to pass on? The target had two options: “Return to China promptly, or commit suicide.”
President Trump is hated by many Americans for just this reason: he confronts evil and calls it what it is. In a politically correct world, the president’s repeated use of strong language and his penchant for bringing moral clarity to an issue sets the Democrats to writing op-ed pieces about the president’s dangerous character. They wax eloquent and question his sanity. It is deemed safer to be polite and let the thieves steal the farm than to face the fact that we are going to lose the farm because of our cowardice. The way to peace is never in retreat. A cancerous tumor needs to be removed. If not it will destroy the entire body.
Dealing With Fear by Finding Shelter in Denial
People with an addiction often deny the addiction. Progressive ideologues deny the threats to America’s existence by claiming that President Trump has resorted to a politics of fear for the purpose of gaining a following. They critique the president and say fear and anger are often cited by him in tandem as the method of Trump’s particular political appeal. They are so frequently paired that they become a refrain—fear and anger, fear and anger. One commentator asserted that the Republican National Convention was “a fear-fueled acid trip.” The Left claims that the president’s desire to build the wall is a good example of his politics.
However, the critics who point a finger at the president and accuse him of fear-mongering just need to look at what’s happening on the streets of America: looting, burning, a total break-down of law and order. Children being shot, buildings and businesses burning. The threat from our porous borders is real. Islamic prayer shawls and koranic literature have been found in Texas. OTMS (other than Mexicans) coming into the U.S. is a documented fact. Last year the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa wrought death to many. The news later reported that some of the illegals seeking to cross our southern border were from Central Africa. The COVID-19 crisis shows just how real the danger from our porous borders really is.
The Left never misses an opportunity to claim that Trump is a threat to peace. Bernie Sanders said, “I fear that Trump could drag us into war.” The Hill reported, “Trump has repeatedly touted the drone strike that killed Soleimani, claiming the general was directing attacks against multiple U.S. embassies. Several Democrats, however, including the 2020 hopefuls, have expressed skepticism that the general posed an imminent threat to U.S. interests.”
The Left’s Politics of Fear
Since late February 2020 the standard media never missed a heartbeat to let their readers and viewers know how disastrous the COVID-19 pandemic really is. The progressives in America want to close down the country “’til it’s safe.” They want a permanent lockdown leading to the destruction of America because it will never be “safe.” Here is a sample of the headlines on Drudge for just one day in July 2020.
“COVID-19 vaccine may never be found”
“CA, TX Biggest Death Day”
“Birx and Fauci Blame Spike on Re-opening too fast”
“Dems fear president will push vax to boost Re-elect”
“Brain damage worry”
President Trump has made it clear that America can’t stay in a lockdown mode. He’s right. What would happen to the economy, to the mental health of the population, and to the entrepreneurial spirit of American business? The president recently threatened to cut federal funds from schools that don’t reopen. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos chimed in and slammed “adults who are fear mongering and making excuses” for not reopening. Not surprisingly Bobby Scott (D-VA), the chair of the House Education Committee, said that Trump’s push to “prematurely reopen” schools ignored the health experts and was “dangerous.”
We have to face the fact that the real pandemic in America is not a virus but the will of a surprisingly influential group that wishes the death of America and has manipulated the public with fear.