MoveOn.org Response to Charleston Shooting: Ban the Stars and Bars!

Twenty-one year old Dylann Roof busted into the  Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston during their Bible study earlier this week. Nine African-Americans were killed, although the mass-murderer waited for an hour and almost decided against the violent plot on account of the parishioners' kindness.

Yet he fired away, then fled the bloody scene. He was captured in North Carolina, now held on $1 million bail, and even his uncle is calling for his execution.

With the recent explosion of race riots throughout the country, from Ferguson to Baltimore, and hatred toward law enforcement and authorities in general, there is a growing fear in this country that racial hatred will not just divide but destroy this country. In fact, Roof wanted to create that kind of social hysteria through the execution of nine pious African-Americans.

Sadly, instead of mourning with the victims and their families, and seeking to bring the country together in a sense of common tragedy, bonding, and restoration, President Obama has played the race card, and the gun-control card, still trying to score political points, playing off the list of goals first assigned by his mentor Saul Alinksy.

Just like President Obama, in his stern demand for stricter gun control following the massacre of nine churchgoing South Carolinians, so to MoveOn.org is not letting a crisis go to waste, this time advocating for the full-fledged ban on the Confederate Flag, otherwise known as "The Stars and Bars".

Their latest eblast, sent by Karen Hunter, proclaimed the following:

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm Karen Hunter, a fellow MoveOn member, and I started a petition to the South Carolina Legislature and Governor Nikki Haley.


On the heels of the brutal killing of nine black people in a South Carolina church, it's time to put a symbol of rebellion and racism behind us and move toward healing and a better United States of America.¹ Can you join me in telling South Carolina lawmakers:

The Stars and Bars

 

Symbols of hate and division have no place in our government. It's time to stand up for what's right and take down the Confederate flag!

The Confederate flag is not a symbol of southern pride but rather a symbol of rebellion and racism.Tell South Carolina lawmakers: Symbols of hate have no place in our government.


A few comments:

The removal of the Confederate Flag is not going to end gun violence. Neither will removing guns from law-abiding citizens or in other public places, but that is another discussion.

Come to think of it, if MoveOn.org wanted to put together a serious petition on a social issue in connection with the South Carolina tragedy, why not put together something about gun ownership, gun control, or firearm regulations?

Playing the race card is the cheapest, yet easiest shot from the Left. Totally irrational, impossible to disprove, completely puts the other side on the defensive.

Conservatives and liberals across the country have tried to avoid turning this terrible (terrorist?) tragedy into a political move. President Obama, however, has disappointed millions for turning this sad tragedy toward short-term gain.

Another thing about the latest eblast: Hunter included no picture of the Confederate flag. How many people  even know what it looks like. Most history books have become so thin on details and symbols. One has to wonder how historically literate the majority of Americans are.

This is the pettiest, most unserious petition yet. MoveOn.org should move on from political activism of any kind, or at least offer an apology for its brandished, blatant  politicization of this gut-wrenching slaughter.

Nine people were killed by a deranged gunman, who had been planning this attack for months. Instead of a robust discussion on the administrative limits for incarceration dangerous individuals, instead of discussing the need for expanding concealed carry into churches, public schools, and another general areas, MoveOn wants to ban a flag.

Why does anyone take this group seriously? President Obama worked with Organizing for America turned Organizing for Action. Perhaps liberals should start rethinking their affiliation with these unthinking interest groups altogether.
Perhaps conservatives should not allow this crisis to go to waste either, but instead of looking for political points and electoral gains, conservatives can reach out to untouched, uncared for communities, like the black churches of the South and throughout the United States. They can send a message of: “We cannot begin to know what you are going through, but we will go through it with you as best as we can.”

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal explicitly rebuked anyone for politicizing the Charleston, South Carolina massacre. Leading selected audiences in prayer throughout the past month, Governor Jindal inadvertently demonstrated what true leadership looks like.

Instead of banning a flag, instead of grabbing guns, it’s time for hugging the family members of victims. It’s time for embracing one another and reminding each other that we are “Out of man, One”, that we are not just united in good times, but even in bad times, when bad people do bad things to otherwise good and wholesome people.

We are better than our leaders much of the time, and in the case of MoveOn.org, Americans are clearly more centered on what matters, not looking to remove a regional flag, but rather seeking to cover and recover the blessings of liberty and security on which this country was founded.

In other words, the American People and the United States of America, are moving on from the bitter, petty “Social justice” rantings of groups like MoveOn.org, and seeking better ways to know justice, and to know peace.