ON TARGET

8/23/17           By Dave Gunn

      A Strong President, Spineless Republicans,

and Plenty of Blame to Go Around

      It happened suddenly, but it was quite predictable.  The issue was whether or not a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee should be removed from a city park in Charlottesville, Virginia, and whether the park, named after Lee, should be renamed.

      Protesting against the move was a combination of Ku Klux Klan members, Neo-Nazis, and citizens not aligned with either extremist group but interested in preserving history and culture.  They had obtained a permit to hold a rally at the site of the statue.

      Their gathering was billed as a “Unite the Right” rally.  Just how the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis fit into conservative thought is hard to understand.  The Klan is nothing more than a gaggle of racists whose pointed hats probably fit their heads quite well.  Nazis, or national socialists, are left-leaning, as are all socialists.

      Still, they had a constitutional right to peaceably assemble and had obeyed local ordinances in their gathering.  They also had a right to exercise their freedom of speech, even if some of their speech is odious to the more civilized among us.

      They might have been expecting trouble, or at least wary of it, because some of them wore body armor, helmets and carried baseball bats and chains.  Still, as long as they committed no assault, it was lawful for them to be so attired and to have their potential weapons.

      All went well until a supposed anti-fascist counter demonstration approached.  The purpose of the counter demonstration was not to demonstrate at all, but to disrupt and prevent the other group from exercising their constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and speech.  They too wore body armor, helmets, and carried baseball bats and tire irons.  What they did not have was the legally required permit to hold a public demonstration.

      The police did nothing to disperse the illegal anti-fascist demonstration, or to keep the two groups apart.  Words were exchanged, the anti-fascists attacked and the battle was on.  The Klan and Neo-Nazis, not content to merely defend themselves, counter attacked. 

      Where were the police?  Standing by.  Whether the police commander on site was a coward, or was ordered to stand down by superiors for political reasons is not known at this writing.

      Before it was all over there were many injured, and one killed as a Neo-Nazi drove his car into the crowd of anti-fascists.  Two policemen died in a helicopter crash while monitoring the riot, but their deaths were accidental and not related to the riot.

      By the way, the leading group among the supposed anti-fascists is a group called Antifa.  Previously they have rioted at the University of California at Berkley and used bullying tactics to shout down speakers they don’t like and disrupt meetings they don’t like, just like the fascist Brown Shirts that Hitler employed.

      Immediately following the riot, President Donald Trump issued a statement condemning all those who took part in the violence.  That was not good enough for the liberal lap-dog fake-news media.  They wanted him to condemn the Klansmen and Neo-Nazis by name, but not to also blame the other left-wing rioters.  Several days later, Trump faced reporters and this time, while naming the Klan and Nazis, still blamed all the rioters.  This caused great consternation among the leftist media, and they accused Trump of ambiguity.  However, both of his statements were clear to anyone who wanted to hear the truth.

      Meanwhile, many Republicans in Washington were siding with the anti-fascist fascists.  Willing to curry favor with the liberal lap-dog media and ignore the violations of civil rights by those who started the riot, Republicans like Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio displayed what spineless cowards they are.

      America only works when it works for all of us.  The right to peaceably assemble, freedom of speech and freedom of religion are necessary for all.  Those who believe that they have the right to silence others, preventing them from meeting or being heard, are the real Neo-Nazis, the real fascists, and the real Klan.

[Dave Gunn is the nom de plume of Dr. David E. Gonnella, Pastor of the Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Theodore, Alabama.  The opinions expressed are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the church or its membership.]