Literally, unprecedented

I've often written about how so much of what we see today is essentially a battle for definitions.  There are two words that seem to be getting the worse end of that battle.

Literally and unprecedented.

Literally

1. in the literal or strict sense.
2.in a literal manner; word for word.
3.actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy.
4.in effect; in substance; very nearly; virtually.

Unprecedented

1.without previous instance; never before known or experienced;unexampled or unparalleled.

Yet, what we see going on in Texas right now is, in the strictest definition of the words, "literally unprecedented".  It is in the most exact and precise sense of the English language correct to say that.   

Yet, I continue to see people on social media who post "news" stories about how Trump should have been able to foresee, and by inference,  have done something to stop the suffering.

My first problem is that this kind of thing shows a complete lack of understanding of how our government works, it's not the role of the Feds to elbow the state and local authorities out of the way and just take over.

My second problem is that these folks, (the same people who have been hysterically predicting "the worst hurricane season in history") are trying to suggest that a rain event over twice as severe as any in recorded history is somehow predictable.  Hint, if something is "unprecedented", then it's pretty much unpredictable.

Now, to be fair, the people posting this kind of stuff are also the ones posting as many negative and divisive stories as possible.   The "Joel Osteen is a monster for barricading his church behind barbed wire and guard towers", and that sort of thing.   The calls to strip the tax exemption from churches is particularly galling.   Let's ignore the folks like Church Unlimited (who while still in the impact zone have become a collection point/clearing house/shipping center) for supplies as well as sending teams into more damaged areas.   As well as the hundreds/thousands of churches, businesses, and individuals working to help the storm victims.

It seems like we're watching a picture of what makes America great played out all over East Texas, yet a small group of folks feel compelled to take this amazing effort and try to steer the focus away from the reality of people of all different backgrounds and races working together to save their fellow Texans.   

I think it says something about the people involved that we aren't seeing the lawlessness and anarchy that engulfed New Orleans after Katrina.  We're not seeing people forced into squalid conditions in a powerless/plumbingless stadium.   

I have to admit that having a child who lives in the affected area has made me a little more interested and made this a bit more personal that it might have otherwise.  But I'm also proud of the fact that he and his fellow citizens/church members have just gone ahead and jumped right in to help their fellow citizens.

Unfortunately, if you pay attention to the wrong people, you'd think that banding together and working to help your neighbors was what is "literally unprecedented"

Fear

I was at church last Sunday.  (Full disclosure, this is the white liberal suburban church I occasionally play at)  While I was there I was talking to the bass player who told me about the previous weeks sermon and a comment the pastor made.

Oh, did I mention that this church is a suburban, mostly white, politically liberal, theologically leaning liberal, that "does all the right" things when it comes to social justice?

Anyway, the comment in question was in regard to trying to increase the number of black people coming to this church, and it was:

"We don't want them to be afraid of us."

This short statement raises several red flags with me.

1.  The implied/expressed divide between "us" and "them".   In a world that's supposed to be color blind, from a group of people who would probably claim to be color blind, this type of us/them just sounds inappropriate.

2.  The implication that this particular congregation has actually done anything that would actually justify "fear".

3.  The admission (by suggesting that changes need to be made), that it is rational for some random black family to fear a bunch of socially conscious, actively engaged, white liberals.

I could be wrong, but this almost sounds like encouraging fear as the appropriate response for "us" to have when dealing with "them".

In all fairness, I could be over analyzing this, but any time I hear this us/them type of language it makes me wonder.

Distractions

Recently we've seen all sorts of people react/overreact to the events in Virginia.  There have been plenty of voices from all sides of the debate denouncing the racists/NAZI'S/KKK members who marched and engaged in violent clashes with counter protesters.

Clearly and unequivocally we live in a country where the constitution provides the highest level of protection for even the most repugnant and hateful speech, as well as allowing such speech to take place in public.  Just as clearly the ideas voiced by these vermin are repugnant and hateful in the extreme.

But, one theme that has emerged is that there is an increasing direct threat specifically to people of color, but to the republic itself from this "movement", so what about this movement.

From the ADL (One suspects an organization dedicated to defending Jews wouldn't be pro NAZI)

"A variety of white supremacists, self-identified white nationalists and others on the extreme right are gearing up for the “Unite the Right” rally on August 12 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The event has the potential to be the largest public gathering of white supremacists in at least a decade; ADL predicts as many as 500 Unite the Right supporters could show up."

So at the "largest gathering of white supremacists in a decade', they expected 500 people to show up.

Again from the ADL

"
The rally, which is scheduled for noon to 5 pm, will likely be the largest public rally by white supremacists in 10 to 15 years. Over the past decade, “successful” public white supremacist events have drawn 50 to 75 participants. Most have been much smaller. The largest events rarely surpass 100 attendees, even with the participation of multiple groups.
Sizable public gatherings of white supremacists in recent years include an event in April 2017, when about 125 white supremacists, including contingents from the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM) and the Traditionalist Workers Party, gathered in Pikeville, Kentucky, to celebrate “white identity” and recruit new members. Two years prior, in July 2015, approximately 125 white supremacists, including members of NSM and several Klan groups, rallied in Columbia, South Carolina, to protest state legislators’ plans to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds in Columbia. The lawmakers’ decision came on the heels of white supremacist Dylann Roof’s deadly mass shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church."

So far, we see a small yet vile group  of protesters.

So, my question is, "Is this spurt of public racism really the greatest threat to people of color in the United States?"

Or, "Is it simply a distraction designed to give people of color a scapegoat to be angry at and divert attention from other things?"

For example.

 http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/03/24/10-of-the-most-segregated-cities-in-the-u-s/?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=kw&kwp_0=341133

Is there any connection between the "most segregated cities" and the political leanings and leadership of those cities?

http://homicides.suntimes.com/

Is there any connection between the fact that Chicago has been controlled by one political party for decades, and the need for the "murder watch" in the local paper?

 https://www.facebook.com/ATenAfrikaanRa/posts/304241019909931

How about this from a friend of mine whose brother was shot recently?  Right in the middle of Clinton Country.

 http://theweek.com/speedreads/718507/striking-graphic-reveals-construction-confederate-monuments-peaked-during-jim-crow-civil-rights-eras

Or how about a discussion of which political party raised all these offensive statues in the first place.

https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/larry-elder-fatherless-families-are-no-1-problem-america-not-racism

Or how about the decline in the intact black family.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/03/07/graduation-gap-by-the-numbers

Or how about the "graduation gap" in one of the most liberal metropolitan areas in the country?

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/08/22/minnesota-racial-inequality/

Or how about one of the most liberal states in the country being the second worst for racial inequality.  Oh and #1 is a state which has historically leaned left, and whose urban areas (where people of color live) are still far left.

So, are 500 crazy racists in VA really the greatest threat to people of color?  Really?

I've been assured...

...that those on the left regard ANTIFA as some sort of rogue, fringe, outsider group that don't really represent the left.   So, I'm going to excerpt a bit of a Facebook dialog as an example.

POST:

" Can we stop calling the violent masked 'left' antifascists? And instead use the more accurate descriptor, nihilists? It is like describing a vegan as anti-hotdog. Nihilists are not protesters, they're nihilists."

This was followed by a video of a peaceful nonviolent protest as an example.

Then a liberal friend of mine came back with this gem.

"Youre wrong, Bill. Non violence works against a government that its trying to maintain the vestige of legitiancy, and is constrained by public opinion. Facsism works by frightening non conforming people off the street and out of public life through violence and subversion of the police forces. The Antifa are necessary to protect the minority and endangered members of the culture, and to hold the police accountable for doing thsir jobs."

(I just copy/pasted this straight from FB, hence the inventive spelling)

Clearly, there are people on the left who do embrace ANTIFA and see them as necessary.

Am I suggesting that all on the left support ANTIFA, not at all.  Just that there are people out there willing to publicly justify these folks.

Because the Left...

Some on the left just can't pass up a chance to let the pain and suffering of others get used to advance a political agenda.   Thousands of people in danger, and their can't even wait for the rain to stop falling to start the politics.  

Sad.

Honesty

I have to note the irony of Dan closing comments on the post following a long discussion of his honesty by lying twice.

Lie #1, he claimed I've been saying he's cowardly.   I've actually been saying that he's afraid of acknowledging and dealing with the Truth.

Lie #2, is that I haven't answered his questions.  

Irony is amusing.  So is Dan.