I watch the political demonstrations on television as ask myself why is this happening to our great nation. The country has given everyone the right to free speech, but not the right to destroy or to hate. Even though we have the right to free speech wouldn’t it be more mature to use that speech to build and not tear down, to heal and not to hurt, to reconcile and not fight. Who better teachers this than Ghandi or King who taught peaceful change.
Louisiana is steeped in Liberalism. This may come as a surprise to a state that has overwhelmingly voted Republican in the last several elections and even has had its’ share of Republican governors since the Dave Treen election in the 70s.
There has been no more of a liberal with a true national following than Huey Long, our former Governor and Senator. He was a good friend of Franklin Roosevelt until Roosevelt’s liberal policies were implementing too slow for Long. Long then began his own movement. The time was right for a movement to raise the working class of a country plagued with unemployment due to the Great Depression. Long’s “Share the Wealth” movement grew to several million members when he was assassinated.
My grandfather was Long’s law partner and a friend of Roosevelt and the head of the National Democratic Committee, Jim Farley. He was a delegate to four Democratic Conventions and was named to the rules committee to a fifth. He embraced the Democratic Party and Liberalism as much as any resident of Louisiana. As much as he loved his party and its’ platform, he loved Louisiana and the United States even more.
When researching political papers for one of my books I came across two letters that displayed a very mature nature to the politics of the time. One letter was addressed to Herbert Hoover, Republican President of the United States. In the letter he explained that even though they had differences he wanted to compliment the president on a speech he had recently given. He noted that when a person delivers a good message the person delivering the message deserved a compliment, regardless of the political affiliation. The second letter was addressed to some one that asked for help to get a man a job. The response was that it didn’t matter if the person needing the job was a Blue Republican or a Red Democratic; what matters most is that the man is a good person. If he can be assured of the applicant being a good man then he will try to help with the job. So what has gone so wrong with the members of the Democratic party. Is it just a few that are causing so much protest and destruction or is it endemic within the party.
There are numerous minority factions that are part of the liberal cause. Their plea is simple; be tolerant of us and accept us. I truly thought that with Donald Trump being elected president that the reaction from the liberals would be one of tolerance and allow the new administration time to address the problems of the nation. This is not what has happened. Day one and the protests began. There have been instances of destruction and congressmen are not allowed an opportunity to speak at town hall meetings. What has happened to the tolerance and what has happened to the mature ability to decent without violence.
The most disgusting event that I can imagine happened last week and it was a liberal that had worked as a volunteer for both the Obama and Clinton campaigns that contrived the anguish. I am confident that this one man’s actions do not reflect the official policy of either Obama or Clinton but it does highlight our culture; a culture that brings delight to attack a person in a weak position instead of showing compassion for one’s fellow citizen.
During President Trumps State of the Union speech, Carryn Owens, wife of fallen Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, was saluted by the President and was awarded a two-minute standing applause from a bi-partisan congress. This may well be the longest applause in the history of the State of the Union and for a brief minute, America was one. With tears streaming down her face and with hands clasped as if in prayer she looked skyward and muttered “I love you baby”. Any American would be touched and any one that had put on the uniform would have to have a lump in their throat. Then enter a liberal hater, Dan Grilo. He tweeted the following, “Sorry, Owens’ wife, you’re not helping yourself or your husband’s memory by standing there and clapping like an idiot. Trump just used you.” How sad that our country has come to this but there is justice in our culture. Grilo was fired the next day.
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