Monday Musings...
Another week...another seven days in the 4th layer of Hades, thanks to diversity at it's "finest".
Sometimes, even I have to admire the "progress" we've made as a people.
Note that I said ADMIRE...and not "like", or even embrace it.
Diversity for diversity sake is NOT the way to unite anyone. If anything, THIS type of diversity becomes DIVISIVE in it's execution.
Many of you probably are witness to this...or soon will be.
And, as is often the case, some experiments succeed...while others fail miserably. But...onward we move, nevertheless...
Now, you all KNOW what I plan to blog about today, so we won't go into any kind of preamble.
We'll get RIGHT to the "meat & potatoes" of the post.
*** Saturday, after the Missus and I returned from grocery shopping (and still found the house standing and untouched by primate hands other than ours...always a good thing), I found a message on the phone.
It was from my nephew in VA, Erik, who advised me that the Beck event was being telecast on C-SPAN at 10AM.
(told you he was a good kid from a good home)
He told me it seemed like there was close to 100,000 people there already, and that was around 0930 hrs!
I didn't want to phone him back, because I didn't want to waste his phone battery, nor distract him from anything that might be going on.
I later emailed him (that night), and told him I would post pictures he took...still waiting for those to arrive (he's a firefighter and a father, so I know he's got his priorities straight there).
So, I watched BOTH the Glenn Beck event as well as the Al Sharpton march later in the afternoon.
And there was a VAST difference in the messages at those events, both in content as well as demeanor.
If you knew what to look for, you'd notice that Glenn was wearing a "vest" under his shirt...and I can understand why.
Body armor is always a good thing to have if you're traveling in (certain parts of) D.C. these days...!
Watching Glenn and all his guests on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial was a TRUE happening in every sense of the word.
Sure, it was a bit on the preaching side, but, as is often the case, we need a good swift kick in our complacency to get us "motivated".
And invoking the name and power of GOD tends to do that very nicely.
During the speeches, I felt my eyes watering up..the words spoken were THAT moving (to me, anyway). Seeing those honored by the medals of merit given out was something to behold.
Alveda King bestowed a renewed and impassioned sense of what her uncle, the late Dr. King stated when HE spoke there 47 years ago.
HIS dream was about ALL men and women of ALL races and faiths uniting with one voice.
Watching the 3 hour event renewed my faith in God, and restored a level of faith in my fellow man who thinks in like manner.
And the media of course was "all over it", but NOT in the way you might believe. Sure, FOX news brought us the TRUTH about this event, so I had a baseline established for the "drive-by-media" take on this.
The Washington Post article missed a few aspects, and delivered them falsely, in my opinion.
Here's THEIR article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/28/AR2010082801106.html
You might want to read the article to set the stage for my commentary.
Here are the "points" they missed completely.
1) Glenn Beck is NOT a conservative. If anything, he's more LIBERTARIAN!
(In SOME respects, I'm more conservative than Beck, and I tend to be moderate)
2) He did not "stake claim" to anything, but rather CLAIM (the right) to act as did the founders who valued God and Country.
3) He NEVER attempted to "appropriate" the King legacy.
4) Sharpton's rally was organized AFTER Beck.
5) Beck and his guests DID have a message worthy of "the place" (Lincoln Memorial)
6) Beck has assailed BOTH sides of the political aisle.
And those are only the most OBVIOUS differences between the TRUTH and the WP article.
These jumped out and smacked me in the face straight away.
Beck's event was a re-affirmation...a re-dedication....and a restoration to those values and principles that the Founders of this nation held dear.
And if one was ANY follower of history or our political "roots", they'd be very hard-pressed to say anything otherwise or contrary.
Sharpton's rally/march on the OTHER hand was laced with biting remarks directed AT beck...and for what purpose?
Sharpton made it appear AS IF the King legacy was directed at a "specific" audience...NOT SO.
I lived through those times, attended school in a newly integrated system, made many black friends who were often more deserving of MY time and friendship than many whites. They got me interested in Dr. King and his words, so I knew straight away what HE was all about and why he marched for the reasons he did.
And, I was castigated by some of my OWN race because of this...THEY didn't choose to understand.
I did, and was a better person for doing so, even IF I was called a *n*-lover to my face.
Dr. King's legacy is NOT a proprietary property...
It was (and remains to this day) for ALL people...of ALL races, and the sooner Sharpton ditches this "victicratic mentality" and wakes up to the TRUTH, he'll never be "set free".
Black people do not OWN Dr. King NOR his words and his legacy. It was never intended to be as such, and should never become that.
We ALL benefit from Dr. King.
The BEST speech given at Sharpton's rally (and I was hard-pressed to actually find one), was by Robert M. Franklin, the 10th president of Morehouse College who spoke about teaching the FIVE WELLS to black students.
They are as follows:
-- Well-read
-- Well-spoken
-- Well-traveled
-- Well-dressed
-- Well-balanced
You can read more about Robert M. Franklin here:
http://blackamericans.com/blogs/news/archive/2009/05/03/a-message-from-morehouse.aspx
Now THIS man knows his stuff.
(wish I saw evidence of that in MY neighborhood)
But, it's nothing more than what Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, John McWhorter, Walter Williams, and sundry other BLACK MEN OF CHARACTER haven't declared for decades!
These men truly "get it".
And it's men like THESE that DO make that difference I often speak about.
Men like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are more "at home" with stirring the pot...especially if it never NEEDS stirring.
Some days, I swear he wants to TIP that pot the hell over!
(Funny, I didn't hear ONE peep out of him during that "BEAT WHITEY DAY" in DES MOINES, Iowa last week,...did you? Google it and be appalled) Like I said...the messages spoken of at these two events were as different as apples and cactus.
There was this undertone of "being slighted" and a bit of animosity at Sharpton's event...as if HIS people didn't get enough "free" stuff, and that the government NEEDED to keep ON giving, when what IS needed is a lot more HAND UPS...and no more HAND OUTS.
These two events focused on PEOPLE, but Beck's event touted GOD a lot more than Sharpton's did.
Beck's event said that the PEOPLE need to get back to our CREATOR...the founders knew as much and invoked His name in every document this nation was predicated upon.
Sharpton's event said that the PEOPLE need this...and NEED that. No reliance on GOD...or SELF.
(It was like we need that damn nanny-state forever if we want to be equal)
Sorry, Al...not gonna buy that for even a dollar, because it will cost me in ways I can't imagine farther down the road.
Beck's statement that "We do things NOT because they are easy, but because they are the RIGHT things to do", sounds JUST like something I remember saying right HERE...a LOT over the 4 years this blog has been here (and years prior to that in my own life).
Hey, maybe he reads my blog...who knows?
All I can say is that after 3 hours of watching Beck's event...I came away a LOT less "hungry" than I did watching Sharpton's event, spiritually-speaking.
It's like the difference between a meal that satisfies, and one that is merely a snack to "tide you over" until the REAL meal comes along.
Beck ran the full 3 courses...FAITH...HOPE...and CHARITY.
Sharpton provided a couple Cheetos and some orange drink.
Therein lies the difference in messages.
One message speaks TO me.
The other speaks AT me.
One reaches the heart...and the soul.
The other reaches for the moon.
Now, if all this makes me out to be some sort of biased racist with delusions of superiority...think what you will.
I know better...as does my Creator.
I prefer to follow Dr. King when judging people by THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER.
And my Creator is the only one I really HAVE to answer to in the long run.
As do we all.
But we DO have to realize WHO we are...every one of us.
And THAT is the challenge to us this day. Have yourselves a fantastic week.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.