Pilgrim's Progress

Progressivism has been a proud, aggressive and often successful political movement since the time of President Teddy Roosevelt and Wisconsin's Senator Bob LaFollett. However, one of the flaws of progressivism is, at least in the arena of social justice, eventually the progress being made gets more and more rarefied. Yes, progressives have swept away many of the discriminatory laws and mores in the United States, but their follow-on targets represent smaller and smaller slices of our population (e.g., gender fluid rights) and, thus, the political payoffs get more problematic.

After all how many voters want to marry animals? But, this doesn't seem to slow progressives down. Soon it will be more bizarre rights being advocated ... man-boy love, human rights for simians and group marriages. Don't doubt me. To progressives, the social equality agenda seems never to run out.

Yet Progressives often keep their prejudices quite private while championing exactly the opposite in public. The Kennedys, the Clintons and many in the black movements (Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton) come immediately to mind. Somehow, the general public chooses to ignore these inconsistencies.

Progressives are also often drawn into conundrums ... like embracing people who often violently oppose many of their other basic public tenets. For instance, many fundamental Muslims lethally oppose free love, homosexuality and religious tolerance ... yet are supported by progressives in a stunning display of hypocrisy. Even worse, progressives will not tolerate fundamental Christians with far less onerous strictures. I scratch my head over these inconsistent progressive notions.

Will progressives run out of paved road? Will they have fewer social equity causes to champion in the future? Or will the notion of more social justice ... or injustice ... as utilized by progressives begin to peter out? I hope so ... but I don't expect so.

Honkie Crackers

No, Honkie Crackers are not what you put cheese or peanut butter on ... for those of you internationals who don't know the American vernacular ... they are two African-American pejorative terms for white people. Yes, believe it or not, there is reverse racism in the United States which sometimes spins out of control ... like now.

Yesterday's Baton Rouge, Louisiana's three police murders were carried out by Gavin Eugene Long, a black Nation of Islam member ... see: The Daily Caller Article. For the longest time I have wondered why this Louis Farrakhan's organization has not been a major terrorist problem in the United States. Clearly they practice a form of Islam and often rail against the American white establishment (honkies or crackers) and its culture.

Yes, the Nation of Islam religion is what caused Cassius Clay to morph into Mohamed Ali ... along with other prominent black America sports and rap stars. I'm not sure I can say how this sect differs from classical Islam ... I suspect it parallels how Reform Jews differ from Orthodox Jews. Nevertheless, it's leader, Louis  Farrakhan is not known for warm and fuzzy rhetoric towards white America. Nor has he yet separated his organization from these Gavin Long murders.

Yet, Long's rampage in Baton Rouge is surprisingly the first example of violent class warfare that I can recall coming out of this Nation of Islam. I, as a honkie cracker, do hope that it is the last.

Afterward: Did a little research and it seems that the Nation of Islam is being heavily influenced by the Scientology kooks ...

High Dudgeon

This nation’s media and our black leadership have their panties twisted in a bunch about the racists comments of the Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy (see:The Guardian Story.) and Donald Sterling, owner of the LA Clippers basketball team (see: Forbes Story.) Such naive and inappropriate utterances do deserve condemnation, but, for once, I would love to see the same media treatment of the equally offensive comments made by the likes of Louis Farrakhan, Jessie, Jackson, Bill Clinton, Al Sharpton, Harry Reid, Eric Holder, Jay-Z and Jeremiah Wright. I’m sure with a little thought or Goggling dear reader you can recall of what I write.

Such a narrative has always seemed to me to be strangely disproportionate when prominent blacks say offensive things. The media subtext usually reduces itself to “boys will be boys” and, with a wink and a nod, their mild discomfort never lasts more than one news cycle. And, even weirder, very often those actually condemning such hypocrisy receive the brunt of the media’s tsk-tsking. (And I am reasonably certain that many of you have already classified me as a racist for pointing out this gross disparity.) 

Very strange and diabolical indeed!

The Template

How much longer is the knee-jerk, irresponsible, race-baiting template of the left going to endure?  The Trayvon Martin tragedy has brought out the usual manic actors ... Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, Geraldo Rivera, the New Black Panther Party (see: Dead or Alive Poster), Al Sharpton, and even (you'd think he would have learned his lesson from his Cambridge-police faux pas) President Obama.  I'm not sure what all the facts are in this sorrowful shooting incident, but I'm reasonably certain that none of these aforementioned rabble rousers do either.  As Bill Clinton's posse was wont to say when he was (repeatedly) in hot water ... "Let's all take a deep breath and wait for the facts" (or, in his case, "spin.")

Even Conservative legal pundits seem willing to charge George Zimmerman with at least manslaughter (see: Powerline Comments ... and read the Responses too) before a grand jury has sifted through all the evidence.  I, for one ... possibly the only one ... am willing to wait until this highly-charged emotional fog lifts and the facts are verifed by responsible parties before I deem anyone guilty or innocent.

Poetic Justice

Pan Am 103 was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland by a Libyan operative, Abelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, in 1988 and 270 people died (259 passangers and crew ... 189 of them Americans).  He was eventually convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Scotland ... but, then under nefarious circumstances, was released back to Libya in August, 2009.  The cover story was that he had cancer and only had a month or so to live.  He is still alive and kicking one and 1/2 years later.  Very recently Libya's dictator, Muammar al-Qaddafi, has also be implicated in this act of terrorism by his former Justice Minister (see: An Aha Moment)

Now, with Libya in utter chaos, wouldn't it be nice if Pan-Am-103 vengences were finnally slaked by the rioting mobs there ... and both al-Qaddafi and al-Megrahi were give the central-square Mussolini treatment (maybe with a nudge from the CIA).  Might not that be the sweetest of poetic justice?

Afterthought:  Let us not forget that Obama's former minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and the leader of the United States' Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, have both visited and had a private audience with Qaddafi (see WorldNetDaily).