August 15 2017
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity…..I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up— after the terrorist attack on peaceful demonstrators last weekend in Charlottesville—- what’s next? We’ll talk with a futurist and historian about the efforts by far right groups to build a movement.
Our first guest is Sara Robinson a Seattle-based futurist and veteran blogger on culture, politics, and religion.
Since 2006, her work regularly appeared at Orcinus, Our Future, Group News Blog, and Alternet.
She’s written for Salon, Huffington Post, Grist, the New Republic, New York Magazine, Firedoglake, and many other sites.
Robinson holds an MS in Futures Studies from the University of Houston, and a BA in Journalism from the USC Annenberg School of Communication.
She’s written extensively about the potential for the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the politics of the Millenial generation.
Our next guest James Loewen holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University, and taught race relations for twenty years at the University of Vermont. Prior to that, he taught at Mississippi’s Tougaloo College, a historically Black College. He now lives in Washington, D.C., continuing his research on how Americans remember their past. He is also a regular contributor to the History Channel’s History magazine.
He’s the author of several books including: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong (1995) and The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The “Great Truths” about the “Lost Cause”.
I asked Loewen why most Confederate memorials were built in the period 1890-1940.
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Picture of Confederate and Union Soldier veterans, amicably meeting: https://goo.gl/images/ry7pyb
‘”There is blame on both sides,” said President Trump, and for the first time, I can agree with President Trump, regarding the Charlottesville events of last weekend’s violence and deaths! The issue of Charlottesville is not about racism or anti-semitism, but is about “freedom of speech.”
Even white supremacists have a right to free speech. Free speech does not have to be accurate, fair, true or factual. In fact, it can even be biased and hateful! And the speech in Charlottesville this past weekend was just that, very hate-filled. But, free speech means one’s speech has to be free! However, in Charlottesville, it was not!
Despite the fact that the right-wing groups were the only ones to legally register with the city government to march that weekend, they were still denied their speech freedoms.
The leftist groups, the counter protesters (i.e clergy, anti-facists, black lives matter, individuals) who marched without a legal permit, got in the faces of the legally permitted marching KKK, white supremacists, Nazi’s, and protesting individuals and groups. Instead of remaining away from the marching conservative protestors and turning their backs on them to avoid any physical confrontation, the liberal leftist groups chose to disrespect the constitutional rights of the far-right protesters, and confront them with verbal and physical attacks. The result was violence and chaos, injuries and even death.
Both sides were filmed using baseball bats, clubs, chemical spray, and even carrying guns. Thank God no one fired a gun despite the state of Virginia’s permitting the public to carry guns.
However, had the leftists groups not confronted the right wing groups, the violence would not have happened. Ironically, one has to put partial blame on the leftists, and hold them accountable for initiating and starting the violence. Their actions contributed to the death of the young leftist protester, Heather Heyer, because of their presence, illegally, and of their taking the offense by attacking the right-wing protesters who, admittedly, were making hate-filled chants and marching with offensive Nazi armbands, KKK flags and German swastikas.
In America, legal protesters have a legal and constitutional right to freedom of speech. It is their freedom to do that—no matter the message! The leftists denied them that right. Thus, President’s claim that “There is blame on both sides,” is not only correct, but honest. Ironically, for all of Trump’s lying and distortion of the truth, in this case, he was truthful, and correct in his assessment of what happened!
Many of WMNF’s callers, invited radio guests, and even WMNF’s radio program hosts, demonstrated, across the board, an unfair bias toward President Trump, Republicans and the white supremacists, KKK and Nazi groups.
Racism and anti-semitism were not the victims in Charlottesville. The innocent woman, Heather Heyer, and two Charlottesville police officers, were unnecessarily killed, because of the resulting unnecessary melee and fighting started unnecessarily by the left.
Freedom of speech was the big loser.
If we don’t stand up for the free speech rights of all Americans, then we ourselves will suffer the same consequences when it is our turn.
Brian P. Moore
Spring Hill, Florida 34606
Cell: 352-585-2907
e-mail: brianmor@tampabay.rr.com
Union-Confederate Reunion, Post Civil War, Gettysburg Battle Site. Check out this image
https://goo.gl/images/jkwPy7