What would you do? Not sure what I’d do if I had to live through “Protest Hell” as the direct object of gangs of verbally abusive, under 30-somethings. The scenes I’m seeing aren’t staged. They are first-person accounts. These incorrectly labeled “Peaceful Protestors” get up in your face as you walk in a suit and tie or dress and high heels. It doesn’t matter. Maybe you’re in a tee and jeans. A man on a bike begins his locker room language assault on you. (He has a getaway strategy on his bicycle because he is so “brave,” don’t you know). The verbal abuse is relentless, personal, and threatening. God help you if you happen to have any symbol of America on your attire.
Last night, there were threats to my city. We live near the center of the action. Proprietors closed early with hardly any notice and boarded up stores and establishments. If you needed baby formula or diapers or medicine, you were out of luck. It was eerily quiet for a Saturday night. No usual summer sounds of motorcycle mania or drag racing. Even though the weather was perfect, we were advised to close the windows and drapes, keep porch lights on, take down campaign signs and American flags. Wait. What country do I live in?
Since this is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship, not partisan or identity politics, let’s talk.
-We are Americans. We pledge allegiance to the United States of America by choice, not by force. Therefore, no one forces us to pledge allegiance to their cause. No one gets in our face and demands our submission. We stand up for freedom. That is, we allow others to have their beliefs and values, and we have ours. To be truly free, we must respectfully tolerate others who do not think or believe as we do. The “kicker” is that the reverse is true. Others must respectfully tolerate us. Otherwise, we live in anarchy, not liberty. We’re the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We do not back down in the face of intimidation. We do not strike first, but we have every right to defend our lives.
-These are not peaceful protests. These are violent wars waged on our streets that violate our first amendment rights to think and believe as we see fit. They are also wars against personal property. That is unconstitutional.
-There is a sentiment that goes something like this, “If you were not killed, you were not threatened.” That claim will never stand in a court of law in this country. If you were not killed, but you were illegally denied your right to walk peacefully down a street, spit upon, and endured gross, fighting words in your face, you were threatened. Reject such statements outright as illogical and anti-American.
-We the People have elected leaders who swore an oath to uphold the U.S. and the state constitutions of where we reside. Their #1 job is to protect our God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which includes our property. If any leader fails to do their #1 job, We the People need to take care of business by voting for someone who will. That’s not all. We need to be ready to defend liberty, for if we don’t, we will have neither liberty nor security.
-Chaos is a way to steal power. Check that in your own life. Watch for it. When there’s chaos in any group, someone gets the attention and the power.
-Cameras roll during these incidents at a higher voltage and a faster rate than the paparazzi. Some people will do anything for money or a quick Twitter high. They will say you want attention. You planned to walk down the street to incite these attacks. Don’t be fooled into ever believing you’re the cause of someone else’s behavior-criminal or otherwise. We all are in charge of the two feet we stand on. And we have the right to defend our one and only life.
What are you willing to do to stand up for your individual guaranteed rights?
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. ??
