By now I’m sure you have seen the tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia. In case you were on vacation at the South Pole and happened not to hear about it, let me bring you up to date. Keep in mind that I was not personally there and have no first-hand knowledge of the event happenings. Most of what I know has been from the left-leaning, Trump-hating media. Unlike most Americans, I have also sought out other reports as well.
At the center of the Charlottesville, tragedy is a “larger than life” statue of Confederate General Robert Edward Lee. It was erected in the city park in 1924 and had stood peacefully for nearly a century to remind people of not the travesty of the Civil war but the proud Virginian who became superintendent of the US Army Academy at West Point and was asked by President Lincoln to head the Union Army.
Lee disagreed with slavery and believed that secession was unwise. He wrote: “I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union. It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, & I am willing to sacrifice every thing but honour for its preservation...”
He viewed his service to the South not as a fight against the Union, but as a defense of Virginia. Declining President Lincoln’s offer Lee said,“I shall never bear arms against the Union, but it may be necessary for me to carry a musket in the defense of my native state, Virginia, in which case I shall not prove recreant to my duty.” Confederate States President, Jefferson Davis commissioned Lee General of the Army of Northern Virginia.
It is indeed sad that the memorial to a man of this stature has become entangled in the craze for removal of Civil War history. It seems clear that there are those who would entirely erase the Civil War from the history of the United States. Arlington Cemetery was once Robert E. Lee’s home; should we dig up all of the American heroes buried there and plow under the cemetery ground? Will we eventually eliminate all images of those great men who happened to own slaves? Jefferson’s pictures will be wiped from the face of the earth, Washington will no longer be on the dollar bill. Should we rename Washington state and Washington DC? Oh, but the Washington Monument will just have to go. Where does this insanity stop? History is like yesterday’s football score; you may not like it but you can’t undo it.
Okay, back to Charlottesville. As with any action, there is always a reaction, both in physics and any other action. It was inevitable that there would be protests against the removal of the statue. Many people are not happy with this drive to remove relics of the Civil War. It is truly lamentable that the protest against removal included some of the worst organizations of our society. It is also sad that members of these organizations stood shoulder-to-shoulder alongside good citizens whose only wish was to bring to light the disappointment at the decision to remove Lee’s statue.
Action-reaction, of course, a protest of this nature was bound to bring out anti-protesters, supporters of removal. Given the heated nature of this subject, it should also have been clear that there would be clashes, even violence. You can’t mix KKK, and Neo-Nazis with Black Lives Matter and Antifa and expect all to be calm and collected. Of course, there will be clashes. It is the job of the police to see that clashes don’t turn violent. The best way to ensure that is for both sides to be separated by distance. The Charlottesville police failed to adequately separate the two groups. Adding to the injury, there are reports that the Charlottesville mayor told the police to stand down when violence first broke out! If these reports are true, that mayor should be removed and prosecuted for inciting a riot.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not in the least supporting either the protesters or the anti-protesters. The violence was wrong. It was wrong for outside groups to become involved in a local matter. It was tragic that a crazed idiot took it upon himself to run down people with his car. Racism is the scourge of this country and of our planet.
Well, to no one’s great surprise President Trump was blamed, both by the media and many legislators. It’s strange that I haven’t heard anyone reveal that Trump invited White Supremacists groups or even David Duke to the rally. He probably wasn’t even aware that there would be a protest in Charlottesville. Does he even have a hotel there? I think not. Maybe he didn’t even know where Charlottesville was.
After the tragic incident of some crazed idiot plowing into the crowd -- incidentally, he may not have even known who all was in that group he hit; there could have been some of those he supported in it -- the President decried the violence and clash of racists “on both sides.”
Not good enough the Trump haters said. Okay, on Tuesday he expanded his condemnation saying “racism is evil” he proceeded to include groups by name and continued, “and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the K.K.K., neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
For eight years President Obama stirred the fires of division and discontent every time a race riot broke out. At Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore all he could do was blame the white police. He praised Travon Martin, even saying that if he had a son he would look like Martin. What did the media do? Not much. They threw as much support to Obama and the other race-baiters as the possibly could.
Finally we have a president who doesn’t cow-tow to the media and says what’s on his mind and not what is politically correct for the moment. He doesn’t deserve the deplorable press he is getting on this and any other matter. Donald Trump isn’t a supporter of the Alt-right. He doesn’t even know what that means. Come to think of it neither do I.
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