L&T Publisher Earl Watt
The good news about Saturday’s “No Kings” protests across Kansas was that there were no reports of any significant property damage or physical altercations.
It’s a shame we have to look at events in such a way, but it is the reality of the world we live in today and the reason why law enforcement is such an important part of maintaining a safe society.
In Liberal, a group of about 70 people gathered near the intersection of 15th and Kansas and made their case as to why Donald Trump is a bad president. This was masked with the “No Kings” label because of the claims that somehow Trump is acting as a king and not a president.
I’m not aware of many kings who faced trial, who had their homes raided, who had activist judges thwart every move of the executive branch for political purposes or had to present their plan to Congress for approval.
I’m also not very familiar with a king who had to win an election.
This seems to be another misguided attempt to attack Trump’s policies without naming the policies because they are so widely popular.
Deportation efforts are supported by 55 percent, and removing illegal immigrants who have been convicted of a crime is receiving 85 percent approval.
Trump’s stance against boys playing against women in sports is also winning in the polls.
Instead of taking an unpopular position on the issues, Trump detractors have done what failed in the previous election — attack Trump as a person.
“He wants to be king,” they say.
In reality they support open borders and men dressed as women competing against biological women. They want more money spent on social programs, and they want to tax the wealthy as a punishment for being successful, as if success is a crime.
Read the signs at the rallies and you see it had little to do with a king and more to do with supporting bad policies.
But in America we protect the right of people to advocate for bad policy. Freedom of speech is not needed for popular speech.
That tradition started 250 years ago on June 14, 1775 when the Continental Congress established the Continental Army.
Also on June 14, 1777, Congress approved the American flag with 13 stars on a field of blue and 13 stripes representing the 13 colonies.
At Liberal’s protest, there were U.S. flags as well as Mexican flags, which again sends a mixed message as to what was really being protested.
Kansas Avenue was lined with the Stars and Stripes as it should have been. Flag Day is another patriotic celebration of the ultimate symbol of freedom around the world. President Ronald Reagan said, “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.”
That’s why we celebrate Flag Day.
In two days we will also celebrate Juneteenth. On June 19, 1865, slaves in Texas were finally given notice that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation that was issued Sept. 22, 1862. It took almost three years for the message to reach the furthest region of the Confederacy.
While this day is seen as an African American celebration, it truly is a celebration for all Americans. The scourge of slavery will forever be part of our past, but so is the battle to end it and to fight for equality.
When the last slaves in America were freed in Texas, it was a great victory for every freedom-loving person everywhere.
The promise made by the Founders in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal has taken time to be recognized by law.
Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “In a sense we have come to our Nation's Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our great republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.”
Freedom must be rooted in the patriotism of every American by understanding that promise and the price paid to secure it.
Riots like we’ve seen in Los Angeles aren’t designed to preserve our great republic, as MLK, said. They are designed to reject the will of the people and advocate for policies that were rejected at the ballot box.
Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
We were one election away form losing it all. After an administration that advocated for suppression of speech, unlawful mandates of experimental vaccines, weaponizing the government against political rivals and virtually destroying America’s competitive edge in the global marketplace, the voters supported a message of returning to better days, to make America great again.
That’s the beauty of America. That’s why patriotism must be a cornerstone of our identity. Our flag represents the expansion of freedom. Those who burn it don’t respect that vision. They believe themselves to be enlightened and somehow better equipped to make decisions for the rest of us. Whether it is to advocate for a broken border system so more people can flow across a border unfiltered or whether it is to side with terrorists over the descendants of the Holocaust, these detractors aren’t rooting for America to succeed.
Many claim we are living on stolen land we earned in war in battles with Mexico and purchased from European powers. Other acquisitions were made through treaty.
The idea of Manifest Destiny where the United States would span across the continent and bring civility, opportunity and prosperity was realized in less than two generations.
The American soldier has fought against tyranny around the globe and when dictators were defeated, they came home. We didn’t conquer. We liberated and left.
That same birthright is celebrated Juneteenth, and I celebrate with it. At the very heart of being American is to be celebrate freedom.
