April 19th...19th day of April...19 April....04/19...however you choose to jot this date onto paper, the date lives in infamy. This year marks the 15th anniversary of a great tragedy in American history--the Oklahoma City bombing. (Incidently, the raid in Waco also took place on April 19th...1993)
[Please note: There were many sympathizers for Koresh and the Branch Davidians. Personally, I think Koresh was an evil, manipulative man who molested young girls. To give my blog readers a little trivia, Koresh was born to a 14-year-old mother. Two months before Koresh was born, his father left his mother for another teenage girl. Koresh never knew his father. Koresh manipulated his way into the minds of his followers. He proclaimed that he was "the Son of God." At first, he subscribed to monogamy, but later announced that polygamy was allowed for him. He preached that he was entitled to many wives and concubines. It's been reported that Koresh fathered at least 15 children with various women and young girls at the compound. Some of the young girls were as young as 12-years-old! It's fair to say he had exclusive sexual access to the women. Keep in mind that the young girls' parents were there and allowing Koresh to engage in sexual activities with their daughters. Personally, I don't understand how parents could sit idly by while this perverted man had his way with their daughters. But because they gave parental consent, the problem became sticky...fast...especially when the age of parental consent for a minor to marry in Texas at the time was 14. For these reasons, I had little sympathy for Koresh and the Branch Davidians. My sympathy went to the children...the young girls who were sexually abused.]Recently, there has been much speculation about the extremist political climate. There are hundreds of extremist militias and so-called patriot groups. And it doesn't help when political figures like Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh (to name a few) fuel the fire with their fiery rhetoric. Bachmann spoke against what she called the "gangster government" at a Tea Party rally. After the passage of the health care bill, Palin suggested that Democrats should be put on "the firing line" and that opponents of reform should "reload." At first, I thought, "Is this kind of rhetoric the price we pay for free speech? After all, we shouldn't stop reading 'Catcher in the Rye' because Mark David Chapman (John Lennon's murderer) was a fan of the great literary piece. But where do we draw the line between acceptable rhetoric and something more...horrific?"
Before I answered my own question, I wanted to understand who or what I was dealing with--the Tea Party. Let's see...the group is mostly caucasin...older...to be sure, quite angry. Most members are from the South (no shocker there). They rail against taxes and absolutely hate gun control and government interference. Recently, Bob Schieffer labeled the Tea Party "a force to be reckoned with...they weren't a bunch of yahoos." He also said the Tea Baggers possessed "legitimate anger." Hmmm, I beg to differ. Most tea partiers think Obama raised their '09 taxes when the truth is that Obama lowered taxes! I don't have a Ph.D., but their belief that Obama raised their taxes is proof that tea partiers are illegitimate with their anger and are nothing more than yahoos. But hey, who am I to rain on their Klan rallies?! This is what I think: The Tea Party movement (and I'm using the term "movement" loosely) is nothing more than a racist gathering hiding behind "high" taxes and government spending. The party was created, not because of the tax issue but because of an African-American president. Granted, 1% of African-Americans have joined the party, but African-Americans are not immune to prejudices. We had a great deal of government interference under the Bush administration (i.e. Patriot Act), where was the Tea Party then? And I'm not alone in my thinking. Occassionally, I log on to the "History News Network" website. According to Alan Brinkley (Allan Nevins Professor of History at Columbia University), he blogged: "The real issue, I believe, is a sense among white males that they are somehow being displaced, that the country is no longer 'theirs,' that minorities and immigrants are becoming more and more powerful within society."
In a nutshell, the Tea Party movement is rooted in a deep-seated racist issue and the members are nostalgic for an era when minorities were essentially "invisible." This is quite evident in their loaded statement--"We want our country back!"
So back to the question: Where do we draw the line? Well...do I think Americans have a right to dissent. Yes. Do I think Americans have a right to speak out against the government? Yes. I was consistently at odds with the Bush administration. But when your protests take on a violent nature because you didn't get what you wanted, that's where the line is crossed. So what should we do? Bill answered it best in his op-ed: "We are again dealing with difficulties in a contentious, partisan time. We are more connected than ever before, more able to spread our ideas and beliefs, our anger and fears. As we exercise the right to advocate our views, and as we animate our supporters, we must all assume responsibility for our words and actions before they enter a vast echo chamber and reach those both serious and delirious, connected and unhinged." Word!!!
P.S. April 19th also marks the 5th anniversary of the election of Pope Benny, who was recently in Malta in an empty attempt to quiet the abuse storm. I've got news for you Ben. People want more than just an apology! Heads need to roll! People need to be punished for their crimes...including YOU! You are NOT infallible despite what you tell your flock! I'm not a Muslim. I'm not a Jew. I ain't even Christian, but even I...I, an Atheist, believe that you will get what you deserve. Some call it "karma." Actually, it's scientific as well. Remember one of Newton's laws of motion? "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
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