{"id":2697,"date":"2017-08-20T21:30:29","date_gmt":"2017-08-21T01:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/?p=2697"},"modified":"2017-08-20T23:00:30","modified_gmt":"2017-08-21T03:00:30","slug":"enough-is-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/2697","title":{"rendered":"Enough is enough!"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"width: 367px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/act-four\/wp\/2017\/08\/13\/the-photo-from-charlottesville-that-will-define-this-moment-in-american-history\/?tid=hybrid_mostsharedarticles_1_na&amp;utm_term=.d9c4a8d31d68\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/wp-apps\/imrs.php?src=https:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/rf\/image_960w\/2010-2019\/WashingtonPost\/2017\/08\/13\/Local\/Images\/CDP0813CarProtesters187.JPG&amp;w=1484\" alt=\"\" width=\"367\" height=\"248\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">Enough is Enough!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As an American, I am ashamed of my countryman&#8217;s behavior last weekend in Charlottesville, VA on August 12, 2017. \u00a0I&#8217;m trying to figure out the best way to frame my opinions, but quite frankly am having a bit of trouble getting a grasp on what I want to say, so just bear with me as I write out my frustrations.<\/p>\n<p>I detest one race being raised above another &#8211; no matter the race. \u00a0We are all part of this great land, and I for one don&#8217;t give a damn what race your are, or even &#8220;identify&#8221; with. \u00a0If you consider yourself above another based upon race &#8211; get the hell off my planet!<\/p>\n<p>We are Americans first, last, and always. \u00a0We Americans are a strange brew; we bitch about one another, we argue fuss and fight; until our back is against the wall. \u00a0When the country is stressed, we come together. \u00a0But, at least in my upbringing, we never, never, friggen ever! digressed to violence; no matter how passionately we disagreed with one another.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to be a neo-Nazi, have a good time; If you want to be a black panther, have a good time. \u00a0But neither of you have the right to tramp on the rights of others, they are just as protected in their speech as you are in yours. \u00a0 <em>The leaders of such organizations have the responsibility and duty to ensure their members do not cross that sacred line<\/em> &#8211; the line J. A. Fields so blatantly ran across. \u00a0The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2017\/08\/charlottesville-attack-170813081045115.html\">Al Jazeera<\/a>\u00a0network had a pretty good report on the incident. \u00a0The video shows a car crashing into protesters, then quickly backing up. \u00a0To me, this rebuffs the statements made that he was trying to escape, the path he came from was empty of people. \u00a0In my opinion, it is these fringe groups that are keeping &#8220;race&#8221; alive as an issue. \u00a0Is this how we are seen in the world? \u00a0I know in my world travels, no one has ever come up to me and called me a &#8220;European-American&#8221; nor have I heard of others being referred to as &#8220;African-Americans&#8221; or &#8220;Asian-Amiericans.&#8221; \u00a0We were all simply seen as Americans. \u00a0Maybe we should all travel abroad a bit so we wouldn&#8217;t take each other for granted and insist upon being hyphenated. \u00a0Just saying.<\/p>\n<p>One more question to ponder: Why is a car used to kill people in London, France, and Spain terrorism; but a car running down a protester in Charlottesville isn&#8217;t?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2698\" class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"width: 300px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ConfMemorials.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2698 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ConfMemorials.png?resize=300%2C126&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Confederate Monuments in USA.\" width=\"300\" height=\"126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ConfMemorials.png?resize=300%2C126&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ConfMemorials.png?resize=148%2C62&amp;ssl=1 148w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ConfMemorials.png?resize=31%2C13&amp;ssl=1 31w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ConfMemorials.png?resize=38%2C16&amp;ssl=1 38w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ConfMemorials.png?resize=425%2C178&amp;ssl=1 425w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/ConfMemorials.png?w=635&amp;ssl=1 635w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">Confederate Monuments in USA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Now that I got that off my chest, it&#8217;s time to put one other subject to rest. \u00a0The Civil War (or the war of rebellion) and the statues that have become such a topic of debate. \u00a0The Civil War, was fought when 11 states seceded from the union to preserve the institution of slavery. \u00a0Sorry folks &#8211; it was about slavery, say what you will about states rights; slavery was the root cause.<\/p>\n<p>There is a good series of articles on the History Channel website, and one of them is about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/how-the-u-s-got-so-many-confederate-monuments\">Confederate monuments<\/a>. \u00a0A link on this page will take you to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/sites\/default\/files\/whoseheritage_splc.pdf\">list of monuments and some background<\/a> on them, courtesy of the Southern Poverty Law Center. \u00a0I didn&#8217;t particularly like their &#8220;how to be an activist&#8221; plug at the end of the research; but the rest of it I thought was fantastic and well worth the read.<\/p>\n<p>For the record, I am not a fan of removing ALL monuments. \u00a0I think battlefield monuments should be off limits and left alone. \u00a0There is a row of monuments in Richmond, called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/Attraction_Review-g60893-d278375-Reviews-Monument_Avenue-Richmond_Virginia.html#photos;geo=60893&amp;detail=278375&amp;ff=102813514&amp;albumViewMode=hero&amp;aggregationId=101&amp;albumid=101&amp;baseMediaId=102813514&amp;thumbnailMinWidth=50&amp;cnt=30&amp;offset=-1&amp;filter=7&amp;autoplay=\">Monument Avenue<\/a>. \u00a0I think monuments are in important part of history; but they must be explained in context. \u00a0The History channel also has a good <a href=\"http:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/how-the-cult-of-robert-e-lee-was-born\">article about how Robert E. Lee<\/a> became enshrined in the &#8220;southern mindset.&#8221; \u00a0For those that are offended by confederate statues, I get it, I really do. \u00a0However, we cannot be so thin skinned as to let a piece rock get to us. \u00a0I find a lot of artwork in very poor taste; I choose not to look at it, or if I cannot avoid it, I choose to ignore it. \u00a0I ask the same of you, if you don&#8217;t like it, ignore it. \u00a0I encourage you to teach your children and peers the context around the statue, what the statue represents. I believe that some of them (not all) are an important part of our history, and should not be sugar coated, nor erased. \u00a0It happened, and it is our responsibility to make sure nothing like that happens again in this great land.<\/p>\n<p>It is bad enough we have strife in the political sphere, do we really need the general population descending into the same stupidity? \u00a0We, as a people and a country are better than this. \u00a0What say you? \u00a0I&#8217;m looking forward to some good feedback.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As an American, I am ashamed of my countryman&#8217;s behavior last weekend in Charlottesville, VA on August 12, 2017. \u00a0I&#8217;m trying to figure out the best way to frame my opinions, but quite frankly am having a bit of trouble &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/2697\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,4,16],"tags":[50,80,91,82],"class_list":["post-2697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-politics","category-rants-raves","tag-america","tag-duty","tag-responsibilities","tag-rights"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1159,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1159","url_meta":{"origin":2697,"position":0},"title":"Voting day 2013","author":"DR D","date":"November 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Voting took place nationwide today.\u00a0 My race was pretty small, only our Governor, LT. Governor, Attorney General, and local races.\u00a0 After I voted, I was chit-chatting with one of the persons pounding the pavement in front of the poll places, and they stated that there were no major lines to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"I_Voted.__Did_You.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/2013-11-05_08-28-25_109-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1058,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1058","url_meta":{"origin":2697,"position":1},"title":"An experiment in Timesharing: 2013 Timeshare Journey &#8211; Questions&#8230;","author":"DR D","date":"June 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Good afternoon.\u00a0 I recently received feedback from a couple who are actually living my dream - living full time in a timeshare, M&E. M&E, My co-workers and a few others have also hit me up with questions\/comments and I am curious what others think. I do not want to go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Timeshares&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Timeshares","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/travel\/timeshare"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":905,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/905","url_meta":{"origin":2697,"position":2},"title":"My take on gun control..","author":"DR D","date":"April 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Good morning everyone!\u00a0 My cat and I were in a deep discussion yesterday regarding all the ranting going on over gun control. It is my stance that there are already enough laws on the books regarding gun control, and that, prior to establishing new laws; it would be a good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":882,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/882","url_meta":{"origin":2697,"position":3},"title":"Sequester&#8230;Does that include Congress?","author":"DR D","date":"March 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Some very good friends of mine recently took a 20% pay cut - thanks to the doofs in Congress. Yep, that's right, they were fur-lowed one day a week when the sequester was enacted.\u00a0 Since $85 Billion in cuts were mandated.\u00a0 It appears that the only people being screwed and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1127,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/1127","url_meta":{"origin":2697,"position":4},"title":"Syria is like a bowl of oatmeal","author":"DR D","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Good morning boys and girls! The Syria \"mess\" is like a bowl of oatmeal that has been placed in the microwave. What starts as a nice clean bowl of oats, quickly in a short time of the microwave (think 'limited' TLAM strike) quickly expands and spills out of the container\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2571,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/2571","url_meta":{"origin":2697,"position":5},"title":"Am I smarter than the waffle iron?","author":"DR D","date":"October 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, the bosslady and I have been on the road. \u00a0I'll give more details on the trip in another post later. \u00a0But today, I'd like to concentrate on the evils of waffle machines. \u00a0Sure, they look innocent...but they are really evil. The machine in question was found in Greensboro, NC.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AoM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AoM","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/category\/rants-raves\/aom"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/waffles.jpg?fit=550%2C366&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/waffles.jpg?fit=550%2C366&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/waffles.jpg?fit=550%2C366&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2697"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2702,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions\/2702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}