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NOTE: Bold text in directly quoted material indicates my emphasis and not
that of the originators of the quotations.
In our nation’s capital, Washington D.C., the city wrote “Black
Lives Matter” on one street and allowed protesters to paint “Defund the Police” next to
it.[1] In Indianapolis, Indiana, it was announced that
the city would paint "Black lives matter" on a downtown street as a public condemnation
of racism.[2]
“One of the ‘Thin Blue Line’ flags at the center of a dispute
between the Hingham {Massachusetts} firefighters union and town officials was placed on
the back of a Weymouth {Massachusetts} fire truck . . .
“The Hingham Fire Fighters Local 2398 said the flag was flown on
apparatus in that town as a tribute to late Weymouth Sgt. Michael Chesna on the two-year
anniversary of his in-the-line-of-duty shooting death . . . and that the union
decided to keep the flag flying as a tribute to all local police and first responders.
“The Hingham Board of Selectmen received a complaint about the flag,
however, that it could be considered a political statement in opposition to the Black Lives
Matter movement. The Board of Selectmen said it determined the flag should not be on
the apparatus since only a select few flags are authorized to be flown on town property
. . .
- - -
“Members of Local 2398, along with Weymouth police and fire union
members, removed the flag . . . saying it was going to be given to the Weymouth Police
Department to fly at Weymouth Police Headquarters.
- - -
“The Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts Union offered to
give one of the flags a tour of the state with any fire department or union wanting to fly
it before it is presented to the family of Chesna. {The union} . . . posted a statement
. . . saying it will offer the flag to be flown on apparatus throughout Massachusetts
as a sign of solidarity between fire and police unions at a time when ‘our Brothers and
Sisters in blue have been under unprecedented and seemingly unrelenting attacks.’ "
(Ref. 3)
In another Massachusetts community, “The Newton firefighters
union is taking legal action against the city after Mayor Ruthanne Fuller ordered that
only the American flag and Newton banners should be displayed on city buildings, forcing
them to take down a firefighters remembrance flag.
“{The} Newton Firefighters Association is disputing the mayor’s
decision after the Thin Red Line flag, which is used to remember fallen firefighters, was
ordered removed from the inside of Station 4 where it has hung for the 2 1/2 years . . .
“The flag is used to remember the firefighters ‘who sacrificed so
much to protect their communities,’ {the union president} . . . said . . . ‘Keeping alive
the memory of those who gave their all is a deep part of who we are.’ ”(Ref. 4)
Elsewhere, “The family of a Maine police officer killed in the
line of duty said it felt forced to remove a Thin Blue Line flag to mark the anniversary of
his death after learning of complaints that it was racist.
“Trooper Charles Black was fatally shot during a bank robbery in 1964.
His son, also named Charlie Black, decided to erect the Thin Blue Line flag, which is also
known as the Blue Lives Matter flag and is meant to honor law enforcement. The son placed
the flag on a utility pole near his home, prompting some residents to complain that an
offensive symbol was on public property.
“The town manager of York, Maine {said} that a resident visited
his office to complain about the flag.
“ ‘A resident came in and said there’s a problem,’ . . .
adding that the resident contended ‘This is a flag that represents segregation and
discrimination.’
- - -
“Those who defend the flag say it is meant to do nothing more
than honor law enforcement, particularly those lost in the line of duty.
“Critics see it as a push-back against Black Lives Matter,
a movement to highlight police shootings of black people.
- - -
“Earlier this year, debates broke out in Connecticut over the
Thin Blue Line flag after it was displayed in the Police Memorial Hall, which is near
the state capitol building.
“Some Democratic legislators said that the flag could be
offensive to Black Lives Matter supporters.
- - -
“In April, a county in Oregon agreed to pay a former employee
a $100,000 settlement after she sued the county for racial discrimination because a
co-worker had posted a “Blue Lives Matter” flag in an office in support of local
police.” (Ref. 5)
These days, honoring a police officer killed in the line of duty
is just another outrage trigger for those who espouse the ‘all cops are bad’ dogma. What’s
been lost in the national stupidity sweeping this country is the fact that firefighters are
first responders, police officers are first responders and both are tasked with keeping
communities safe from danger. That one group should support the other makes perfect sense —
unless you follow the cancel culture logic that because some cops have behaved despicably,
all officers are to be punished and shunned. The claim is that the “thin blue line” flags
have “political meaning.” It’s 2020 — everything has political meaning, and if it doesn’t,
wait five minutes, some outraged citizen will supply it. Law enforcement officers across
the country are turning in their badges in a climate where they are vilified.
The start of August 2020 brought news of a resentencing trial
for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and that sparks recollections of the role
Massachusetts law enforcement officials played during those grim days. After the two bombs
detonated near the finish line of the race, killing three people and injuring several
hundred others, Boston police ran toward the mayhem, helping victims and dealing with
the chaos. We didn’t know if more bombs were coming, or where, what was a safe space,
what wasn’t — the sight of men and women in blue on the job, on our streets, handling
the crisis gave Boston the sense that while everything wasn’t all right, the right people
were on the job. It was a tense, frantic, horrible time, especially for the victims of the
bombs and their families. But while area residents sheltered in place, police were out
there, facing risks for us. One, Sean Collier, was killed by the Tsarnaev brothers.
How quickly some forget.[6]
The “Display a Message” stupidity has even spread to professional
sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is allowing individual messages on the
backs of uniforms. I wonder who will have the role of Censor in Charge for the messages
being displayed on the backs of the NBA players
“When the NBA season resumes, nearly 300 players will wear a
message on the back of their jerseys with ‘Equality’ being the most popular followed by
{unsurprisingly} ‘Black Lives Matter.’
- - -
“. . . Not all players, including Los Angeles Lakers star
LeBron James, will display a message.” (Ref. 7)
Thank heavens - some NBA players are using their brains in addition to
their athletic skills!
How many athletes will display the message ”Blue Lives Matter”
or “Stop anti-Semitism in America”, or “All Lives matter”? Wouldn’t it be better if we just
stopped all such foolishness and simply put the player’s name or number on the back of
his jersey? It worked up until now. Will we end up seeing a jersey display that reads
“Eat at Joe’s Bar and Grill”? We are simply descending lower and lower toward the gutter
with all these meaningless and childish displays of social conformity.
Watching a recent Boston Celtics basketball game, televised
from the “bubble” in Orlando, Florida, I was highly annoyed to see various messages on the
backs of the Celtics players jerseys along with a message in large black letters painted
on the floor of the basketball court stating: “BLACK LIVES MATTER”. What ever happened
to simply watching a basket game without being bombarded with someone’s idea of an
important social message? Why only a “BLACK LIVES MATTER” message? Why not “ALL LIVES
MATTER” or “NATIVE AMERICAN LIVES MATTER” or “CAUCASIAN LIVES MATTER” or “ORIENTAL LIVES
MATTER” or “POLYNESIAN LIVES MATTER” or “HISPANIC LIVES MATTER” or “ALASKAN NATIVE LIVES
MATTER”? Why not all of the above in place of all the paid advertising in the arena?
Why can’t I get my own personal message displayed in the arena? Best of all,
why don't we stop all the foolishness with social messaging and simply get back to
just plain all basketball?
By the way, do the people being subjected to the incessant
message of “BLACK LIVES MATTER” realize that the Black Lives Matter movement is led
by Marxist extremists whose goal is the destruction of the American way of life and its
replacement with the extremists' vision of Marxist communism? [8]
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References:
- D.C. sued over Black Lives Matter painted on city streets, Stephen Dinan,
The Washington Times, 1 July 2020.
- Indianapolis to paint 'Black lives matter' on downtown street,
Amelia Pak-Harvey, Indianapolis Star,
14 July 2020.
- Weymouth Fire Engine Flies Hingham's 'Thin Blue Line' Flag, Scott Souza,
Patch, 3 August 2020.
- Newton residents protest mayor’s decision to remove firefighters remembrance flag,
Arianna MacNeill, boston.com, 16 June 2020.
- Controversy over Blue Lives Matter flag forces family of fallen officer to
remove it from utility pole,
Elizabeth Llorente, FOX NEWS,
29 July 2020.
- When chaos erupts, cops run into the fray, Jeff Zillgitt,
Boston Herald, Page 14, 5 August 2020.
- Full list of the messages NBA players will wear on their jerseys as season restarts,
Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY,
30 July 2020.
- Marxism - aka Socialism, aka Communism - Comes to America, David Burton,
Son of Eliyau; Article 426,
7 August 2020.
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