In the minds of many northerners and a significant number of southerners the Civil War was fought to preserve the union. Lincoln was adamant that there could be only one nation; one country. Many counties in the south voted against secession. Western Virginia became the state of West Virginia because its people wanted to remain in the Union. Lots of lives were lost both north and south fighting for the 'one nation' ideal. And yet today we have a six-block 'autonomous zone' in the middle of Seattle, Washington calling itself CHOP.
Seattle's mayor and the state's governor seem content to let the zone stand. Readers of this blog know that I am not a Donald Trump fan, but I would have applauded him had he followed through on his threat to send in the military to retake the area.
I've been harping on the 99% of us who have not involved ourselves in the protests and demonstrations, and asked when if ever we will take a stand. Now I'm wondering what that stand would look like. What options do we, being private citizens have?
Many of us have guns and permits to carry them. We could just go to war with those demonstrators who destroy property and defy laws, and wipe them out with our vastly superior numbers...couldn't we? No we couldn't, because we respect laws and life and behave as decent intelligent human beings.
We could peacefully counter-protest and again through overwhelming numbers make their voices and actions insignificant. Then it would be we who get the headlines and videos. But we won't do that. We're the invisible majority.
I haven't looked, but there are probably on-line petitions we could add our names to, calling for a restoration of law and order. Some of us might do that; hit the submit button and say that we've done our part. Most of us won't, and petitions aren't very effective anyway.
There is something we could do. Something that makes perfect sense, that follows the Constitution of the United States to the letter as the founders of our country envisioned, and employs the most formidable weapon available to us. We could pick up a pen and write.
Just imagine the power the president would have if in his hand he had letters from the 292 million adults in this country, telling him to restore order and sanity to this country. It's unfortunate that the President at this moment is Trump. Better yet, what if a Senator from Georgia received letters from the 6.8 million adults in his state telling him to do whatever possible to stop this crap. And a Wisconsin Senator received similar letters from the 4.1 million adult Wisconsinites. And on and on. There could be no more powerful tool.
And while we're at it, let's write to the NFL commissioner telling him to focus on football and forget the political activism. And to the big-name football players and other athletes, telling them that yeah, kneeling during the National Anthem is disrespect to the flag. And to the CEO of Quaker Oats, telling him that the brand names Aunt Jimima and Uncle Ben are a recognized part of Americana, have nothing to do with racism and should be retained. Write to the appropriate officials telling them not to screw around with the names of schools and military bases, or historical statues. Write to Disney and tell them that Gone With the Wind is not a racist movie. I guaranty that if each one of the silent majority wrote the above letters that common sense, law and sanity would soon prevail. But we won't do that. I am not aware of a single incident in recorded history where close to an entire population acted in concert for any cause. It is always the vocal minority, those who build up their cause by tearing down others who get the attention and make the headlines.
In the next few days Maribel and I will probably be poking around antique shops. If I see a Confederate flag I'm going to buy it. Whether I'll have the guts to fly it or not I don't know.
And while we're at it, let's write to the NFL commissioner telling him to focus on football and forget the political activism. And to the big-name football players and other athletes, telling them that yeah, kneeling during the National Anthem is disrespect to the flag. And to the CEO of Quaker Oats, telling him that the brand names Aunt Jimima and Uncle Ben are a recognized part of Americana, have nothing to do with racism and should be retained. Write to the appropriate officials telling them not to screw around with the names of schools and military bases, or historical statues. Write to Disney and tell them that Gone With the Wind is not a racist movie. I guaranty that if each one of the silent majority wrote the above letters that common sense, law and sanity would soon prevail. But we won't do that. I am not aware of a single incident in recorded history where close to an entire population acted in concert for any cause. It is always the vocal minority, those who build up their cause by tearing down others who get the attention and make the headlines.
In the next few days Maribel and I will probably be poking around antique shops. If I see a Confederate flag I'm going to buy it. Whether I'll have the guts to fly it or not I don't know.
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