I'll never understand bigotry

     This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and 2015 will remind us of the
passage of the Voting Rights Act. These two federal mandates reaffirmed 2 of this nation's most fundamental rights. But it literally took an "act of Congress" to establish the civil and voting rights for those being discriminated against in this nation of "equal opportunity."  With the US Constitution on the books since 1789 and bolstered by its twenty-seven amendments, why such Congressional action had to be taken in the first place is still a mystery to me.

     The 1960s were speeding along with the civil rights movement. Names like Roy Wilkins, George Wallace, the 16th Street Baptist Church, Selma, Lester Maddox, Martin Luther King, James Meredith, Watts and the Freedom Riders, became familiar, garnering media coverage virtually everyday. If you didn't know what was going on, you were a hermit, lived on another planet or were dead.

     Over time, it became less clear why not only white supremacists like the Ku Klux Klan but the everyday Joe had embraced not only illegal but morally un-American views. Backed by bloody violence, these people had found it not only unreasonable but impossible to share restrooms, lunch counters, buses, schools...water fountains...with American citizens of a different skin tone.  I may be naive, but why such unholy convictions were allowed to stain this nation's history in the first place is still a mystery to me. 

     For too long, Constitutional amendments and acts, owning businesses, paying taxes, dying in wars for a nation that has its roots in the concepts of " life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and "equal justice under the law" just haven't been enough. And America should have a heavy heart because of that injustice.

     In general, those views still infect this nation. Being, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim or of the "wrong color" or ethnic background still warrants risk to life and limb. Moreover, being a "foreigner" has always been a favorite excuse for extremists to cheat, threaten and kill in the United States of America. 

     My grandfather was 16 when he emigrated from Europe, "the old country." Grandpa entered this country through Ellis Island in 1909, eventually putting down roots near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the Great Depression he worked hard to provide for his family. 

     One night, his eldest daughter witnessed men dressed all in white as they paid the family a visit. Her father was informed that, as a "foreigner", he was not welcome, The men then proceeded to burn a cross and set off a blast of dynamite to drive home their point. Grandpa was a stubborn Serbian. He defied the threat and stayed. 

     But the irony is that all who have such bitterness and hatred for those from other lands or different backgrounds didn't actually arrive here by spontaneous generation. With the exception of the Seminole, Apache, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Lakota and the more than 500 hundred other Native American tribes who have lived in...and died...for this country, all of this nation's ancestors have come from somewhere else. There are no exceptions.

     Robert E. Lee 'Bob' Ewell of "To Kill a Mockingbird" is the ugly face, the vile heart of hatred and bigotry. He's as poor as poor can be, with barely a nickle in the pocket of his faded overall's...but he's white. In his eyes and those of a Southern white jury, that makes him better...superior... and more worthy than defendant Tom Robinson...because he's black. 

     Wake up America and look around you. This is the 21st century. That divisive, disparaging "I'm better than you" attitude hasn't really changed a whole heck of a lot, now has it? And why this is so is still a mystery to me.

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Terrorists have beaten us at the waiting game

     The attacks on the United States (and the world at large) on Sept. 11, 2001, sent this nation charging into a war it could not win. In time, false bravado, “Bring ‘em on,” and grossly exaggerated claims of victory like “Mission accomplished” sealed our fate.
     The war on terrorism was officially declared by a president totally clueless regarding potential repercussions as we invaded Afghanistan in October of that year. Less than two years later, that same president, still clueless, continued like a petulant child seeking further reasons to exact revenge for 9/11. Thus, using the pretense of national security and non-existent weapons of mass destruction, we charged mindlessly into Iraq.
     To help deflect any criticism, Afghanistan bore the official media-friendly name of Operation Enduring Freedom, while Iraq got tagged with an equally misleading title, Operation Iraqi Freedom. To date, the world has learned just how misleading and ironic those two operational names really are.
     It was deluded minds that believed a quick defeat of al-Qaida and Taliban militants would ensure a world free of terrorists. Since those invasions, we and the rest of the global community have witnessed anything but that goal.
     To date, hundreds of thousands of people — the innocent as well as the guilty — have shed their blood in both operations. Americans, Iraqis, Afghans and others have suffered terribly because of two idiotic suicide charges into uncharted waters. A “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” mentality worked fairly well in the 19th century but has proved disastrous in the 21st century.
     After $6 trillion and unimaginable pain and suffering, al-Qaida, The Islamic State and the Levant, the Taliban, and others more closely aligned with fringe and splinter groups, are still present. Striking mercilessly, they use a perverted understanding of Islam to spread terror near and far, their successes helping to fuel that perversion.
     For more than a decade, while we tried to fully engage the enemy on our terms, the militants have played the waiting game, knowing full well we couldn’t stay forever. Taking only necessary, yet very successful risks, militants have kept their heads down, stayed out of the line of fire, biding their time. The wait has paid off.
     We’re going home, while countless militants in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Pakistan, are already home. Now, they are clearing taking advantage of our absence. Sadly, since October of 2001, that was a foregone conclusion.
     When the war on terrorism started, our enemies made it clear they were totally in charge. In our leaving, the militants have issued follow-up statements as to who is in charge and who will be in charge in the future. Current and future results of the manifesto proclaimed over the years by these loosely bound yet deadly and highly effective groups can’t be stopped. No power on earth — not the United States, not the United Nations, not a collection of Middle Eastern nations — can stem the tide of radical Islam.
     The militants have waited us out, calling our bluff. Tragically, the world has paid dearly during that wait. They’ve won and like a disease that can’t be eradicated, we had better get used to it and learn to live with it. That’s reality, not some president playing a childish game of “getting even” with absolutely no regard as to how much it will cost or who will get hurt. It’s time our presidents grew up.

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