“Some 1,500 people were killed, most of them civilians, during a two-week period of violence last month, when residents of the Islamic Republic protested against the government in one of the largest public demonstrations since the country’s 1979 revolution, the Reuters news service reported Monday.”1
I have been keeping these protesters in Iran in my ongoing thoughts and prayers. For a time, several years back, I had pen-pal in Iran. He was a student at the University of Tehran. I have not heard from him in in years, but I still keep he and his family in my thoughts and prayers. I recall his being hit in the head with a rubber bullet during a protest back then. He was subsequently hospitalized for several days with a concussion, during which time I did not hear from him and worried greatly for his safety and well-being. Fortunately, he recovered and was released to return to his ‘normal’ life. What seems to be different from these protests, aside from the high numbers of casualties, is the Iranian government’s response to these more recent protests ... “Since the protests began last month, international humanitarian organizations have accused Iran of using excessive violence against protesters. Last Friday, a group of independent UN rights experts said Iranian security forces were deliberately shooting to kill the unarmed protesters. The experts pointed to reports and footage showing Iranian security forces “not only fired live ammunition at unarmed protesters, but also aimed at their heads and vital organs ... Targeting these parts of the body shows that the security forces were aiming to kill or at least cause serious injury,” they [Independent U.N. sources] said, adding that they were “extremely disturbed that the Iranian authorities would use such tactics against peaceful protesters.” The UN experts said there appeared to be higher death tolls in areas with large ethnic minority populations.”1
Another disturbing fact is that an 7,000 additional civilians have reportedly been imprisoned, where they are now being tortured and denied medical treatment, including treatment of injuries suffered by Iranian forces shooting during demonstrations.
I have only the utmost admiration for these protesters who are willing to put everything on the line --even their very lives-- in order to stand up, with a united voice, to protest such extreme social and economic injustices at the hands of a brutal totalitarian regime. As I ponder these events currently unfolding in Iran, I cannot help but wonder how differently these protests might turn out, especially where longer term reforms are concerned ... maybe even a change of government ... were these citizens afforded the right to keep and bear arms on a larger scale? I mean, it would be a whole different ballgame if the citizens of Iran had access to real weapons with which to defend themselves and their rights to basic necessities, not to mention freedoms with regards to free speech and self-determination. Remember the architectural majesty, intellectual, scientific and artistic contributions made by the citizens of the Persian Empire? Perhaps, if nothing else, these more recent protests in Iran --and moreover the Iranian government's response to them ... “When the unrest broke out in the middle of last month, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei instructed the country’s security forces to do whatever was necessary to quell the protests, several senior Iranian officials told the outlet, on condition of anonymity. “The Islamic Republic is in danger. Do whatever it takes to end it. You have my order,” Khamenei told his inner circle, one of the sources said." 1-- should serve as a timely reminder for how truly fortunate, we in America, are that our Founding Father’s fought so vehemently to ensure our civilian right to “keep and bear arms” in the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Sadly, I think we, here in America, tend to view issues like "gun control" (i.e., banning all guns) through a myopic media lens, in a knee-jerk response to tragedy in the moment, often failing to consider long-term consequences in favor of shorter, feel-good responses to isolated instances of gun violence. In light of what is currently happening in Iran, I think we would do well to step back and take in a wider perspective on the issue of gun control, considering for a moment that without the right to keep and bear arms, the America we know and love would not exist today (i.e., Revolutionary War contributions by dozens of civilian militia groups and also during War of 1812). Moreover, just because we, in America, are free today does not mean tyrants will not try and succeed in taking control of our country in our future. Witness recent events of 1) Congressional abuses of power and governmental overreach with respect to impeachment inquiries, with endless, unsubstantiated, lacking any tangible, fact-based evidence investigations into the Trump Administration; 2) Weaponizing of our intelligence agencies to spy on a Presidential campaign; 3) Granting illegal immigrants driver's licenses (thereby enabling them with a vehicle to cast a vote in our Presidential Elections); 4) New York City fining citizens $250 and up for speech it "deems offensive"; 5) An ongoing widespread movement toward limiting Free Speech on our college campuses, which are supposed to be focal points for disseminating all thoughts and ideas, not just the ideas Academia (a.k.a. the Left) happens to agree to with.
Make no mistake it starts small, primarily by limiting our right to Free Speech --He who controls speech ultimately controls thought. Then they endlessly divide the country with media driven mantras of identity politics, taking the focus off of the real issues facing "We the People" and the lack of any progress being made to date on said issues by our elected Congressional officials. The final and perhaps most crucial step towards fundamentally reshaping America is the widespread dissemination of a cancerous group-think --which kind of reminds me of the tactics used by the Cultural Revolution in China-- by way of a fact omitting, highly biased, propaganda-driven news media and control of 'desired' content on social media platforms --although, I do have to give Facebook credit for not bowing to pressure to pull all political ads in the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential Election. All too quickly, however, these little infringements upon our freedoms can take a scary turn for the worse! And I think we have begun to make this turn over the course of the past year. Actions such as a widespread movement to limit free speech in many public arenas, devaluing U.S. citizenship and rampant non-accountability to the U.S. Constitution and voters by our government officials --both elected (member of both chambers of U.S. Congress) and non-elected (CIA, FBI, United Nations --Samantha Powers--, etc.)-- all pave the way toward an ever-growing behemoth of permanent centralized government control over "We the People" by way of an ever-lingering bureaucracy (e.g., Department of State for life staffers, FBI and CIA career agents, etc.) and members of U.S. Congress who are not subject to term limits. Where in such a scenario an 'elite group' of individuals will ultimately determine nearly every aspect of our daily lives (i.e., how much our energy will cost, which types of energy we will continue to produce, what kind of car you can drive or even IF the every-man will even be allowed the privilege of owning a car anymore ... what our healthcare will look like across the board for everyone, where our jobs will go, who will be allowed to attend college). I mean all you have to do is to listen to the hard left turns being taken among the Democratic Presidential Candidates during their debates on nearly every single issue of merit, chief among these being open borders, medicare for all and the decriminalization of hard-core narcotics ... this in the midst of a nation-wide opioid epidemic??
These 'elites', if they succeed in rigging the next election, will destroy America so that they can attain the power necessary to dictate nearly aspect of our daily lives ... They will do this if we do not wake up and seriously consider the future ramifications of current policies being proposed and enacted by the Left as they attempt to push us, step by step, towards a socialist America, killing one freedom and privilege after another until we no longer recognize our beloved America any longer. I see now, that's why Donald J. Trump won the Presidency in 2016, people were tired of not being heard by their elected of official, they were tired of being lied to and dismissed by the people they voted into office when one campaign promise after another never came to fruition. More importantly, Trump 2016 voters did not like where America was heading as nation, namely lawlessness and socialism. I also believe that the reason the Left cannot stand a President Trump is because Trump is undoing everything the Left 'accomplished' during eight years of Democratic rule under President Obama's Administration. We were pretty close to openly embracing socialism at the end of President Obama's term, because we were flat-out exhausted after eight years of lost jobs, stagnant wages, the decimation of our energy sector and rampant regulations that were driving entire industries and companies out of business, not to mention sending our jobs overseas. Americans were getting to the point where we didn't think there was any other way forward for America aside from the 'promises of socialism'. President Trump, however, has shown us there IS another way forward, a way that does not require us to bow to the historically failed policies of socialism.
The Left's current push towards lawlessness and leniency for some under the guise of compassion, without any concern for long-term consequences (i.e., the return of plague-like diseases to major metropolitan areas as hundred of thousands of homeless people live amongst their own waste and excrement, and huge spikes in assaults and other crimes against law-abiding and tax-paying citizens; or long-term consequences of an open border policy with respect to illegal immigration), while pushing for an extreme level of intrusive control over the lives of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens (i.e., proposals to confiscate all citizen firearms; medicare for all, while eliminating millions of employer, choice-based healthcare plans; and proposed laws to ban fracking, oil drilling, gas powered vehicles, etc. under the guise of 'saving the planet', again without concern for long-term consequences or any apparent cognizance of present-day scientific/technological realities w.r.t. to where we at with alternative fuels and the large scale viability of 'green' energy sources and while simultaneously failing to address the elephant in the room: China, the world's largest carbon emissions polluter) is merely a veiled attempt to gain and retain power, plain and simple. Unfortunately, all of the latter examples and the examples given in the two preceding paragraphs -- especially given the results of the 2016 election-- run completely counter to the true representative democracy and freedoms our Founding Fathers intended for us to have. Freedom of speech, diversity of thought and policy differences are not the enemies of our democracy; they are its life-blood! For in the process of a robust, fact-based debate the best ideas will rise to the top, and with good governance and a commitment to remain accountable to "We the People" these ideas will find their way into law.
Our Founding Fathers had a profound respect for a diversity of thought and the right of all citizens to express their thoughts and ideas, hence the 1st Amendment guarantee of Free Speech in the U.S. Constitution. To my way of thinking, protections for freedom of speech and diversity of thought are in point of fact the very cornerstone of our U.S. Democracy, and they are the primary reason the Founders settled upon the notion of a limited Federal Government, leaving all remaining rights reserved to each individual State to determine on their own. In order to back up this cornerstone right of the individual to "Freedom of Speech" (and thereby thought), the Founders included a supporting provision in the Constitution that would allow citizens the "right to keep and bear arms." That is to say, that the 2nd Amendment is designed to reaffirm the First Amendment. The Founders truly believed that this right, the "to keep and bear arms", is a crucial component to lend support to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. With this right to bear arms, American citizens will not find themselves helpless in the face of tyranny and corruption as we are presently witnessing with the citizens of Iran. Our right to keep and bear arms ensures we will never again be ruled by “tyrants”(England of old), because if our government ever gets completely out of control --that is to say government is no longer accountable to "We the People"-- then we will have tangible means with which to remove them from office, by force if necessary. How’s that for a serious embracing reality check???
May God Bless and keep the people of Iran, granting them the strength to persevere in seeking their truth in face of such extreme adversity, as they fight for basic necessities to ensure their survival. With continued courage and Hope, may they ultimately realize the freedom to make their own choices and to thrive in pursuit of their own version of life, liberty and happiness.
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1 “Times of Israel, Daily Edition” December 23, 2019
12/29/2019 I also find it highly ironic that the Left constantly emphasizes the importance of our diversity of color, gender identity and heritage as being the things we should most be concerned about when moving through our daily lives, while mocking our diversity of thought as if it is a plague to be eradicated and replaced with sanctioned group-think. Diversity of color, gender identity and heritage are all things we are born into this world with and therefore we have little, if any, control over. Our diversity of thought, however, is something that should be unique to each of us. Moreover, our diversity of thought should be sacred, something that we actually have a say in controlling.
Our Founding Fathers created America as melting pot, where people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities could come together in a sharing expression of ideas in order to create a new and wonderful country where each individual has the right to purse his own version of Life, Liberty and Happiness, so long as she/he does not interfere with the rights of others. But in order for this idea of America to work, we need to stop crying "racism!", "sexism!", "xenophobia!" every single time we have a disagreement on issues of policy. These rants are for the most part convenient diversions designed to deflect from meaningful debate on substantive issues that affect all Americans. We need think of ourselves first and foremost as Americans, all working together for the common good of our nation. United we shall rise to unimaginable heights, but ever divided we will remain weak, distracted and subject to manipulation from both without and within.
[I apologize for multiple edits! Migraines have ramped up again ... Harder to think and write, but I wanted to take some time to write while I had a bit of free time. Best to Everyone!!]
1/20/2019 It was so very refreshing to witness many thousands of Americans --from diverse ethnic, cultural, gender and age backgrounds-- all unite around the Virginia State Capitol on this Monday, in support of our 2nd Amendment, constitutionally guaranteed "right to bear arms." The rally, despite media hype and hopes that the rally would quickly go sideways, descending into chaos and violence, ended peacefully in the mid-afternoon without incident. With most of the crowd cheering reaffirming chants of "USA!" ... a message of Hope for continued prosperity and unity in pursuit of the once elusive "American Dream." ... Finally, we have a stepping-off point for finding some form of unity within our terribly divided nation??? Thank you Governor Northam! Thank you, misguided media ...
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