This Post Has 3 Comments

1. 

   Bill Heath July 21, 2020 Reply

   Racial tensions are high, as are violence levels. Homes, businesses and churches are burned every week, sometimes every day. American citizens are being put at risk by an angry mob that local governments not only do not control, but seem to egg on. Police are ordered to keep their hands off “peaceful” people defending their rights. The Republican President made it clear that if local government could nor or would not protect citizens, then the Federal Government would. The President was denigrated by multiple state governors and city mayors.

   The President sent Federal resources to the city, and local officials, including the governor, claimed Federal interference in state affairs was not welcome, and the Democratic Governor told the President point-blank that Federal resources would make things worse. The governor had great popular support in the state and neighboring states, and suits were filed against the President and the Federal Government to force withdrawal of Federal resources unless the governor specifically requested them. The President still sent federal resources, and during the violence the mob destroyed many black-owned businesses, black homes and churches, and killed many African-Americans.

   The year was 1957, the president was Eisenhower, all of this took place in Little Rock, Arkansas, and a white mob was threatening black students trying to integrate schools. The parallels are uncanny. Any action Eisenhower took to prevent harm to black lives and black property were labeled violations of citizens’ rights by the local governments. There was secession from the US. How little things have changed in sixty years.

   The statements by current Democratic Mayors and Governors where violence is uncontrolled defend states’ rights Not six months ago we were told by those same people that “States’ Rights” was code for White Supremacy. These officials claim that there is no violence and no black lives are being put in danger, because their lives matter. Compare their statements to those of Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephenson, his Vice President, and John C. Breckenridge, his Secretary of War. The words and sentiments are the same, most markedly in utter contempt of those who disagree with the “in-crowd.”

   Any claim that the two situations – 1957 Arkansas and 2020 Oregon – are in no way analogous sound extraordinarily emotion-driven, and require extraordinary proof. The African Americans whose lives,homes, businesses and churches were taken by the 2020 mob are just as dispossessed and dead as those from 1957.

   1. 

      Erich Vieth July 21, 2020

      History is not my strong suit. I didn’t know or appreciate these parallels. Thank you.

2. 

   Bill Heath July 22, 2020 Reply

   You’re welcome. As the Left works to rewrite history, not just reinterpret it, those of us who can remember history have a duty to pass on what we saw. I want to become better at pointing only to facts before introducing opinion, and at differentiating between the two. The key task, as in so many things, appears to be introspection, challenging our own memory and motives before seeking to challenge others’. It’s what I want to do when I grow up.