RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/the-worrisome-decline-of-patriotism-in-america/

As the nation celebrates its 244th birthday, those of us who still love it must redouble our efforts to convert those who don’t to our side.

Independence Day is a time to celebrate our country, but with patriotic sentiment at perhaps an all-time low, this year’s holiday is also an opportunity for us to remember how excruciatingly lucky we are to be American citizens. With nothing but bad news filling our screens in recent months, love of country has become anything but an article of faith. When Gallup first started asking Americans how proud they were of their country months before the 9/11 attacks, 87 percent claimed to be “extremely” or “very” proud and only 2 percent said they were only “a little proud” or “not at all” proud. Gallup recently released this year’s American-pride poll, and the results are concerning to say the least: The extremely/very proud cohort has fallen to an all-time low of 63 percent, while the only a little proud/not all proud group has swelled from 12 percent to 21 percent in the last year.

The media seized on the poll to — you guessed it — blame President Trump. The Washington Post ran an opinion piece with the headline, “Trump Promised National Pride. A New Poll Proves He’s Delivered National Shame.” CNN ran an analysis piece under the headline, “Proud to be an American? Not so much anymore.” The common thread in these and other pieces was that they sounded more triumphal than sad, as though the decline in patriotic sentiment was good because it reflected poorly on Trump. President Trump has undoubtedly caused many Americans to feel less patriotic, but the truth is that patriotism has been waning for years.

Love of country shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but the Gallup poll revealed that 88 percent of Republicans said they were very or extremely proud to be American, compared to just 42 percent of Democrats. College graduates, people of color, and young people were the least proud to be American, according to the survey. In March 2017, 43 percent of respondents in their twenties said they were extremely proud to be American. Today, that figure stands at just 20 percent.

https://dianebederman.com/dear-jews-too-many-of-you-dont-even-know-what-it-is

I was out the other day and heard this most upsetting statement: You don’t vote for a political party just because of the way they treat Jews.

Have we still not learned that if it isn’t good for the Jews, it isn’t good for anyone?  Perhaps we need to erect a statue to Pastor Martin Niemöller. He wrote:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

We, the Jews, are  the canary in the mine. And, today, the mine is filled with Communists, Marxists, anarchists, socialists, fascists  and Jew haters from all walks of life; especially in the parties on the left; and in America that is the Democrat Party and their allies, Black Lives Matter, with a side order of BDS and a pinch of Antifa.

It is 2020, 75 years post Shoah, and two generations have grown up. The grandchildren of my generation, the baby boomers, are in school. We talk about Never Forget and Never Again.  Our children and these grandchildren don’t know what it is they are not to forget and what it is they are to remember.

I watch in horror as Jews march with Black Lives Matter. The enemy of your enemy is not your friend. Have they taken the time to learn about BLM before standing with them?

https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/racism-antisemitism/

Many understand that racism is an intrinsic part of Western societies. So is antisemitism, yet this is acknowledged by very few. Antisemitism was on display during mass demonstrations about the coronavirus pandemic and the problem of racism, but was scarcely remarked upon. There has also been an outpouring of new mutations of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories in the wake of the pandemic. As has occurred for millennia, western cultures are interweaving their antisemitism into issues of the day.

On May 25, 2020, a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, was asphyxiated and killed by police in Minneapolis. His murder led to huge anti-racism demonstrations in the US. Some were accompanied by extreme violence and looting. Anti-racism demonstrations also took place in several European countries, including the UK and France.

Many people understand that racism is, to varying degrees, an intrinsic part of western societies, and they view it as a problem to be eradicated.  Antisemitism is also an intrinsic part of Western society with a very long history, yet this obvious fact is only acknowledged by a few.

The societal integration of antisemitism exposes itself clearly from time to time. In the past few years, the institutional antisemitism of the British Labour Party drew international attention. This was partly due to the inaction about complaints by the party’s then leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a self-declared “friend” and “brother” of genocidal Arab terrorist organizations.

In the past few months, the presence of antisemitism in Western societies has shown itself in two contexts: the coronavirus pandemic and the massive anti-racism manifestations. Antisemitism often infiltrates mass demonstrations that have no relation to Israel or Jews.

This is the case at the “hygiene demonstrations” currently taking place against the coronavirus lockdown in Germany. Thousands have participated in these protests. In some cases, demonstrators threw bottles at the police, who responded with pepper spray and arrests. Among the demonstrators were conspiracy theorists and right-wing populists.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/07/04/franklins_admonition

““A republic, if you can keep it.” What I once thought of as a quaint, half tongue-in-cheek caution, I now see as an earnest admonition. July 4 commemorates not only America’s independence from Great Britain, but also its assumption among the powers of the earth of a form of government dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Our society’s recent descent into tribalism is sharply at odds with that experiment in aspiration. It’s time we grew up and embraced the wisdom of our Founders. ”

“A republic, if you can keep it.” 

That was Ben Franklin’s famous response when asked, as the Constitutional Convention ended in 1787, what sort of government the delegates had crafted.

Time was, I thought Franklin’s answer droll. But as July 4, 2020, comes into view, I wonder. A republic depends on the rule of law. The rule of law has been having a hard time of it lately. So: Can we keep it? 

I have never been tempted to equate the equality celebrated by the Declaration of Independence with egalitarianism. The philosopher Harvey Mansfield was obviously correct, I believe, when he spoke of the “self-evident half-truth that all men are created equal.” 

Differences in talent, disposition, family situation, and plain dumb luck inevitably result in differences in achievement. As James Madison put it in Federalist 10, the rights of property originate in “diversity in the faculties of men.” Protecting those faculties, he said, “is the first object of government.” 

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/the-diversity-trap-jilani

Progressive ideas about diversity have taken over the corporate world but they offer a skin-deep version obsessed only with color and conformity.

A shallow, reductive version of diversity that first gained a foothold in progressive political spaces has rapidly spread across American institutions and the corporate world. It values skin color and other inherited characteristics above all else, largely ignores class issues, and overlooks the benefits of real diversity, like the anti-fragile resilience created by fostering people with different viewpoints. Yet, despite the many flaws and dangers of this new orthodoxy—or perhaps because of them—anyone who challenges it, risks damage to their career and social life.

Just look at the case of Denise Young Smith. Young Smith spent almost two decades working her way up in Apple, becoming one of the few black people to ever reach its executive team. She was named vice president of diversity and inclusion, and in 2017 traveled to the One Young World Summit in Bogotá, Colombia.

At the summit, she was asked by a reporter whether black women would be a priority in her new role promoting diversity in the company. In her answer, she described a lonely rise through the ranks: “I’ve been black and a woman for a long time. I have been a first, I’ve been an only,” she said. She talked about hearing from other black women in the industry who shared stories about people assuming they were the assistant or secretary rather than the manager.

Her words were a powerful testament to anyone who has ever been stereotyped or been on the receiving end of low expectations due to the color of their skin.

https://amgreatness.com/2020/07/04/a-magnificent-speech/

Donald Trump did not mention Lincoln’s First Inaugural address in his speech commemorating the spirit of American Independence at Mount Rushmore on Friday night. But the president’s speech—perhaps his most forceful and eloquent to date—vibrated with the same energy and existential commitment that fired Lincoln in March 1861. 

Lincoln came to office at a time of crisis. His election had precipitated the secession of seven Southern states. His inaugural address was both a plea for conciliation and unity as well as a warning that violence would be stopped with force. “We are not enemies, but friends,” Lincoln said. 

Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Donald Trump issued a kindred invitation to unity in the midst of conflict. The signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in July 1776 was a world-historical event. It represented, the president rightly said, “the culmination of thousands of years of Western Civilization—and the triumph not only of spirit, but of wisdom, philosophy, and reason.” At the center of the triumph was the animating possession of liberty, made possible by the unanimous affirmation of the principles Thomas Jefferson articulated in the Declaration: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights . . .” 

The president’s speech was a passionate celebration of American freedom and American greatness—a greatness, he noted, that was embodied by the sublime majesty of the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt sculpted into the granite pinnacle of Mt. Rushmore. 

But just as Lincoln spoke on the eve of civil war, so Donald Trump spoke in the midst of widespread and organized violence against the emblems and the spirit of the American promise. “[T]here is,” he warned, “a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought, struggled, and bled to secure.”

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/07/flawed_greatness_the_american_story_is_the_human_story.html

The American story is a beautiful one. Our revolutionary foundation built upon natural rights and the nature of man was the starkest break from societal norms the world has ever known.

The focus of the Declaration of Independence was to provide the litany of grievances American colonials had against the king to justify our break from Britain’s despotic grip. That said, something much more powerful was born from this document: the American Soul.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

What seemed like an obscure addition or eloquent wordsmanship set the foundation of the American Creed. We are all created equal in the eyes of God. Natural rights are not bestowed upon us by governments, but instead governments are “instituted among men” to secure the inalienable rights we are born with.

Joseph Ellis writes, “With these words, Jefferson had smuggled the revolutionary agenda into the founding document, casually and almost inadvertently planting the seeds that would grow into the expanding mandate for individual rights that eventually ended slavery, made women’s suffrage inevitable, and sanctioned the civil rights of all minorities.”

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/07/03/lets-move-statues-honoring-heroes-to-places-that-will-protect-and-preserve-our-history/

Growing up, these commentators were taught and unashamedly believed that America was the greatest nation on earth. Today, understatement aside, that conviction is no longer entirely fashionable.

Now, people across the country watch in horror as memorials to men and women widely regarded as heroes in establishing that greatness are threatened, toppled or taken away:

Christopher Columbus, once hailed as “the discoverer of America,” but now no longer welcome even in the state capital named after him.
George Washington, long revered as the “Father of His Country,” and Thomas Jefferson, honored this weekend in particular as the primary author of the Declaration of Independence – today reduced to mere “slaveholders” in the minds of much of the public.
Andrew Jackson, stalwart defender of the Union whose majestic mounted sculpture in Lafayette Park was vandalized in full view of the White House.
Teddy Roosevelt, the progressive who risked his reputation to invite Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House and courageously advocated better conditions for African-Americans.
Ulysses Grant, who as commander of the Union forces won the war that freed slaves and as president was recognized as an early proponent of civil rights.
Stunningly, abolitionists such as Matthias Baldwin, John Greenleaf Whittier, or William Seward.

https://thefederalist.com/2020/07/03/if-you-really-believe-black-lives-matter-stop-s
Impassioned Americans don’t understand that Black Lives Matter is a rhetorical facade masking Marxist ideas that would destroy the lives of vulnerable Americans.

When people and organizations throw money at identity politics, do they know that the causes they support conflict with their purported goals?

Black Lives Matter (BLM) cloaks itself in garb of justice and morality. By its very name, well-intentioned people are compelled to support it. After all, who does not think the lives of black people matter? Uninformed yet impassioned Americans are unaware that the organization’s name is a rhetorical facade that masks a Marxist core.

The truth is that the three people who founded BLM include two avowed Marxist organizers and an activist sympathizer. Beyond supporting more “mainstream” leftist positions, such as socialized health care and dramatically increased taxes, BLM’s platform has historically called for more radical policies. These include creating collective ownership in black communities, instituting reparations including for illegal aliens, defunding the police, and “disrupt[ing] the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure.”

The Evil Underpinnings of BLM

BLM, like the Women’s March, has from its start been ardently antisemitic. Members of BLM carried out a pogrom in the Los Angeles area in May during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. You probably never heard about it because in the intersectional left-wing milieu, Ashkenazi Jews sit at or near the apex of the privilege pyramid.

That is, the descendants of Eastern European Jews, 6 million of whom were massacred during the Holocaust, are considered by BLM and its ideological cohorts to be the world’s greatest victimizers. For the like-minded media, covering such atrocities would only undermine the narrative and hurt the cause, so they remain silent. For BLM, antisemitism is not a cancellable offense.

https://canadafreepress.com/article/once-again-president-trump-hands-democrats-enough-rope

Vast majority of American citizens want to pursue their careers, raise their families, and have money in their pockets, peace in their hearts and safety in their homes

Here’s an old, irrefutable chestnut: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!

But Regressives refuse to learn that lesson and are yet again falling into the chasm of a trap President Trump has set for them.

Listen to the uproar the mostly-leftist media bleat every minute of every day: Why aren’t the president and his Republican colleagues saying anything, doing anything about all the destruction and madness that the [Democrat-approved] anarchists are wreaking throughout the country––the arson, smashed windows, destroyed businesses, separatist zones in Seattle and NY City, defund-the-police initiatives, out-of-control thuggery, on and on?

THE MEME THING

Yet the silence persists. Does even one person on the planet think this is a coincidence? A fluke? An historical aberration?

Just as Democrats send out daily talking points––remember the Dick Cheney “gravitas” meme that every media person echoed ad nauseam and then never said the word again after Bush 2 was elected?

Same thing today after Regressives learned that the word “defunding” polled badly so they uniformly switched to “reimagining” police reform.