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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

When Did We See the Right Act Like This After an Electiuon?

This article was first published in Eagle Rising.


Image result for washington riot on inauguration day


Ever since Donald Trump was elected, we have seen nothing but whining, crying, excuses and vows of opposition from the Democrats and the left in this country. In other words,  a ton of sour grapes. However, what I have observed just since Friday’s inauguration is enough to make an American sick at his or her stomach.

It began with over 60 Democrat members of Congress boycotting this event, the peaceful transfer of power that makes America the envy of most of the world. It was followed by the street riots in Washington during the inauguration with anarchists setting fires in the street, throwing rocks through windows, and battling cops. Then there were the campus protests, students holding their own mock inaugurations and in many cases, such as UC Santa Cruz, being egged on by campus administrators to come together and mourn the coming of the new president-on University of California official stationary no less.

On Friday night, the University of Washington College Republicans invited gay conservative pundit Milo Yiannopoulos to speak. As on many other campuses, Yiannopoulos’ appearance resulted in hundreds of protesters, made up of students and professional agitators. The scene turned violent as bricks were thrown at cops, two men were pummeled by the crowd, and finally, one man was shot. At this point, the incident is swathed in mystery since the shooter turned himself into police claiming self-defense and has been released pending further investigation. Go figure. To make matters worse, the university president came out and made a boffo statement to the effect that the shooting ruined what had been a peaceful protest.

Then on Saturday, the nation was treated to something called the Women’s March on Washington (against Trump, naturally). It was bad enough that it consisted of the usual collection of malcontents and misfits.  But there was singing star Madonna, who dropped in from wherever she now resides in Europe. Her short speech was laden with f-bombs directed at Trump supporters. (“F---- you! F---uck you”!) To make it even worse, she sang two of her dopey songs, the latter of which was full of four letter words substituted for the original lyrics. There is only one word to describe this foul-mouthed excuse for a woman: She is scuzzy.

One needs to ask: When have we seen this when a Democrat was sworn in as president? Yes, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell made a statement that the Republicans needed to work to ensure President Obama would be a one-term president. Yes, Rush Limbaugh stated that he hoped Obama’s agenda would fail. Yes, some, including Trump, tried to make the case that Obama was not born in the US. Big deal. Did we riot in the streets? Did we refuse to recognize that Obama was really the president? Who among the Republicans boycotted his inaugurations?

Here is the first point: What we are seeing here is not what I would call the loyal opposition. In a time when we are in great peril from terrorists and apparently returning to the Cold War, we need to come together and hope that this presidency will be successful. I did not vote for Obama, but when he was first elected, I wanted him to succeed because I wanted my country to succeed. That is the spirit we should all embrace. I get the feeling that a lot of these people who are going nuts now don’t really want America to succeed.


Secondly, this should be a teaching moment for those Americans who are on the fence ideologically. When you watch these scenes play out, doesn’t it tell you which side is right and which side is wrong?






5 comments:

Siarlys Jenkins said...

The loyal opposition is sitting this one out for now. A competent strategist bides their time until a real opportunity arises. Remember what happened to those who said Abraham Lincoln was "No my president"? That didn't work out so well -- and if they'd quietly waited a couple of years they might have done much better for themselves. In that instance, "Those whom the gods would destroy they first make mad," and I'm rather glad they were foolish. Slavery would not have been abolished otherwise, Cf. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.

What you're seeing here is vapid street theater. Its not surprising that so many Hollywood types are involved. I might add though that Trump is acting, in office, in quite as deranged a manner as might have been expected from the way he campaigned.

Gary Fouse said...

Are you making excuses? Who are the loyal opposition? John Lewis? Chuck Schumer?

Trump may be deranged, but he is doing things every day. Most of it I like. My biggest concern is international diplomacy. He's going to need to work with our allies.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

The loyal opposition is people like me, you might call us the silent majority, those who are not in the least thrilled to have an ignorant narcissist as our president, but respect an orderly transfer according to prescribed electoral process, and are prepared to raise our voices when and as we can effectively curtail the amount of damage Trump can do from the oval office.

Gary Fouse said...

I have no problem with that. I do object to violent protests and I reserve the right to voice my own response to people like Madonna and Ashley Judd. They have both exercised their right of free speech (with the possible exception of talking about blowing up the White House which may get Madonna a courtesy call from the Secret Service) and I have exercised mine.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

I knew you'd see the light eventually.