I’ve been putting off doing a post, because it’s hard to do one without mentioning what is happening to our country. So…I’ll mention it. It seems we spent the better part of 2020 lamenting the horribleness of what was going on. Well…welcome to 2021. What happened at the Capitol was heartbreaking. No matter which side of the political spectrum you fall on. But, to a certain extent, I understand it.
I decided it made sense when I was watching Ice Age: Collision Course. Buck, who can only be charitably described as totally coconuts, decided the way to stop the approaching asteroid was to send magnetic crystals directly into a volcano. The volcano would build up enough steam that it eventually would explode, hurling the crystals toward the asteroid, and pulling it off course. Sounds reasonable, right? Since Diego doesn’t ever fall into the “totally coconuts” category, it didn’t to him. Until Buck harassed him enough that Diego let out a mighty roar. Yep. Hold it in long enough and something’s gotta give. That’s what happened at the Capitol.
People on the right side of the aisle spent a large portion of 2020 watching riots, generally perpetrated by proponents of the left side of the aisle. And nobody on the “left” seemed to care. In fact, when one of the historical statues was torn down, the Speaker of the House said, “People will do what they do.” So, it’s okay to riot and destroy public property. Right?
If you care to look it up, here’s a link to Maxine Waters, one of our elected officials. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJCDe7vdFfw In her world, it’s perfectly fine to harass anyone associated with President Trump’s administration. In fact, she encourages it. Eric Holder, Hilary Clinton, etc. “incite violence.” The videos are all out there if you look. But that’s okay, isn’t it? Because it comes from the “left.” We’ve been watching that for months now, with no condemnation toward any one of them, except from the “right” side of the aisle.
In case you’re wondering, NO. I am not a Republican. Neither am I a Democrat. I’m an American, first and foremost and I honestly don’t align myself with any party. I’ve voted both sides of the aisle. I vote for the person I believe is best for American. But, it’s hard to see what’s happening without realizing the difference between the way the two parties are treated.
I don’t readily recall any newsperson saying all the people who voted for Hilary Clinton should be “reprogrammed.” Yep. Eugene Anderson, an editor with The Washington Post, said exactly that on MSNBC. Thank goodness the anchor pushed back with how ridiculous that sounded. Yeah, no…that didn’t happen. No pushback.
It’s hearing similar comments to that, seeing the complete and total hypocrisy in the way Republicans are treated versus Democrats, that finally caused the volcano to explode. In a way that shocked most of us. Was it right? Oh, hell to the no. Understandable? To a certain extent, yes.
So, who’s to blame? President Trump because he incited a riot? President-elect Biden because he didn’t say a word against all the rioting until the polls showed most Americans were against it? The Democrat party, who seems to have selective memory? Not necessarily. Personally, I blame the media.
Do you know what one of the best-selling books on Amazon is right now? George Orwell’s 1984. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend you do so. I read it a hundred years ago, and just finished re-reading it yesterday. I’ve been referencing it lately, when I see how things are getting distorted or ignored by the media and recognized similarities with that book. I didn’t realize it was so popular again, until I read someplace that it was. I looked at the Amazon stats, and yep. #1 in quite a few categories. So it’s not just me who wonders if our world is turning into Winston Smith’s world.
Here’s a great quote from the novel: “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past…” In the novel, the Party revises history. To the extent they go back and change newspaper articles, books, etc. to reflect the new history. In other words, just wipe out the past and the Party’s version of the past becomes reality. Remarkable concept, really. Unless one has a memory.
Another line: “History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” That’s the really scary thing about 1984. Is that happening now? No, we aren’t going back and revising history books, but we are tearing down statues. We’re changing names of schools, streets, military bases, sports teams, etc. because we don’t think they’re appropriate. And who gets to decide that? The Party? San Francisco wants to rename something named after President Lincoln because he didn’t do enough for slaves. Really? Have you read about slavery? Do you know who President Lincoln was? And if we’re going to do that, I highly recommend we drop a bomb on Africa and wipe it out. That’s who started slavery. They sold their own people.
We’re on a slippery slope right now. Talking heads are wanting to deprogram anyone who doesn’t have their viewpoint, people with different values than some politicians are considered “deplorable,” and Republican congressmen who did what a dozen Democrats did in the Gore election are being accused of sedition. No such words were heard back then, by the way. And it’s not mentioned now. The media seems to think what happened was a first. Those of us whose memory hasn’t been wiped out know it’s not.
You don’t have to be a Republican to see the horrendous double standard. Trump is banned for life from social platforms because he might incite a riot. “Thoughtcrime” it’s called in 1984. YouTube banned him for the same reason, although Maxine Waters’ video is still on there. Twitter, Facebook, all the major platforms. Banned. But only Trump. Although, I’ve seen more than one conservative friend of mine have their posts censored. And Parler? The supposed conservative to Twitter? Yeah, you can’t get the app, nor is Amazon supporting them.
I could spend the next two hours writing about the difference in the way the two parties are treated. And I honestly don’t know why. I don’t know when it became unacceptable for people to have a viewpoint different from yours. When “cancel culture” became a real thing and not something you read about in 1984. Know what scares me more than anything else? If we must now conform to a set standard of values, when will that value be anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-any religion?
You think it can’t happen? I’m not so sure. In fact, I’ve considered burying a Bible in the back yard, just so I’ll have one in case they confiscate mine. It’ll take them a while, though, because I do have quite a few of them and multiple great hiding places in the house. We do need to take a stand, if we want to have some semblance of America left, because it is changing, and not necessarily in a good way. And, NO, storming the Capitol is not the way to do it. Under no circumstances is that ever acceptable, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on.
When all the news coverage is one-sided, as it mostly is nowadays, we’ll never be able to have an informed opinion. God wants us to think for ourselves and His instruction manual gives us the roadmap to success. So, do your research, listen to and be tolerant of opinions other than your own, and let your voices be heard. Either at the ballot box or letters to your representatives. But…please. How you treat members of one side of the aisle should be exactly how you treat the other. God’s law is love. And even Winston Smith knew how unassailable that is.