Linda Goudsmit
Hurricane heroes
By Linda Goudsmit
On Friday September 8, 2017, Governor Rick Scott issued a mandatory evacuation order for all residents of the barrier islands on the west coast of Florida where my husband and I live. We anxiously monitored the trajectory of Hurricane Irma and watched with horror as the colossal storm gathered strength and unexpectedly veered west. On Saturday morning, we left everything behind and drove north toward safety.
The drive north on I-75 was a most extraordinary experience. The northbound lanes inched forward packed bumper-to-bumper with evacuees in passenger cars seeking safety away from the storm. In stark contrast, the southbound lanes had convoys of trucks – power companies, EMS vehicles, tree companies, huge semis filled with supplies – all driving toward the deadly hurricane. It was a stunning polarity.
We drove north for fourteen hours and the convoys never ended – there were thousands of trucks. Men and women of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and political perspectives sacrificing their personal safety and comfort in common cause to rebuild what Hurricane Irma was destroying. It made me cry. These Hurricane Heroes are authentic American heroes – men and women driving into a lethal hurricane to rebuild shattered lives. Real heroes are builders.
It was inspirational to witness their dedication and commitment, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude and admiration for how these Hurricane Heroes choose to live their lives. Natural disasters have a remarkable unifying capacity. When the water recedes and the debris clears, America has a choice. We can choose to be builders like the Hurricane Heroes, or we can choose to be destroyers.
Weeks before Hurricane Irma devastated the Keys and slammed into the west coast of Florida, the tabloid mainstream media became obsessed with the destruction of symbols of American history. It began with Confederate statues. The smashing and/or removing of statues offensive to the snowflakes who found them deeply disturbing was reported and debated incessantly. In a pathetic display of audacity, left-wing liberals and anarchists dressed up in camouflage and black ski masks asserted themselves by destroying statues. Obama's anti-American resistance "fighters" manifested their faux bravery by shattering inanimate objects! Their counterfeit bravery is laughable in the real world of bona fide American heroes. Fake heroes are destroyers.
It does not take courage to destroy a statue – any angry out-of-control adolescent can do that. Courage belongs to real heroes risking their own lives fulfilling their commitments to help others in need. It was extraordinary to witness such a remarkable display of bravery and watch mile after mile of America's finest traveling south into harm's way. Unlike the statue smashers and fake Hollywood glitterati who dress up in costumes and oppose fake enemies and fake obstacles and fake calamities in the movies they make – the Hurricane Heroes traveling south on I-75 are real-life courageous American heroes. They deserve our deepest respect, admiration, and profound gratitude.
America has observed its proud traditions of lawful change and the peaceful transfer of power for 241 years. We vote with the expectation that the election outcome will be honored. Obama's signature "resistance" movement is deeply destructive and anti-American because it defies our patriotic American traditions of lawfulness. Instead, it inspires lawlessness, anarchy, violence, and destruction. Any voter who did not support President Donald Trump has a four-year opportunity to help field a viable candidate to oppose him in 2020. Patriotic Americans do not try to overthrow the government – they respect the law and vote for change. Loyal Americans are builders, not destroyers.
Fake heroes are like fake news – neither can compete in the real world of facts. When the boundaries between fact and fiction are blurred, we end up with the Hollywood glitterati, like the statue smashers, actually taking themselves seriously as heroes. They have the audacity to lecture real people about gun control and illegal immigrants when they live in walled fortresses protected by armed guards.
My message to the costumed snowflake statue smashers and the hypocritical Hollywood glitterati is GROW UP! The country needs rational adults who live in objective reality to solve the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Irma and the devastating repercussions of eight anti-American years of Obama. The country needs real heroes committed to rebuilding the country willing to drive south into the storm, not a bunch of costumed fake heroes pretending that acting is reality.
The extraordinary dedication of the Hurricane Heroes is inspirational and gives me hope that we can once again be whole and united as one American family if we reject fakery and destruction and concentrate on rebuilding the reality of America the beautiful.
© Linda Goudsmit
September 18, 2017
On Friday September 8, 2017, Governor Rick Scott issued a mandatory evacuation order for all residents of the barrier islands on the west coast of Florida where my husband and I live. We anxiously monitored the trajectory of Hurricane Irma and watched with horror as the colossal storm gathered strength and unexpectedly veered west. On Saturday morning, we left everything behind and drove north toward safety.
The drive north on I-75 was a most extraordinary experience. The northbound lanes inched forward packed bumper-to-bumper with evacuees in passenger cars seeking safety away from the storm. In stark contrast, the southbound lanes had convoys of trucks – power companies, EMS vehicles, tree companies, huge semis filled with supplies – all driving toward the deadly hurricane. It was a stunning polarity.
We drove north for fourteen hours and the convoys never ended – there were thousands of trucks. Men and women of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and political perspectives sacrificing their personal safety and comfort in common cause to rebuild what Hurricane Irma was destroying. It made me cry. These Hurricane Heroes are authentic American heroes – men and women driving into a lethal hurricane to rebuild shattered lives. Real heroes are builders.
It was inspirational to witness their dedication and commitment, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude and admiration for how these Hurricane Heroes choose to live their lives. Natural disasters have a remarkable unifying capacity. When the water recedes and the debris clears, America has a choice. We can choose to be builders like the Hurricane Heroes, or we can choose to be destroyers.
Weeks before Hurricane Irma devastated the Keys and slammed into the west coast of Florida, the tabloid mainstream media became obsessed with the destruction of symbols of American history. It began with Confederate statues. The smashing and/or removing of statues offensive to the snowflakes who found them deeply disturbing was reported and debated incessantly. In a pathetic display of audacity, left-wing liberals and anarchists dressed up in camouflage and black ski masks asserted themselves by destroying statues. Obama's anti-American resistance "fighters" manifested their faux bravery by shattering inanimate objects! Their counterfeit bravery is laughable in the real world of bona fide American heroes. Fake heroes are destroyers.
It does not take courage to destroy a statue – any angry out-of-control adolescent can do that. Courage belongs to real heroes risking their own lives fulfilling their commitments to help others in need. It was extraordinary to witness such a remarkable display of bravery and watch mile after mile of America's finest traveling south into harm's way. Unlike the statue smashers and fake Hollywood glitterati who dress up in costumes and oppose fake enemies and fake obstacles and fake calamities in the movies they make – the Hurricane Heroes traveling south on I-75 are real-life courageous American heroes. They deserve our deepest respect, admiration, and profound gratitude.
America has observed its proud traditions of lawful change and the peaceful transfer of power for 241 years. We vote with the expectation that the election outcome will be honored. Obama's signature "resistance" movement is deeply destructive and anti-American because it defies our patriotic American traditions of lawfulness. Instead, it inspires lawlessness, anarchy, violence, and destruction. Any voter who did not support President Donald Trump has a four-year opportunity to help field a viable candidate to oppose him in 2020. Patriotic Americans do not try to overthrow the government – they respect the law and vote for change. Loyal Americans are builders, not destroyers.
Fake heroes are like fake news – neither can compete in the real world of facts. When the boundaries between fact and fiction are blurred, we end up with the Hollywood glitterati, like the statue smashers, actually taking themselves seriously as heroes. They have the audacity to lecture real people about gun control and illegal immigrants when they live in walled fortresses protected by armed guards.
My message to the costumed snowflake statue smashers and the hypocritical Hollywood glitterati is GROW UP! The country needs rational adults who live in objective reality to solve the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Irma and the devastating repercussions of eight anti-American years of Obama. The country needs real heroes committed to rebuilding the country willing to drive south into the storm, not a bunch of costumed fake heroes pretending that acting is reality.
The extraordinary dedication of the Hurricane Heroes is inspirational and gives me hope that we can once again be whole and united as one American family if we reject fakery and destruction and concentrate on rebuilding the reality of America the beautiful.
© Linda Goudsmit
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