This column is not about the prosecution or the defense, nor about race, religion, ethnicity or politics. It is about coming together as a community of civilized congenial citizens. A young man was shot and killed in Florida February 26, 2012.and the shooter was acquitted, i.e. found not guilty by a jury of his peers on Saturday, July 13, 2013.
While there were demonstrations of dissent, some protests became malicious, especially in Los Angeles and Oakland, California. Some protesters in both LA and Oakland expressed their opposition to the verdict by breaking windows, assaulting strangers, jumping on cars and blocking traffic on main thoroughfares. This chaotic reprisal of violence is not the way to display our frustration and outrage.
With 1.6 million prisoners in federal and state correctional institutions, we need more training and jobs and less rhetoric by extremist firebrands, politicians and faux journalists that kindle the combustion of added vandalism and crime. There are more than 16,000 homicides in the U.S. annually and if every verdict ignited more lawlessness, the nation could descend into anarchy. Abraham Lincoln, the Great Abolitionist and 16th President said: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves”.
In the U.S.A. it is fitting to peacefully protest when disputes arise between unions and employers, when discrimination and bigotry is evident and other causes. The Million Man March of October 16, 1995 is one example of meaningful activities; another is the peaceful gatherings of The Tea Party Patriots.
The ‘occupy’ movement was an international protest against social and economic inequality. Beginning in Zuccotti Park in NYC on September 17, 2011, Occupy Wall Street was the first prominent movement receiving wide coverage. The Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution in support of the occupy movement and Nancy Pelosi is reported to have said, “God Bless them for their spontaneity. It’s young, it’s spontaneous, it’s focused and it’s going to be effective.”
Reported to be funded by a George Soros organization called ‘Adbusters’, the ‘occupy’ movement started as a peaceful demonstration. However, arrests became routine in many cities due to assaults, vandalism, property damage, trespassing and other unsavory violations. By November 2011, the occupy movement had cost local taxpayers about $20 million. As far as we know, Speaker Pelosi never disavowed support of the occupy movement that became marginalized due to its many reported infractions. Note that the Speaker of The House is second in line for Presidential succesion (Presidential Succession Act of 1947, Title 3, Chapter 1, Section 19 of the United Ststes Code.)
Several sources report that the occupy movement was inspired by what has been dubbed, the ‘Arab Spring.’ If these reports are accurate, we are in incomprehensibly deep trouble. The ‘Arab Spring’ that remains in full swing is mostly between various segments of the Islamic religion and culture where killings abound, where women are treated as property, and where Sharia law is the rule in theocratic and tyrannical governments.
The U.S.A. has always been a melting pot with ethnic, religious, racial and cultural origins. We are the most diverse and open sovereignty in the world. We are structured around the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation and other documents that define our culture. This nation’s first Vice Presdent (under George Washington) and second President John Adams is said to have made this statement, “America is a nation of laws, not of men.”
Although the singing of patriotic songs is often disregarded, heed the uplifting words in the second stanza of the scintillitating song entitled America the Beautiful: ‘America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-contrrol, Thy liberty in law.’ Amen.
– Dick Baynton