OP-ED

America: Cultural Fondue

[image courtesy of The New Orleans Film Society]

Growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana offered me a unique perspective of the world. The little floating Crescent City offers an amalgamation of cultural influences through art, architecture, food and an array of amazing neighbors making up a diverse, cohesive and proud population. Being raised in such an environment taught me that groups of people from different cultural backgrounds living together enhances the world. The fact of the matter is, until I was older the idea of some sort of separateness between cultures existed never occurred to me. By separateness I’m not referring to something like different peer groups that are sometimes formed in societal circles. I am referring to the different cultural, spiritual and very personal ideologies formed from growing up with distinct individual ethnic influences. I thought that the whole world lived the way that I lived, believed what I believed and grew up somewhat similarly to the way that I grew up. It is a pretty normal perception for a child, but as an adult I realize the limitations of that perception.

The beauty inherent in the city is not limited to the mixture of French and Spanish architectural styles. The beauty that I believe that my younger self experienced through the pulse of the city was due to so many cultures living together, proud of their heritage and the city in they called home. A significance visitors can see within the menus in local restaurants, Po’ Boys alongside shawarma. As an adult, I long for that perception. I miss it and I wish that more people in America knew how amazing it is to live in a sea of cultural beliefs. How it can enhance the beauty of our Country. Given that this is the perception that I have held for all of my life, I think that a wall built around our borders makes no sense. When I add that personal belief to the history behind the immigration and migration into the United States, a fence keeping people out makes even less sense. The fact is that many sought refuge in the borders of the United States before she held that name. The final text of the Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776 and many people were moving here before that date and many have since then. It is difficult for me to agree with the barring and or removing of citizens when we ourselves sought freedom inside the borders of the same place that others now seek it.

Experts have traced the original settlers of America back to the Paleoamericans (from 16,500-15,500 Bc). Not to be confused with Paleolithic, Paleoamericans is a term used for the hunters and gatherers who originally used the Bering Strait to come to America. These small groups of hunter/gatherers came into the borders of what we now call the United States and are the ancestors of the Indians that were here when our colonist from Britain arrived. Vikings arrived later in the year 1000. 500 years later European settlers began making their way to America. Between the 16th and 17th century Spain, Britain, the Dutch and Swedish had established a settlement in Florida, New England, Virginia, New York, New Jersey and Delaware respectively. The world seeing a new frontier to seek new opportunities to build a life, much as we did when we explored the old West. As I type these words a song from my childhood keeps rolling around my head. This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie.

The song has the line, “As I went walking I saw a sign there And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.” But on the other side it didn’t say nothing, That side was made for you and me.” The land that I call home was perceived by many settlers from all of the world, at one time or another, as their land. America herself is a nation made up of people all over the world. Although many of the people who live here are from families who have been here for generations all American ancestry, nevertheless, originates from someplace else. Although this can be said for all alive on the planet, nowhere else on the planet is there a place such as America where people in need of sanctuary from persecution can escape. As Thomas Paine’s wrote, America is, “the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe.” Although this country has been, and is still, hailed as a safe haven, some people believe that immigration has a negative effect on the United States. However, many studies show a very different picture.

The idea that immigrants “steal” jobs from American workers has been voiced by those of the opinion that immigration should be banned. A study by Peter Dixon and Maureen Rimmer (Cato Institute) in 2009 showed that “legalizing low-skilled immigration would boost the collective income of U.S. households by $180 billion per year.” In addition, a study by Madeline Zavodny (American Enterprise Institute) found that “an increase in visas for both high-skilled and less-skilled foreign-born workers actually creates a net increase in jobs for native-born workers.” The fact of the matter is that immigration is largely determined by need. So when America’s economy is struggling the number of both legal and illegal immigrant falls. When the economy is good immigration promotes the economy through a variety of ways including increasing demands for goods, creations of companies, creations of new jobs and services. Immigrants increase much of America’s innovation, investments and the creation of new services and products. New markets are created with new ideas and the creation of new jobs soon follow. Those immigrating into the United States promote growth and expansion when the economy is strong and when it is weak less people immigrate. As Daniel Griswold wrote in the National Review (Online) on January 3, 2012 “Immigration keeps America demographically healthy while other, less open Western nations struggle with declining workforces.” Not only has America been built by and for Immigrants, additional immigration enhances America both culturally and economically.”

A study run by Partnership for a New American Economy showed that 28% of the companies started in 2011 in the United States were created by immigrants. The study also reported that a whopping 40% “of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. The economic impact is immense. Businesses owned by immigrant’s employ one in ten American workers, and in 2011, they generated $775 billion in revenue.” Such numbers support evidence published by Harvard Business School suggesting that “migrants are more likely to register patents than native-born Americans and they make strong contributions to the economy.” Out of every 10 new companies begun in the US, 3 of them are created by immigrants. These studies show a pattern that immigrants help to create new jobs, not steal existing jobs. As one of the analysts concludes, “By enriching and diversifying the supply of labor and by sharpening competitive incentives, immigration can boost productivity across host economies.” Another thing that anti-immigration proponents say is that immigration increases crime in the United States.

Those who obtain or are attempting to obtain legal membership as a United States citizen are highly unlikely to commit crimes. The desire to become an American outweighs any desire for ill repute. People immigrating into the United States are often escaping from oppressive regimes who utilize fear as a measure for controlling the populace. If the desire is to gain permanent residence, then breaking the law would work against someone who desired citizenship. In addition, an inherent fear exists when a person runs from an oppressive government. Making trouble through breaking laws set in place by the new government is unlikely due to the horrors many immigrants escaped from in their old home. The fact of the matter is that it is considerably more likely that a natural born citizen of the United States will commit crimes. Many anti-immigration Proponents spoke out loudly following the tragedy that America endured on 9/11. However, it is vital to note that the terrorists were not immigrants. Not one of the 19 terrorists who brutally attacked the United States on Sept. 11 applied to the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) for citizenship. In fact, only 1 in every 25 people who gain entrance to the country do so with the hopes to gain citizenship through immigration. As Daniel Griswold wrote in Insight on February 18, 2002 “We could reduce the number of immigrants to zero and still not stop terrorists from slipping into the country on nonimmigrant visas.”

It is not a matter of not letting people into the country but rather a matter of keeping the wrong people out of the country. Some natural born citizens in the United States also see problems in the realm of assimilation. However, just because a person moves here doesn’t mean they have to leave their cultural beliefs and ideals behind. After all, it is the cultural diversity that helps to make America strong and unique. The word assimilation is off putting in my opinion. I prefer the term acculturation. Merriam Webster’s defines acculturation as, “cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture.” Each individual’s cultural belief system, perceptions and views add to the mix when added to the United States. In an attempt to describe America’s cultural diversity, a few authors have endeavored to find a good analogy for the United States. In the past America has been called a melting pot and then later a salad bowl or mosaic. These references offer different perspectives, changing over time, for the overall assimilation of immigrants into America.

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines a melting pot in the following manner, “a place (such as a city or country) where different types of people live together and gradually create one community.” The term originated from a play written by Israel Zangwill titled The Melting Pot which premiered on stage in 1908. The playwright ends his work with the hope that the future unborn children would live in a peaceful country in spite of differences in ethnic and religious beliefs. Essentially melting together all and making the new America. Author of the book Out of Our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America, historian Carl Degler wrote that features from each culture that Added to America’s distinctness weren’t lost or melted together. He wrote that “A more accurate analogy would be a salad bowl, for, although the salad is an entity, the lettuce can still be distinguished from the chicory, the tomatoes from the cabbage.” Both of the afore mentioned authors made excellent references, they captured a specific version of America from their specific time period. Zangwill captured the hopes for positive change and Degler the important differences that make the cultural differences inherent in American society so great. Her distinctness.

Although they capture the idea well, I rather prefer what Timothy Taylor wrote in an article for the Star Tribune in 2013. Mr. Taylor wrote, “My own suggestion is that America is chocolate fondue. Our different cultural and ethnic backgrounds are the strawberries, pineapple, and cherries, the graham crackers and cookies, the pound cake and brownies, the rice crispy treats and marshmallows, the popcorn and the peppermint sticks. Then we are dipped in America. We swim in America. We are coated in America. Because Americans can and do come from all ethnicities and races, we all look like Americans.” It is my belief that a combination of all three of these eminent authors ideas are at work in the United States can be summed up by the term acculturation. A melting pot would presume to melt them down creating a new mixture. A salad doesn’t account for the changes that occur with each generation of children born to immigrant parents in the US. America is more like the warmed chocolate and each new culture is able to use as little of or as much of the chocolate to enhance the sweetness already available in their own culture. The chocolate fondue is nothing without the sweets available to dip in and the sweets can gain more dipping into the chocolate. This is how I perceive additional new citizens to our country.

As a relationship that adds something special for both. America is indeed an amazing nation and each new addition to her ranks of loyal citizens help to improve her, make her even more amazing than she already is. My childhood perception is clearly naive, however, my perception as an adult has some important similarities to that of my youth.

Closing our borders to possible future leaders of industry and a workforce doesn’t only hurt those who hope to come into the country. It hurts America as a whole because we are limiting our ability to create and innovate. In addition, I fear that if America were to close her borders, we would remove the ability, that we ourselves sought, from others in the same or more desperate need. The right to live without persecution. To speak freely and build a life for themselves. Every single human being on the planet deserves rights such as, though not limited to, rights such as these. If we, as the world’s superpower, do not offer a haven. A safe port for the people who are in desperate need, then what will we have become? The creation of these United States was built on freedom. Freedom from tyrants who told us what we could and could not do. Could and could not say. Refused to give us a voice. A choice. If we remove the ability of sanctuary to those in need we will have become the tyrants we fought against for our freedom. This is not who we are. This is not the embodiment of the American spirit.

Leary, Teresa

Gonzo State: [Untitled]

“Bentley! Bentley. I suggest…I suggest that you do something different with your life right now.” This instruction was delivered by my boss (at the time) to his unruly Huskie, but it might as well have been given to my entire generation.

As always, the day had given way to night and my mind had wrestled with itself long enough. I needed sanctuary, strong drink and a blank expression with which to watch the news on screens behind the heads of the locals. With the mind of a fried pie I careened my car down a thoroughfare of an unincorporated town in West Virginia, roughly sixty miles from Washington D.C.

“Babylon,” I came to call D.C. as a Sailor stationed in Bethesda, which was appropriate enough that no one cares to question the nickname. It was by a sense of awe, despair, disgust and reverence that I came by it the hard way some years ago.

The Christmas lights around Arlington had shone brightly on my most sentimental evening, awash with history and the sort of romance that saw my Army counterpart’s cheek against mine, her words in my ear accompanied by my kiss on her neck.

Then, the other shoe dropped and zang! I’m departing the parking garage of Target near P.F. Chang’s, a sudden desperate attempt to keep a fellow servicemember alive and out of trouble, and barely having arrived in Rockville, Maryland, found myself in the company of a remarkable amount of police officers. While all was eventually sorted out (one way or another), I did discover that being handcuffed, face down on the pavement amidst a soft rain gave me an amazing opportunity to learn and reevaluate the nonsense I’d allowed a foothold in my life. “Teachable moments,” I’ve come to call such events with a wince oft confused for a smile, and rightfully so.

Let no good deed go unpunished.

“It was all downhill from there,” I uttered to my glass and coaster on the bar, awaiting another potent haul of ethanol. “Or is it, ‘down on the bed’ from there? Not nearly as catchy.” The general uproar that passed for ambience as karaoke loomed large made my private social commentaries a non-factor.

“Hell,” I continued, mulling over the equal parts glory and horror of yesteryear, “if I was a woman they’d’ve labeled me a slut.” This was most certainly true, as I had responded to the eventual collapse of the genuine, heartmelting romance that blossomed in Arlington by carousing. I went on to live up to the archetype of heathen in the Navy, only I hadn’t needed a new port. D.C. had an endless supply of trysts for me to temporarily bind the wound of heartbreak with. I had largely imploded things with she myself, but damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead, aye?

“Aye, got it!” I said, louder than intended as my libation arrived. Few noticed, none cared. But I digress.

Every single horror of the corruption of public life crept its way into Walter Reed the two years I’d been there as the primary Army and Navy hospitals merged there in Maryland. It was a handful of miles from the epicenter of our Federal Republic, our Representative Democracy. Whatever label you prefer, the genuine, tender romance and the unnecessary legal crucible were equal parts of the same story.

So it was yesterday and is today and will be tomorrow. Wars and rumors of wars will abound along with the usual ugliness, while the bountiful opportunities, resplendence, and monuments sacred to America and Her Republic will ring hollow for any looking for that chapter. However, for those with a soul not set for self-destruct, there was the beauty and elegance and love that I discovered in Babylon. For my part, I vacillated between the cauldron of brutality and the essence of hallowed humanity.

Lucifer and a third of his fellow angels rebelled (at least in part) over the perception that God valued something fashioned from dirt over them; we hamstrung ourselves with our humanity during that time (2011-2013) in Bethesda, both our frailties and our strengths.

Did we make the case against humanity with our failures? I’m not so sure. The defeatism and Apocalypticism of the admittedly conflicted era that was the “new” Walter Reed circa 2011-2013 stands apart from now in several ways. Without the deflating drudgery of rattling them all off, at the very least one could look their friends and enemies in the eye. Betrayal and intrigue might be lurking around the next corner (per the modus operandi of Babylon and the government circuit as a whole) but those seeming eons ago politics was still the art of compromise. Then-POTUS Obama (D-IL) and then-House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) can hardly be soberly accused of engaging in the politics of blood sport we’ve now.

Now? Depending on their background, looking one’s enemies and/or friends in the eye might get you flagged on any number of social media platforms and could very well get you labeled with some sort of “-ism”, as one type of “-ist” or another. A whole decade ago Section 230 was applied within the spirit of its creation, lending the happenings online a sort of Wild West vibe when juxtaposed to the great cosmic gag-reel taking place now.

“What is Section 230?” one might ask. This, too, is a well-placed and unscripted question, but it makes little difference when Louis Farrakhan can spit his vile verbal excrement at hapless passerby on social media, but not Donald Trump. No, indeed. Hardly an avid defender of the former POTUS, I nonetheless present our Federal support and protections for our Silicon Valley overlords as Exhibit A for the how/why (either/and/or) the Federal Communications Commission has adequate pretext to cry foul. This is tantamount to “collateral censorship”, or censorship by proxy. That’s the biggest item George Orwell didn’t foresee in my favorite novel, “1984”: private enterprise conducting the censorship, and not the state itself.

Since I’ve likely lost anyone who hates The Donald for my defending his First Amendment rights, I might as well toss a grenade in this burgeoning dumpster fire. Wouldn’t Joe Manchin lead off that way?

“The wind only blows sometimes.” “He’s exactly right!”

While hardly the binary option both the Communists of the Far Left and the Fascists of the Far Right want all the Sheeple to give an “Amen!” and believe, the conflict between being a John Locke liberal in favor of largely laissez-faire capitalism (not the crony kind) with a strong, (but) limited Federal government and in wanting a respectable return on our investment in Section 230 protections granted Silicon Valley (and company), it is amusing on a perverse level.

“Afterall,” I told myself, “everyone hates a centrist, so you might as well enjoy it, Jack. The good news is, only White elitists are storming off after closing your column a few paragraphs back. They can kick rocks. There’s surely a Mother Jones article or athletic mutant defecating on the very flag that enables their miserable existence out there, somewhere, that they can flee to. Still miserable, but they showed me! No First Amendment for the people who make us think and shit.”

It was only at the end of this paragraph that I realized I wasn’t just thinking this as I tapped it into a note on my phone for later insertion into this very diatribe. I was muttering much of it out loud.

“Ignore the madness of a world that has made this swashbuckler appear normal. Ignore the celebutante-rejects aghast at those not absorbed in Chinese spyware ‘social’ apps available on any mainstream App Store.”

And why not? Afterall, the Communists now want the populace to swallow the latest swill their Thought Police have puked out, and nod slowly, basking in the wisdom of the notion that Black children being taught mathematics is racist. Conversely, the Fascists want the citizenry at-large to embrace their latest, unintelligible Reductio Ad Absurdum that beating cops to a pulp while shouting racist terms at the non-White officers is okay as long as they’re patriots. Thin Blue Line and all. “Thin Blue Line”, you ingrates? Put the straw down.

“Dear God Almighty,” I mumbled into my Long Island Iced Tea, nearly gone due to the urgent need to anesthetize myself. No reply, and not because He wants us to forget He exists, but because it’s the pizza we ordered, and it has arrived with all the trappings. Whose fault is that?

The lunacy in the former example is in those on the Far Left who by proxy think the Black intellect is so dormant, psyche so timid, that there need be no Black doctors, economists, engineers, et cetera, in the future. Mathematics is a rather integral part of the process of those career paths. Who’s holding who back with racist ideology again, exactly?

The madness in the latter example is at least as vivid and particularly poignant from people on the Far Right who think cops can do no wrong. You say The Filth went too far in Example X? “I say they didn’t go too far enough!” some neo-Successionist will bleat with the fervor of a patriot, by God. Just a patriot to another country, and not this one. But why quibble about it? Sure, seems reasonable enough to pass muster on “Squidbillies.”

Imitation being the highest form of flattery, the method to the unorthodoxy of this publication has never been less necessary. Both extremes in the sadly binary world of Castro and Mussolini neophytes demand the long-term vision, the sort of engaging in politics (again, “The Art of Compromise”) as a year-round endeavor that there is no app or “hack” for. The marathon, not the sprint, is what is at hand. I’d rather flatter the Edward Brooke III, the Alexander Hamilton, the Barbra Streisand, the Hunter S. Thompson and even the Master Shake with imitation than embrace the intellectual suicide of either Irredeemable America or Exceptional American Unilateralism.

Whichever clown car takes the stage from either extremist wing of discourse, they both will assure us that we’d feel so much better if only we’d embrace their brand of groupthink. Tsk, tsk, I know, but such is the rot of the putrescence we’ve inexplicably opted to wallow in.

What both teams of malcontents mean is we’ll feel much better carrying all of our favorite shows with us on all of our devices as they continue embezzling and funneling money to the duopoly in Babylon. The royalty on Capitol Hill will then reward our wholehearted faith with continued malignant governance and further insolvency on every level (social, fiscal, geopolitical, et al).

“Who knows?” I mumbled with a shrug. “With any luck, the dead will walk again and we’ll have an existential reason to disallow the Neanderthals in Congress from fucking the same coconut over and over while saying they’re carrying out the people’s business. All, naturally, with a straight face. And pursed lips. Can’t forget the ‘duck face.’ Gotta meet my fellow Millennials halfway.”

“You say something, Hun?”

The bartender had taken notice of my glass being devoid of strong drink, and grew concerned. Animals entering sexual congress with fruit, however, passed muster.

‘Of course it did,’ I thought, but could only reply with a low rasp as I exited my barstool.

“Yes, Ma’am. Check please.”

And on the 8th day, God made bears. Lots and lots of bears.

Does this era need introduction? Or, rather, may a suitable introduction be written? I report, you deride.

1: In any rational era, the sudden appearance of lurid photographs of well-known public figures tends to happen without the consent of those captured in the images. Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Anthony Weiner, et al. Notable exceptions to this are of the celebutante variety who sport last names such as Hilton and Kardashian, but then, their deliberate release of self-incriminating material isn’t indicative of a rational era.

That there’s a Stairway to Heaven but a Highway to Hell is indicative of expected traffic volume.

The great Jerry Falwell, Jr., well his undeniable greatness as an Evangelical Christian minister and university president is so ineffable, so vast, that he was no longer able to be confined by any notion of modern decency. If that’s still a thing, that is. Either way, the photograph posted containing the erstwhile head of Liberty University (and descendent of the late and decent Jerry Falwell) is disturbing on several counts. Let’s take a look:

Now, I’m not sure if it’s the ghastly attempt at humor (yeah, “black water”, haw haw haw!), the self-caricature of the gut and the unzipped pants combined with the awful rug on his counterpart (who is not his wife, for those keeping score at home), the fact that students of said Evangelical university get expelled for drinking and/or extra-marital sexual encounters, or that this wasn’t a leak at all that makes this such a disgrace. He could’ve just said it was a faux Black Dog in his glass and been done with it.

The man (so-called) “leaked” it via his own social media aperture, and then delivered a truly abysmal mockery of an apology on-air, and I quote: “I’ve promised my kids I’m going to try to be…I’m gonna try to be a good boy from here on out.” Rock and Roll, Jerry!

Oh and Mrs. Falwell, when your marriage does end, remember: you [expletive deleted] your rebound, and that’s it. You don’t permanently abscond from reality and keep [expletive deleted] them long-term and/or marry them. Especially, I might add, if you plucked them from the extras of “The Walking Dead.”

Silly me. But seriously, though: booze and Evangelicals and social media shouldn’t mix.

2: At times, the headlines write themselves. In their own attempt to swing loose with reality, as it were, Iran has a fabricated aircraft carrier resembling one of those wielded by the United States Navy. “Why”, you ask? An entirely unscripted and well-placed question. For their own propaganda purposes that is, until the entire experiment blew up in their faces. Living out their own version of “delirium tremens”, Iran was so successful in this charade that their accidental destruction of a prop US Navy aircraft carrier poses a threat to a major thoroughfare in the oil trade. Posing an existential threat to traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and things apparently unbeknownst to Iran such as tides can shift the wreckage, endangering oil tankers.

Give the Ayatollah our best. Speaking of “the best”, if you’re going to challenge the world’s preeminent naval power, you’d better come correct. The Battle of Evermore this is not.

3: Biden must face Trump in debate(s). Yes, it’s answering a “double dog dare” from the POTUS and no, you don’t want to give in to the whims of a bully. But if you don’t follow through then it looks like you’re hiding in a basement and afraid to face Donald J. Trump on the stage. What’s the worst that could happen? They then “triple dog dare” one another to a lindy hop dance-off to the “Misty Mountain Hop” or hand out four sticks (one to both members of each ticket) to swing with? Why would you be afraid of that if you’re in the Biden camp unless, per the Trump camp’s assertions, the former Vice President will be unable to remember whether he’s going to California, or another, “y’know, the thing” that the Founding Fathers said? The great equalizer is the human ego. They’ll debate.

This is an event waiting to go wrong. Don’t hang out with bears. [image credit to Daily Caller & Barstool Sports]

4: Meanwhile, the National Park Service has posted a warning urging American adventurers not to confront bears but, if they do, to not take advantage of their slower companions. And no, this is not made up. Nor is the response of a pack of humans, recently, to a bear arriving in their midst. They didn’t flee or otherwise attempt to discourage the bear; instead they took pictures of their merry band whilst feeding the bear. Good call, ‘Murica.

5: Bill Barr’s appearance was a disgrace for everyone except the Attorney General. For committee chairman Nadler, to open the hearing with that statement was an outrage; and Jordan, thanks for the monologue on things that happened before Barr was back on the job and for God’s sake put your damn coat on!

6: Stat of the Week: the POTUS’ campaign is knocking on 1 million doors a week; the former VPOTUS’ camp is knocking on 0. As in ZERO. Z-E-R-O. This sort of nonsense only seems like nonsenseuntil the time when the levee breaks. Underestimate the mad media genius of The Donald at your peril.

Y’know what? Let’s just cancel everything. If everything’s priority one, then nothing is priority one.

7 June 2020

Black Lives Matter: Let’s cut through the fat together, shall we? Yes or yes? Good. With that, we have a problem in America. Several, actually. We live in a police state, for one thing, and for another, paramount now, is said police state taking a particular interest in African Americans.

Let’s also consider the unbelievable, highly-classified powers of FISA courts to spy unopposed on our own people without their knowledge indefinitely, the ability of the Federal government to suspend the Constitutional rights of American citizens suspected of terrorism via the Patriot Act and the inexplicable repeal of the Smith-Mundt Act (which forbade the Federal Government from using propaganda on American soil). Are you drinking what I’m pouring?

With no malice in my heart toward the many fine police officers across the land (a few I’ve known personally), I say again: we live in a police state.

Over the past decade alone, we have seen increasing examples of the use of excessive force on a disproportionate number of black Americans. Data clearly shows that Whites compose 76.5% of America’s citizenry while Blacks make up 13.4% of it, the former were shot to death by police 370 times versus 235 for the latter.

For those who want to bring out FBI data displaying prevalence of crime amongst inner city black neighborhoods, recall the negligible difference in drug use between whites and blacks and the parity in gun culture between the two.

America glorifies violence, and that crosses ethnic lines. Don’t believe me? Look at what I call “Dollar Voting”, in essence, what we value and spend our money on. What does our art and culture reflect? If we’re being real, it ain’t peace. Does hip hop culture lend itself to violence? Listen to the top ten hits of the genre and get back to me; but before you get back to me, let me know what Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed and “The Dukes of Hazzard” were all about while you’re at it.

As for the movement itself, “Black Lives Matter” is driving home a simple point: yes, every house in the neighborhood matters but only one of them is on fire.

We hardly need a hashtag for Blue (Police) Lives Matter; they roam about largely unopposed, vested with a badge and lethal weaponry, and we provide a safety net (union, pension, et cetera) and, in general, blanket support to include the high probability that bad actors aren’t held accountable in court.

All Lives Matter? Do they? Maybe I’d be more decisive in answering these questions if every new episode of “Death By Cop” didn’t always star a black man.

– Jack DeViney

*************

New Orleans Police Department preps for ongoing confrontation and protest throughout downtown.

All Lives Matter(?): Two things can be true at once. In fact, very few things in our world are mutually exclusive of themselves. One can, for example, be in favor of the events in the George Floyd case never happening again and find the phrase “Black Lives Matters” offensive. They are not mutually exclusive. Both can be true. This depends on your definitions of words. Words matter. Words have meaning. Facts matter. Facts have meaning.

If by any definition, one is not a racist, but they will not stand shoulder to shoulder with Black Lives Matter signs, or they won’t kneel down in front of a mob of protestors, they become….what? Insensitive? Divisive?

To be true to this point, I believe “All Lives Matter” or “Blue Lives Matter” are equally asinine. We don’t protest on things we agree upon. We don’t stand outside and shout “the sky is blue”!

Are things worse now than the mid-1960’s? Or do we see public discord in 3D now? We report, you deride.

The assertion that a black man can not step from his home without fear of imminent death from a racist ‘Mericuh is as equally preposterous as the media’s “1619” narrative that America is as systemically racist as at any time in our history. Really? Where’s the poll of young, black men asking them if they’d rather live in 1865, 1965 or 2020? I must’ve missed that astute revelation.

Instead of regurgitated statistics that the left/media refuse to acknowledge anyway, how about we come at this from a novel approach. [So] what is your suggestion? I mean, with all of the statistics stating the exact opposite of your point, what are we doing wrong? Are our hiring standards too low? Is training being swept aside to fast-track officers onto beats? Do we provide immunity to officers that is unnecessary and counter-productive? Let’s get to the “nut cutting” as they say.

If we want to turn this into another narrative where the right just refuses to admit there is a substantial issue and is instead hiding behind years of conservative practices…show me! Where are the statistics that support any of this nonsense? That show America is systemically racist and prejudiced against black Americans? Where are the politicians that you are particularly citing as responsible for these aggressions? Or is it just “orange man bad”, with his “basket of deplorables”?

Once again, the left/media have overplayed their hands. We were told millions of Americans would die if we didn’t shut the world down indefinitely. Now if you have a small business and want to re-open smartly so that you don’t lose everything, you’re killing grandma! We were told that if we would just allow LGBT marriages, all examples of bigotry would be history. Now if you’re a Millennial male that won’t go out with a trans-woman (a man by all scientific facts and definitions), you’re a homophobe! And now, if you won’t march to the beat of this drum, well, you’re just a racist. Or worse, an “Uncle Tom.”

It’s tiring. It’s divisive. It’s unnecessary. This issue is one we must agree on, or we don’t have a country. You cannot have law and order if one group is being systematically hunted down and killed by those sworn to protect us.

Facts matter. Statistics matter. Two things can be true at once.

– Michael R. DeViney, Jr.

OP-ED

Leary, Teresa

Gonzo State: [Untitled]

Six Degrees of Knowin’ Nothin’: [Untitled]

Contrast: Black Lives Matter v. All Lives Matter (et al)