My Person of the Year? Not "You"
Originally I was going to write a blog today about its being the 200th anniversary of Robert E. Lee's birth on January 19, 1807. As a fellow Virginian, and as a deep admirer of the Confederate general, I thought it would be proper. But seeing as how I've already spent a lot of the day thinking about his legacy, and even posting a birthday tribute on a Facebook group dedicated to R.E. Lee, I think I'll write about another topic I've been wanting to address since New Year's. Oh, and for those of you self-righteous liberals who think I'm a fascist for liking Robert E. Lee, get a life, for two reasons: 1) I'm also a near-idolater when it comes to Abraham Lincoln; and 2) Lee personally opposed slavery and even freed his own slaves. Yes, he did fight for the Confederacy, but he even allowed black troops to fight near the end of the war in exchange for freedom. Moving on...
Instead of blogging about Lee, I'd like to fulfill my procrastinated intentions and name my own 2006 Human Being of the Year. Not "You"...sorry. I don't play politically correct, cowardly, supposedly "avant-garde" games like Time Magazine. Nor do I choose non-human entities...therefore "Human Being of the Year" is the moniker here. In the interest of being progressive--no, conservative and progressive are not mutually exclusive--I will make my first ever HBOTY a woman. A young one at that--and one from southern California. (Is the sky falling?)
Her name? Christine Zoldos, and you may have heard of her. On Wednesday, November 8, she--an attractive, modest, patriotic, 18-year-old woman--made a name for herself by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at a student trustees meeting on the campus of Orange Coast College, a two-year school near Los Angeles. Yes, by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance! "So what?" you ask? Well, her student council had spitefully prohibited the sacred Pledge from being recited at the beginning of its meetings, to supposedly save time and because of the "under God" phrase which infuriated their childish over-sensitivity. Despite the fact that the college is attended by more than 28,000 L.A. area students, and the fact that more than 85 percent of Americans do believe in God, three of the council's members took it upon themselves to turn an American public college's student council into a soapbox for anti-American, Communist viewpoints. After all, the leader of those three, Jason Bell, proudly declared his atheistic, socialistic beliefs and wore a revolutionary beret and militaristic garb(age) at these public-funded gatherings. (He excused his acts by accusing the Pledge writers of adding "under God" as a simple McCarthyistic attack...perhaps, but it's 50 years later. Just skip those two words if you're so freaking offended.) I'm not surprised, given that we're talking about Los Angeles...but the last I checked, California is still on American soil. It isn't a Chinese or Mexican province--not right now, at any rate. We must defend every last remnant of our soil against such ideological attacks.
Anyway, Zoldos was so upset by the actions of Bell and his comrades that she decided to make her own statement. At the beginning of the group's meeting on Wednesday, November 8, she recited the Pledge aloud before the committee could commence its evening business. According to a November 9 article on Reuters' website, she told a reporter, "America is the one thing I'm passionate about and I can't let them take that away from me." I hear you, Christine, and so do millions of other angry Americans. Her action was short, simple, and clear--the best political statements always are, something two-dimensional thinker Cindy Sheehan and one-sided filmmaker Michael Moore should learn--but she made headlines almost instantly. She even got a three-minute interview a day or two later on the conservative comic and commentator Glenn Beck's CNN program, which is where I first heard the story in detail. She struck me as very modest, very plainspoken, and yet very intelligent and passionate, as she had said.
Sadly, it will take hundreds, indeed thousands, more like Zoldos to take back our right to exercise patriotism in our own country. Ridiculous, isn't it? Apparently, the Supreme Court thinks the First Amendment applies only to the radical, God-denying minority and not the average, hard-working, God-fearing American majority that has built this country on sweat, blood, toil, and tears, since 1607. Don't get me wrong...I firmly believe that we should protect the right of an American Communist, indeed an American Nazi, to practice freedom of speech. That, after all, is the true test of a legitimate Bill of Rights--but the security and rights of the historic, overwhelming majority must be considered first. We built this country on majority rule as well, not just minority rights. We have forgotten that as a country and a culture. It takes the acts of people like Christine Zoldos to remind us. And so, in a year that has been particularly ugly for conservatives, she is a shining exception. (She's even promised to keep attending the council, which she serves on, in order to continue her salute of the American flag. Most impressive.) As for you, Time Magazine, let me say this: "You" suck. Next year, have some guts and pick a real person. Just a thought.
Quote of the Day: "The fact that they have enough power to ban one of the most valued traditions in America is just horrible." - Christine Zoldos, 11/09/07. The only way to take that power away from such extremist bully oligarchs is to use their own weapon against them, i.e. that good old freedom of speech, and freedom of the assembly, which they constantly flaunt. We patriots, whether Democrat or Republican, need to stop retreating on this issue...defensive warfare usually fails. Ask Robert E. Lee.
Instead of blogging about Lee, I'd like to fulfill my procrastinated intentions and name my own 2006 Human Being of the Year. Not "You"...sorry. I don't play politically correct, cowardly, supposedly "avant-garde" games like Time Magazine. Nor do I choose non-human entities...therefore "Human Being of the Year" is the moniker here. In the interest of being progressive--no, conservative and progressive are not mutually exclusive--I will make my first ever HBOTY a woman. A young one at that--and one from southern California. (Is the sky falling?)
Her name? Christine Zoldos, and you may have heard of her. On Wednesday, November 8, she--an attractive, modest, patriotic, 18-year-old woman--made a name for herself by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at a student trustees meeting on the campus of Orange Coast College, a two-year school near Los Angeles. Yes, by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance! "So what?" you ask? Well, her student council had spitefully prohibited the sacred Pledge from being recited at the beginning of its meetings, to supposedly save time and because of the "under God" phrase which infuriated their childish over-sensitivity. Despite the fact that the college is attended by more than 28,000 L.A. area students, and the fact that more than 85 percent of Americans do believe in God, three of the council's members took it upon themselves to turn an American public college's student council into a soapbox for anti-American, Communist viewpoints. After all, the leader of those three, Jason Bell, proudly declared his atheistic, socialistic beliefs and wore a revolutionary beret and militaristic garb(age) at these public-funded gatherings. (He excused his acts by accusing the Pledge writers of adding "under God" as a simple McCarthyistic attack...perhaps, but it's 50 years later. Just skip those two words if you're so freaking offended.) I'm not surprised, given that we're talking about Los Angeles...but the last I checked, California is still on American soil. It isn't a Chinese or Mexican province--not right now, at any rate. We must defend every last remnant of our soil against such ideological attacks.
Anyway, Zoldos was so upset by the actions of Bell and his comrades that she decided to make her own statement. At the beginning of the group's meeting on Wednesday, November 8, she recited the Pledge aloud before the committee could commence its evening business. According to a November 9 article on Reuters' website, she told a reporter, "America is the one thing I'm passionate about and I can't let them take that away from me." I hear you, Christine, and so do millions of other angry Americans. Her action was short, simple, and clear--the best political statements always are, something two-dimensional thinker Cindy Sheehan and one-sided filmmaker Michael Moore should learn--but she made headlines almost instantly. She even got a three-minute interview a day or two later on the conservative comic and commentator Glenn Beck's CNN program, which is where I first heard the story in detail. She struck me as very modest, very plainspoken, and yet very intelligent and passionate, as she had said.
Sadly, it will take hundreds, indeed thousands, more like Zoldos to take back our right to exercise patriotism in our own country. Ridiculous, isn't it? Apparently, the Supreme Court thinks the First Amendment applies only to the radical, God-denying minority and not the average, hard-working, God-fearing American majority that has built this country on sweat, blood, toil, and tears, since 1607. Don't get me wrong...I firmly believe that we should protect the right of an American Communist, indeed an American Nazi, to practice freedom of speech. That, after all, is the true test of a legitimate Bill of Rights--but the security and rights of the historic, overwhelming majority must be considered first. We built this country on majority rule as well, not just minority rights. We have forgotten that as a country and a culture. It takes the acts of people like Christine Zoldos to remind us. And so, in a year that has been particularly ugly for conservatives, she is a shining exception. (She's even promised to keep attending the council, which she serves on, in order to continue her salute of the American flag. Most impressive.) As for you, Time Magazine, let me say this: "You" suck. Next year, have some guts and pick a real person. Just a thought.
Quote of the Day: "The fact that they have enough power to ban one of the most valued traditions in America is just horrible." - Christine Zoldos, 11/09/07. The only way to take that power away from such extremist bully oligarchs is to use their own weapon against them, i.e. that good old freedom of speech, and freedom of the assembly, which they constantly flaunt. We patriots, whether Democrat or Republican, need to stop retreating on this issue...defensive warfare usually fails. Ask Robert E. Lee.
posted by Douglas Schrock at 7:46 PM
1 Comments:
That is awesome. I remember how in the aftermath of 9/11 EVERYONE had an an American flag displayed on their desk, house, and car. Such patriotism, but now? If a foreigner was blindfold and shipped over here would he have any idea where he was? I think as a country, we tend to be--no we are--a fair-weather friend. I have decided that one of the first things I will do when I get my first house is to put an American flag out. A small thing, but still a big deal.
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