Sam Weaver
Open letter to Bill O'Reilly
Brit Hume is absolutely right! (Sorry I can't make this "pithy")
By Sam Weaver
Dear Bill,
Brit Hume is right. Senator Reid's remarks did not denigrate President Obama or African-Americans. Reid's statement (re: "light-skinned" sans the "negro dialect" etc, etc.) showed contempt for the American people in assuming that Americans — because they are inherently "racist" — could not vote for a 'genuinely' Black American (i.e., an American with really dark skin and/or who speaks a certain way).
My paternal grandmother (1899-1994) lived her entire life in Texas. She distrusted Black people. She derisively called them "nigras." [To this day, I can still hear her saying that word. I cringe almost as much now when I hear it in my mind as I did when I heard it in her voice so many years ago.] Most people today would call my grandmother a racist. She was the sweetest, most loving person that I have ever known, but she was misguided by prejudice and propaganda. For most of her adult life, she was a Democrat.
Except for his time in the Air Force, and a few years working for a company in New York, my father has lived his entire life in the "conservative hotbed" of Texas. He will turn 82 years old in August of this year. For many years during my youth, he and my mother were foster parents. They welcomed abused, neglected and/or "unwanted" children into our family and gave them as much love and attention as they gave my two older sisters and me. Many — if not perhaps most — of those precious kids were not "Caucasian." They were red, yellow, black and white. As a family, we all considered them very precious in His sight!! I don't think my Dad has a racist bone in his body!
I voted for Alan Keyes in at least the primary every time he ran for president. I actively and whole-heartedly campaigned for him in 2000. I was surprised, but only just a little bit, when my Dad told me recently that he had "pulled the lever" for Ambassador Keyes for president in 2008 as the Constitution Party candidate.
I have studied American history for more than a quarter century. There is no doubt in my mind that a racist mindset was prevalent in the American South 50 years ago. There is also no doubt in my mind that the fire of this racist mindset was first fanned by the Democratic Party's opposition to Republican "carpetbaggers" during Reconstruction. The Ku Klux Klan was established as the militant wing of the Democratic Party in both the South and the Midwest. The strong, often violent anti-Black sentiment was propagated by Democrats, primarily in the South, up until at least the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to use fear, prejudice and outright racism to keep Democrats in power in the South.
Much has changed in America since the early 1960's — especially in the South. As the values of Lincoln (and the Republican Party) gained acceptance — and dominance! — in the South, racism became a largely forgotten memory of a very forgettable past. The Republican Party, originally, was founded upon one major plank: All men are created equal. Slavery violates that fundamental American principle. Therefore, the "institution" of slavery must be abolished!
Senator Reid's unfortunate comments belie a distorted — and anachronistic — view of the American people. Today's liberals ("progressives") demand a racist, sexist, "homophobic" mindest among the vast majority of all Americans so that they can "lead" the downtrodden and abused toward "social justice." Social Justice requires that the "haves" (the hard-working, liberty-loving, generally moral, educated and informed citizens) must give up what they have to serve the "have-nots" (the forgotten, abused, disenfranchised, unmotivated, immoral, uneducated and/or un- [or mis-] informed segment of society. [NOTE: The "truly" educated people of society have been educated at Harvard, Yale, and/or other notable institutions of higher indoctrination (er, "learning"). They, and only they, can distinguish the haves from the have-nots. The "truly" educated must lead all of the others, and are exempt from the requirement to cede their wealth to the collective (government) for the "greater good."]
"Racism" has become a red herring in modern politics to empower "progressives" while discrediting conservatives. Yet racism is just one of many "straw man" arguments.
Do you honestly believe that you are entitled to the fruits of your physical and/or intellectual labor? Sure, you give ten percent of what you earn to your church, and in plentiful years, you give much more than that to various charities. But you are "rich"; therefore you are evil. You have taken a much larger piece of the economic pie than most people could ever hope to gain. Government must take from you and give to the less fortunate. This is "social justice."
Social Justice. Redistribution of wealth. Equality of outcomes for all. This is the ultimate straw man — the preeminent red herring! "Justice" not at all based on Truth — the Word and the Will of a Loving Creator and Just Author of Law; not at all rooted in merit (e.g., you reap what you sow) — but rather, established upon the idea that people are all either just too stupid or too selfish to govern themselves! Social justice happens when — and only when — government is powerful enough to fully control the people.
This is tyranny! This is precisely what America's Founders and Framers gave their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to overcome!!
The United States of America is unique (and great) among all the nations past and present of the earth because she was founded upon the idea of Liberty and true (not "social") Justice! (Liberty is the near absolute right of every citizen to think, to say and/or to do anything and everything he wants as long as he does not violate the Laws and principles of Nature and of Nature's God. True Justice occurs whenever anyone is held equally accountable for any and every such violation.
Social justice (in the eyes of Hegel, Marx, Reverend Jeremiah Wright and President Barack Obama, for a few examples) demands a powerful government that can force all people to be uniform and equal morally, politically, economically and physically. True justice, in the eyes of everyone who understands the United States of America, demands Liberty.
If you fail, it is because you violated the Laws of Nature and/or of Nature's God, or because you did not plan well. Failure is a learning experience. It lets you know and understand what you did wrong and how to do better the next time. Your family, friends, church and/or community will help you get back on your feet and go for it a second, third and forth time. Each and every failure makes you wiser and better.
To reward failure (or unproductivity, or law-breaking, or immorality) is to stifle success. Rewarding failure inhibits any advancement of the human condition. "Forced 'equality'" (i.e., "equality" by government fiat or decree), has only one ulimate result: Sooner or later, all people will be brought down to the lowest common denominator. Yes, all will be equal — equally miserable!
Elitists ("progressives") such as Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama believe that the vast majority is just too stupid, too incompetent, too uneducated or too racist to govern themselves. Their answer?: A powerful, authoritarian state to "help" the lowly people and to "guide" the "unwashed masses" every step along the way.
My parents — thank God!! — loved me enough to let me fail a number of times without bailing me out. I am stronger, better and wiser because I was forced to overcome those monumental failures on my own.
It was immoral to use taxpayer money to bail out corporations considered "too big to fail." It is also immoral to use federal taxpayer dollars to bail out individuals who fail.
It is not just immoral, it violates both the letter and the spirit of the U.S. Constitution!
Hardship and failure is the best incentive for improvement. Subsidizing failure eliminates that incentive. Subsidizing failure leads to dependency. Dependence upon the state is the goal of the statist (i.e., the elitist, or the "progressive").
Dependence on the state is the antithesis of Liberty. It violates every principle and every idea upon whcih the United States of America was established. Our Founding Document is a (The) Declaration of Independence against tyranny!
Let them all fail! To the atheist, the secularist, the statist and the elitist, this notion is cold, heartless and mean-spirited. To those who cherish Liberty (and, much more important, the Source of Liberty!), it is common sense. It is the essence of the United States of America!
© Sam Weaver
January 19, 2010
Dear Bill,
Brit Hume is right. Senator Reid's remarks did not denigrate President Obama or African-Americans. Reid's statement (re: "light-skinned" sans the "negro dialect" etc, etc.) showed contempt for the American people in assuming that Americans — because they are inherently "racist" — could not vote for a 'genuinely' Black American (i.e., an American with really dark skin and/or who speaks a certain way).
My paternal grandmother (1899-1994) lived her entire life in Texas. She distrusted Black people. She derisively called them "nigras." [To this day, I can still hear her saying that word. I cringe almost as much now when I hear it in my mind as I did when I heard it in her voice so many years ago.] Most people today would call my grandmother a racist. She was the sweetest, most loving person that I have ever known, but she was misguided by prejudice and propaganda. For most of her adult life, she was a Democrat.
Except for his time in the Air Force, and a few years working for a company in New York, my father has lived his entire life in the "conservative hotbed" of Texas. He will turn 82 years old in August of this year. For many years during my youth, he and my mother were foster parents. They welcomed abused, neglected and/or "unwanted" children into our family and gave them as much love and attention as they gave my two older sisters and me. Many — if not perhaps most — of those precious kids were not "Caucasian." They were red, yellow, black and white. As a family, we all considered them very precious in His sight!! I don't think my Dad has a racist bone in his body!
I voted for Alan Keyes in at least the primary every time he ran for president. I actively and whole-heartedly campaigned for him in 2000. I was surprised, but only just a little bit, when my Dad told me recently that he had "pulled the lever" for Ambassador Keyes for president in 2008 as the Constitution Party candidate.
I have studied American history for more than a quarter century. There is no doubt in my mind that a racist mindset was prevalent in the American South 50 years ago. There is also no doubt in my mind that the fire of this racist mindset was first fanned by the Democratic Party's opposition to Republican "carpetbaggers" during Reconstruction. The Ku Klux Klan was established as the militant wing of the Democratic Party in both the South and the Midwest. The strong, often violent anti-Black sentiment was propagated by Democrats, primarily in the South, up until at least the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to use fear, prejudice and outright racism to keep Democrats in power in the South.
Much has changed in America since the early 1960's — especially in the South. As the values of Lincoln (and the Republican Party) gained acceptance — and dominance! — in the South, racism became a largely forgotten memory of a very forgettable past. The Republican Party, originally, was founded upon one major plank: All men are created equal. Slavery violates that fundamental American principle. Therefore, the "institution" of slavery must be abolished!
Senator Reid's unfortunate comments belie a distorted — and anachronistic — view of the American people. Today's liberals ("progressives") demand a racist, sexist, "homophobic" mindest among the vast majority of all Americans so that they can "lead" the downtrodden and abused toward "social justice." Social Justice requires that the "haves" (the hard-working, liberty-loving, generally moral, educated and informed citizens) must give up what they have to serve the "have-nots" (the forgotten, abused, disenfranchised, unmotivated, immoral, uneducated and/or un- [or mis-] informed segment of society. [NOTE: The "truly" educated people of society have been educated at Harvard, Yale, and/or other notable institutions of higher indoctrination (er, "learning"). They, and only they, can distinguish the haves from the have-nots. The "truly" educated must lead all of the others, and are exempt from the requirement to cede their wealth to the collective (government) for the "greater good."]
"Racism" has become a red herring in modern politics to empower "progressives" while discrediting conservatives. Yet racism is just one of many "straw man" arguments.
Do you honestly believe that you are entitled to the fruits of your physical and/or intellectual labor? Sure, you give ten percent of what you earn to your church, and in plentiful years, you give much more than that to various charities. But you are "rich"; therefore you are evil. You have taken a much larger piece of the economic pie than most people could ever hope to gain. Government must take from you and give to the less fortunate. This is "social justice."
Social Justice. Redistribution of wealth. Equality of outcomes for all. This is the ultimate straw man — the preeminent red herring! "Justice" not at all based on Truth — the Word and the Will of a Loving Creator and Just Author of Law; not at all rooted in merit (e.g., you reap what you sow) — but rather, established upon the idea that people are all either just too stupid or too selfish to govern themselves! Social justice happens when — and only when — government is powerful enough to fully control the people.
This is tyranny! This is precisely what America's Founders and Framers gave their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to overcome!!
The United States of America is unique (and great) among all the nations past and present of the earth because she was founded upon the idea of Liberty and true (not "social") Justice! (Liberty is the near absolute right of every citizen to think, to say and/or to do anything and everything he wants as long as he does not violate the Laws and principles of Nature and of Nature's God. True Justice occurs whenever anyone is held equally accountable for any and every such violation.
Social justice (in the eyes of Hegel, Marx, Reverend Jeremiah Wright and President Barack Obama, for a few examples) demands a powerful government that can force all people to be uniform and equal morally, politically, economically and physically. True justice, in the eyes of everyone who understands the United States of America, demands Liberty.
If you fail, it is because you violated the Laws of Nature and/or of Nature's God, or because you did not plan well. Failure is a learning experience. It lets you know and understand what you did wrong and how to do better the next time. Your family, friends, church and/or community will help you get back on your feet and go for it a second, third and forth time. Each and every failure makes you wiser and better.
To reward failure (or unproductivity, or law-breaking, or immorality) is to stifle success. Rewarding failure inhibits any advancement of the human condition. "Forced 'equality'" (i.e., "equality" by government fiat or decree), has only one ulimate result: Sooner or later, all people will be brought down to the lowest common denominator. Yes, all will be equal — equally miserable!
Elitists ("progressives") such as Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama believe that the vast majority is just too stupid, too incompetent, too uneducated or too racist to govern themselves. Their answer?: A powerful, authoritarian state to "help" the lowly people and to "guide" the "unwashed masses" every step along the way.
My parents — thank God!! — loved me enough to let me fail a number of times without bailing me out. I am stronger, better and wiser because I was forced to overcome those monumental failures on my own.
It was immoral to use taxpayer money to bail out corporations considered "too big to fail." It is also immoral to use federal taxpayer dollars to bail out individuals who fail.
It is not just immoral, it violates both the letter and the spirit of the U.S. Constitution!
Hardship and failure is the best incentive for improvement. Subsidizing failure eliminates that incentive. Subsidizing failure leads to dependency. Dependence upon the state is the goal of the statist (i.e., the elitist, or the "progressive").
Dependence on the state is the antithesis of Liberty. It violates every principle and every idea upon whcih the United States of America was established. Our Founding Document is a (The) Declaration of Independence against tyranny!
Let them all fail! To the atheist, the secularist, the statist and the elitist, this notion is cold, heartless and mean-spirited. To those who cherish Liberty (and, much more important, the Source of Liberty!), it is common sense. It is the essence of the United States of America!
© Sam Weaver
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)