Monday Morning Rant 141

Your host has just recovered from a serious bout of “spring fever.” It is an annual affair which leaves one helpless in the face of warm days, buds and blooms, and the general resurgence of life as it escapes the clutches of winter. Everything is now showing signs of emerging and we now renew our hopes for the coming growing season.

Although sapped of nearly all energy by the balmy weather, we are preparing to attend a Tea Party on Thursday (April 15) and hope for gathering strength to register our collective grievances. Keep in mind that the acronym comes from “taxed enough already” and although cleverly alluding to the historical event that was, indeed, the origin. As it becomes more apparent by the day that the administration has no intent to reduce but rather advance the taxes to support their socialist programs, now is the best time to protest.

“Spend More Time with the Family”

Is this America’s new rallying cry from House members on the wrong side of the health care issue? Actually, it’s appropriate for politicians of every stripe when they come under fire for any legislative malfeasance. The issue which brings about this newly discovered interest in the “family” is an act of a traitorous nature to their constituency. They claim a self-sacrificing posture of service in the government until such time as their promises come back to haunt them. Then, suddenly, it’s the “family” which takes on a new found importance. In fact, they probably couldn’t name the various members of the family if challenged to do so.

In the case of Bart Stupak and his like minded cohorts who abandoned their “rock solid” anti-abortion posture, we strongly suspect that they are far more influenced by the promise of “thirty pieces of silver!”

The Black-White Puzzle

Since it is not constantly on my mind, I very infrequently discuss issues having to do with racial differences. It is just not a factor in my thinking process. What occupies my thoughts are the deep-seated issues which divide Americans from the current government and from God. Recent experience has informed me that race is not part of the driving force which forms those separations. When challenged to identify the differences of opinion I have with others, race has little to do with it.

Over the course of nearly eight decades, I have met an astounding number of people in all walks of life, every race, many different nationalities, widely variant religious persuasions, huge economic disparity, with a full range of intellect. I would love to say that like Will Rogers, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” I shall conclude only that some were more likeable than others. None, however, were bereft of any socially redeeming feature. As a long-distance charter bus driver and tour organizer, I frequently found myself in the company of those who had a commonality very unlike my personal characteristics.

I was the driver of choice by such groups as the Milwaukee Urban League, a Korean church congregation, the Girl Scouts, The Pommern Group (German National’s annual visit,) the RNC, Japanese ladies, Polish National basketball team, several black churches, the M & I Bank and many others for tours all over the United States. These exposures were for periods of one to as much as three week’s constant association and were often repeated the following years. These extended tours provided opportunity to engage with the many passengers (average forty per) and get past the normal courtesies and platitudes.

As a conservative white Christian American man, I frequently found myself in the company of those who did not share all of my characteristics. At no time did I see any evidence of resentment or hear any of the currently voiced criticisms so popular of those who do not share my personal demographics. In short, we got along well and I was able to show off the country I love with these widely disparate groups.

My conclusion, as a result, is that much of the emphasis on our differences is manufactured for the nefarious purposes of seeking divisions of our peoples. A prime example is Nancy Pelosi leading the parade of congressional black caucus members from the house office building to the capitol through what she anticipated would be a hostile crowd. She was right but for the wrong reasons. The crowd was hostile. For good reason, they opposed the socialized medicine proposals on the docket in the legislature. By intentional staging of the event, using the black caucus, she chose to introduce the racial aspect to her own advantage. With the complicity of the media, she painted the protestors as unruly anti-civil rights demonstrators instead of those who are concerned with the fiscal future of America. Race was not a factor as subsequent tapes have thoroughly demonstrated.

As I viewed the exchange, I was reminded of the biggest complaint I had with the Milwaukee Urban League and their annual trip to Washington, D.C... Their leader, an otherwise delightful man, always brought along a case full of Jerry Clower tapes and played them all the way to D.C. and back. Even the best of Mississippi’s redneck comedians gets tiresome after hours of exposure.

And Finally

If nothing else comes of the political situation, the American electorate should wake up to the fact that government “of the people” is an obtainable reality. If we value the Constitution and its God given protections of our rights, it is imperative that we take our rightful place in defense of the document. The current crisis demands that we rise as a citizenry to demand our voice in the process. Over the ensuing months we have the responsibility to retake the government and insist that our leadership govern with the will of the people upper most in their minds.

This will require that we engage in activity which we have normally left to others. Each person will have to, within his own resources, do everything he can to ensure the continuance of the republic. First, we must realize that America is under assault as surely as it was the morning of December 7, 1941. We recognized our personal responsibilities on that black Sunday and rose to defeat the threat. We were not aware of the ferocity of our enemy on that day any more than we are today. It is for this very reason that we must become familiar with today’s perils and recognize how they will affect the future of the country we all know and love. If each citizen reacts with that same vigor we will be able to accomplish a victory for our country without bloodshed. Pray that God strengthens us to rise to the task at hand.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon