Derek Bin Laden

Trying to live under a rock while simultaneously working in Times Square is like trying to fit a square peg into a circular hole. 

This is especially impossible when complete strangers see me dressed very sharply and seated at a lobby desk and think that it is my job to know when the results of some verdict will be made public. 

"Verdict?" I ask dumbly, feigning a childlike innocence. "For what?"

...

The shops of Times Square boarded themselves up, and preparing for a riot--in the name of George Floyd (without his consent)--were spared by Chauvin's unwilling sacrifice. Hoodlums smoked--and sold--their marijuana to tourists and fellow hoodlums peacefully without police interference, and only one pathetic march squeaked by, ironically escorted by the NYPD. For my personal environmental safety I was thankful for a GUILTY verdict. (Times Square feels dangerous on a good day.) For the sake of the future of this once great nation, this verdict was a tragedy, as was the death murder of George Floyd. (I have to preface everything with the obvious 'George Floyd didn't deserve to die like that...')

I was a newborn New Yorker when Osama bin Laden was allegedly killed in 2011 and recall waiting for hours on the steps of St. Peter's in the Financial District for a three second glimpse of Obama behind 6 inches of bullet proof glass as he waved through the window of the presidential limousine.

The celebrations for Osama's killing were unanimous and raucous throughout all of America. As a contrarian I disagreed with the celebrations, nobly believing that death is never worth celebrating, especially for the sake of vengeance. (I still believe this, but for reasons beyond non-conformity.)

Yet, just ten years away from the death of bin Laden--a death which (wrongfully) brought all Americans together--is the death of George Floyd/verdict of Derek Chauvin, an ordinary tragedy (for those unbiased individuals, wherever they are hiding) that divided America along fiery ideological lines: one side celebrating, the other side afraid to voice honest disagreement.

Where bin Laden was America's greatest enemy, Chauvin and Floyd were a couple of regular dumb Americans that met under tragic, dumb, ordinary circumstances. Other ordinary, dumb Americans should mourn this tragedy, and then move on. But instead battle lines are drawn (by the media and cynical politicians) and ordinary, dumb Americans believe their fellow Americans to be their enemies because of their race instead of that Asian country and its evil government that brought us the Coronavirus while trying to take over the world. Or that "religion of peace." edit: Or Zionist Jews.

In 2021 "justice" is mob vengeance, celebrated by Americans against a fellow American. 

I miss 9/11...I miss bin Laden...I miss the United States of America...

This is how it truly begins to end...

The greatest insult

Labelling someone as a 'racist' was once an effective way of discrediting their opinion by way of insult, assuming the 'racist' was also a coward. No longer. 'Racists' now know they could be attacked for their opinions, and voicing an opinion that could make one a martyr is called courage. (Or stupidity depending on threat level.) The more timelessly searing insult is coward, which cannot be reasonably applied to any so-called 'racists.' 

Unlike the political nature of the 'racist' insult,  the coward insult directly strikes at a person's pride, the source of all sin. Dimensions of cowardice go beyond superficial intersections of race and gender politics; it probes a person's being: their psychology, behavior, personal history, fears, desires, hopes, loves, dreams etc etc. 

Anyone embarrassed to do a good deed is a coward. Breaking up over the phone is cowardly. Lying is cowardly. Stealing is cowardly. Adultery is cowardly. Facebook opinions are cowardly. (Blogs too.) Apologizing for 'racism' is cowardly. Anti-racist protest groups Antifa and #BLM are cowards. (They are overwhelmingly supported by celebrities, corporations, contrarian politicians and the mainstream media. Low information public opinion is loudly on their side. It is therefore easier to protest violently when there is no opposition or risk of arrest/death. Then they self-congratulate themselves for "speaking truth to power" when true power would never give these protestors a platform to speak "truth," let alone a pat on the back. Just sayin') Selfishness is cowardly. An armed officer running away from an active shooter in a high school is a coward. Aborting the pregnancy is cowardly. Littering is cowardly, if fun. 

We all know the reason: cowardice is easy and ease does not earn respect. (Everyone wants to be respected.) On the other hand, heroism requires sacrifice while cowardice demands comfort; heroism is chosen by few and cowardice enslaves many. 

As long as we are human, the power of the 'coward' insult can never diminish, and when used tactfully, with love, it can peacefully--if slowly--soften hearts of stone. 

When I first started talking to people in front of Planned Parenthood, I found that the clients of the clinic willing to have frank conversations surprised me with their moral opposition to abortion. It was the rare circumstances of rape and incest that they reluctantly felt that the woman had 'the right to choose.' (Less than 2% of abortions by the way.) Because this is a politically neutral position, it is a cowardly position. Abortion is a moral question first, and a political question second. The line in the sand has been drawn. On one side of the line is life, and on the other side is death. There is no option for both; they logically cancel each other out. In the case of grave moral evil neutrality is always cowardice. 

Though rape is an act of evil, terminating a pregnancy i.e murdering an innocent fetus, is also evil. Evil ought never be done for the sake of good because it logically cancels out the good. People know this truth, even if, out of pride, they won't admit it. 

This truth is written on everyone's heart, but our culture of death is upheld by a population of cowards. Abortion always kills an innocent life, and that life never chose its method of conception. No 'buts' about it. If you do not like abortion but are still pro-choice, you are a coward. If you are content with being a coward, you are a coward with a heart of stone. Humility is the only antidote for cowardice. (I pray that no one has to meet their maker/commit a grave evil before they accept this.) 

To stem the risk of the greatest insult losing its full potential, I use it sparingly, sometimes with levity. Love sometimes takes time to work, and God knows that rarely is a heart changed instantly. But calling someone out on their cowardice can certainly hasten some on their journey!

Happy Respect Life Month!