[StBernard] Mourning in America

[Westley Annis]

What's sad about this (and pathetic) is that these emailers apparently are
not even cognizant of the mourning rituals of Western Civilization; the
black arm band, the black wreath on a door, black/dark clothing.  

The only thing that ran thru my mind was possibly these idgets were confused
about maybe the black protest of black-clad gloves raised in a fist at the
1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

Nah!  That would give them too much credit for intelligence they apparently
don't have!

JY




	
	-----------------------------------------------------
	Mourning In America 
	by Mike Gallagher 
	
	Just how strange has this week been?
	
	Real strange.
	
	Thursday morning, I appeared on Fox & Friends, the morning
	 talk show on Fox
	News Channel. I was to "debate" Lanny Davis, the longtime Clinton
	loyalist.
	
	Obviously, the show wanted a reaction to this week's election from a
	liberal
	like Lanny and a conservative like me. I thought I'd have some fun
and at
	the last minute, affixed black duct tape to my right arm.
	
	The way the week turned out for the GOP, I figured wearing a black
armband
	on TV would be pretty appropriate.
	
	Poor Lanny didn't seem to get the joke. "It's pretty silly to be
	listening
	to someone give advice to the incoming Obama administration while
wearing a
	black armband", he sputtered.
	
	Liberals never seem to have much of a sense of humor, even in
victory.
	
	Besides, Lanny, I wasn't giving any advice, I was just expressing an
	opinion. Unless you guys get your wish and the return of the
Fairness
	Doctrine knocks people like me off the airwaves for good, I think
I'm still
	allowed to
	 express some views, aren't I? But things really took a turn when
	I got to my radio studio office after the TV appearance and found a
bunch of
	angry emails waiting for me.
	
	The nature of the complaints? That I was a racist because I wore a
BLACK
	armband as a way to express my dissatisfaction with the election.
	
	I'm not kidding.
	
	Here's a sample:
	
	"Gallagher, you racist pig. How dare you wear a black armband on
Fox? Do
	you
	not know what that means to black people? I'm glad your bigertery
(sic) is
	finally on display for the world to see.
	
	Cedric 
	
	Houston, TX"
	
	And another: "I'm a little surprised you didn't wear a white hood
	on TV this
	morning, Gallager (sic). You are a big, fat, racist m***** *****r
who needs
	to have his butt whipped.
	
	Tonya
	
	Los Angeles"
	
	And one more gem:
	
	"Watching you wear a black armband, which everyone knows insults
black
	people, made me
	 immediately wish for your painful death. I'd like to think
	that will happen, but it probably won't. I'm a pessimist by nature.
	
	Bill L.
	
	Orlando"
	
	Wow. And I thought Lanny Davis was grumpy.
	
	These angry people even motivated me to try and Google references to
black
	armbands somehow being offensive to Black people.
	
	All I found was precisely what I thought, that it's a symbol of
mourning, a
	sign of grieving or sadness. Nothing at all about race.
	
	Then again, there are people who manage to find racial turmoil
everywhere
	they turn.
	
	The great Shelby Steele of the Hoover Institution wrote a terrific
piece
	after the election about how President-elect Obama managed to tap
into the
	stigma that many White Americans feel about race. He opined that
many people
	have been looking for something -- anything -- to relieve the burden
felt by
	years of being blamed for racism.
	
	What better solution
	 than to elect a Black man president?
	
	Naturally, race played a significant factor in this year's election.
	Finally, there is an answer to the rhetorical question, "Is America
able
	to
	elect a Black president?"
	
	And I expect that there is a pretty simple response to those who
wonder if
	we can finally retire the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the
world and
	move beyond arguing about race relations incessantly.
	
	Yes we can.
	
	And we should.
	
	Over and over, we were told that a vote for Barack Obama would be a
way to
	"pay the debt" owed to millions of Black people. We would right the
	wrongs
	of the past; we would show the world how progressive we are.
	
	I trust the debt has been paid.
	
	Personally, I've always longed for the day when a Black person would
be
	elected president.
	
	Just not this Black person.
	
	But by six percentage points, Americans elected Sen. Obama. Those of
us
	 who
	are the loyal opposition know that now, the battle begins.
	
	We will do everything we can to encourage the Republican Party to
rebuild
	itself. As Sen. Jim Demint (R, SC) told me, we need to find GOP
leaders who
	are willing to adhere to the Reagan-era values that made many of us
become
	Republicans in the first place.
	
	We will challenge every crazy and wrong-headed move the Democrats
come up
	with; we will follow the D.C. leaders closely and be sure to alert
our
	readers, listeners and viewers to every misstep, every blunder, each
and
	every attempt to run this country into the ground.
	
	But for now, we will simply congratulate the other side for their
victory.
	Sure, the mainstream media helped make it happen.
	
	And of course the deck was stacked against Sen. McCain and Gov.
Palin. But
	there's no sense crying in our soup. Come inauguration day, we just
need to
	be prepared to take on the Democrat
	 establishment.
	
	As many parents have taught their children: never start a fight, but
be sure
	to finish it. We shall do our best.
	
	Just how strange has this week been?
	
	Check this out: a listener to my radio show emailed me and claimed
that the
	day after the election, the Illinois Lottery featured a creepy
winning
	number and that I should check it out.
	
	Sure enough, I confirmed the bizarre claim. On the day after the
election,
	in the Evening Pick Three lottery drawing in Obama's home state of
	Illinois,
	the winning number was 666.
	
	Don't believe me? See for yourself. www.IllinoisLottery.com Click on
the
	"numbers/ jackpots" tab and look up Nov. 5, 2008.
	
	I'm sure that's just a coincidence. I certainly don't believe those
	who fear
	that Obama is the actual anti-Christ.
	
	Then again, what are the odds of the mark of the beast being
Illinois'
	winning lottery number the day after the
	 election?
	
	I think I'll go back to wearing my armband. For a long, long time...