Mr. President, Concede The Election But Not The Fight

I suspect that those who are in favor of doing away with the Electoral College haven’t really thought it through.

Come on, man! If we abolish the Electoral College where will future generations of electricians go to learn how to fix our wiring?

All kidding aside, today state electors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia made the final determination of the 2020 election: Joe Biden is now officially the President-elect.

That doesn’t mean that everyone has to personally like, or even accept, the result.

We all know that there are still some folks who still haven’t accepted the fact that Donald Trump is currently the duly elected POTUS – and President Trump will continue to be President Trump until January 20, 2021.

It also doesn’t mean that there wasn’t election malfeasance and fraud. There was. No doubt.

What the decision by the Electoral College today means is that the Constitutional process for deciding who our nation’s President will be for the next four years (starting January 20, 2021) is now over.

President Trump should begin the transition period and he should do so with grace and respect for our system of governance, even though the ‘other side’ refused to do that when Trump was elected.

The President has an opportunity here to be an example of how to do it right, something the Democrats and the previous administration did not do and have not done.

He fought the good fight and exercised his rights to contest the election results. He lost.

Now it’s time for the President and his supporters to focus on the next chapter, which is going to be monumentally important for the future of our country, from outside the White House and the Office of President.

Trump should use his remaining days in office to do everything he can to continue helping our country move forward.

He should concede the election.

But he should never concede the battle to expose corruption and fight the forces that are trying to “fundamentally change America”. And neither should any of us.

Biden Taps Kamala: Brilliant, Pandering, Or Irrelevant Pick?

Joe Biden has selected California Democratic Senator, and former rival for the party’s POTUS nomination, Kamala Harris as his running mate.

After the announcement Harris tweeted, “I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.”

What do you think? Take our poll.

[poll id=”26″]

University Of Portland Removes Corps Of Discovery Statue

After we published our two opinion pieces from this week (Should Lewis & Clark’s Names & Statues Be Removed? and Pastor Collins Responds To Lewis & Clark Statue Question) concerning statues and monuments memorializing Lewis and Clark, a reader posted in our comments section this link to an article in the online Oregonian dated June 17, 2020:

https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/university-of-portland-takes-down-statue-of-lewis-clark-slave-york.html

The article states, “The University of Portland has removed one figure from its Captain William Clark Monument on its North Portland campus.”

After a little further digging we discovered an update to the statue removal on the KBND Radio Regional News website which states, “The University of Portland has removed the statue of explorer William Clark from its campus.  The school took down the statue yesterday along with the corresponding statues depicting his slave, York, and an indigenous person.  University officials say the statue has been vandalized recently and that it was time for the statues to come down anyway.

The KBND news piece is dated June 19, 2020, two days after the Oregonian article date.

Pastor Collins Responds To Lewis & Clark Statue Question

ARE ALL THINGS SIMPLY BLACK OR WHITE?

As we look across the landscape of our American society, and we hear “the deposition” of the many media outlets, it is almost impossible not to take the vantage point that everything is a black or white issue.

Hard to say, but maybe there is a possibility that the racial divide in our nation is more than simply all things black or white.

I understand that we expect our laws to be black and white, our corporate policies and procedures are drafted to be black and white, and Lord knows that seemingly every adverse situation that occurs in society is promulgated as a black and white issue.

Just maybe there is not a black or white answer to the racial issues that our nation, our state, and even our city faces.

Especially, in light of the conflict that rages between the legal and illegal removal of historical statues and monuments across our great nation.

There was a poll taken recently, in connection with a previous article regarding the removal of historical statues and monuments, and upon reading the article my first instinctual thought was, it’s not that black or white, it’s not simply a yes or no discussion.

Here is why, history is vitally important to any culture, and specifically to our American culture. Without history there can be no firm foundation upon which to build, fortify, and advance our future as a nation.

In lieu of that, we must also be willing to open our hearts to a possible perspective that all history must be remembered, but not all history should be memorialized. Case in point, one of the great movements in our 21st century society many would say has been the #MeToo movement, whereby many women and men declare victory over sexual assault in the history of their lives.

Now although many of these courageous women and men remember the events that took place in their lives, many do not want these events memorialized by a statue or a building named after the person who offended them. So, for many African-Americans slavery is our cultural #MeToo moment.

This is due to the fact, that the black culture was raped physically, socially, and psychologically throughout the annals of U.S. History.

Speaking of U.S. History, one of the greatest Americans in our country’s illustrious existence is Alexander Hamilton, the creator of our U.S. banking system. Mr. Hamilton’s face graces the ten dollar bill, one of two non-presidents featured on U.S bills.

Yet, Mr. Hamilton is historically known for being in an adulterous affair with a Mrs. Maria Reynolds, and although this is a part of U.S. history, I would never fathom in a million years that she should be memorialized on the ten dollar bill with him. This is even after many historians believe that this pivotal segment in U.S. History, may have eliminated the possibility of Alexander Hamilton becoming president of the United States.

I guess what I am trying to say is that before we as the citizens of Great Falls allow ourselves to be thrust into the proverbial box of checking yes or no, black or white, maybe there is a third option that the rest of our nation never pondered.

Maybe there is a place in history, meaning right now, where we memorialize the great accomplishments of our nation, while yet remembering the dark era of slavery.

Maybe there is a time in history, meaning now, when we can all drive over the Warden Bridge, look up toward Freedom Hill and memorialize the great expedition of Lewis & Clark, while remembering York who was once there, but because now he is no longer a slave, he has been set free and removed.

A Tale Of Two Emails

Not surprisingly, my Great Falls City Commissioner email inbox has been very interesting recently.

So in doing my best to respond to citizen’s demands for transparency, here are two emails representing the current social and cultural divide in our country, both of which I received within the last three days.

Here’s the first.

Here’s the other.

Great Falls, our beautiful corner of creation isn’t as removed from the big, bad world as it once was or as we might like it to be.

Better get used to it.

Should Lewis & Clark’s Names & Statues Be Removed?

Once again we are seeing throngs of angry ‘protesters’ tear down, deface, and destroy publicly owned statues and monuments which memorialize national historical figures.

Personally, I think a reasonable argument can be made that it’s inappropriate and offensive to honor Confederate generals who were slave owners by placing their images in the public square.

However there is absolutely no justification for allowing mobs of angry rioters to destroy public property. Period.

The removal of symbols and statues from public property, regardless of the reason for doing so, should be carried out in a legal and orderly manner. Not by mob rule.

Furthermore, once the ‘social justice warriors’ start down the road of The Purge it’s almost impossible to stop it from getting out of hand.

One need look no further than the recent attempted vandalism and ruin of statues honoring American icons George Washington and U.S. Grant to see that common sense has fled and fools have rushed in.

But let’s bring it on home to Great Falls. Why limit the madness to big cities and political controversies in places far removed from right here in River City?

Did you know that Merriweather Lewis and William Clark were both slave owners and that Clark was “…a slave owner known to deal harshly with his slaves” and that “he brought York, one of his slaves, with him” on the expedition?

So let me ask the local gang of ‘social justice warriors’, should we abandon all references to Lewis and Clark here in Great Falls because they were slave owners?

How many statues depicting the Corps of Discovery are you willing to deface and tear down in your mission to erase history and cleanse it of it’s uncomfortable and even brutal realities.

How many plaques and monuments and buildings bearing the names of Lewis and Clark are you going to deface and destroy so you can feel all righteous in carrying out your self-appointed mission?

I don’t really expect any of the Great Falls anti-history crew to actually raise their hands and lead the charge against our L&C heritage here. They seldom, if ever, use their real names, choosing instead to make their demands and issue their manifestos from behind the curtain of anonymity.

After all, a few of them are running for the legislature or have appearances to keep up in Great Falls, so they can’t really let us know who they actually are or what they actually believe.

But they are here and they will carry out their mission if given an opportunity.

Editors note: we’re adding this poll question to Tryon’s piece.

[poll id=”24″]

Great Falls ‘Black Lives Matter’ Rally

Friday, folks gathered in front of the Great Falls Civic Center to show their solidarity in a Black Lives Matter rally. Good for them.

In the midst of the roiling national turmoil we are all currently experiencing, and in spite of widely divergent views held on a variety of racial and social issues, there is one thing on which we should all find common ground – the right to freely express our opinions and exercise our First Amendment Rights.

And here it is in all of it’s magnificent beauty and simplicity:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Of course the word “peaceably” is paramount. The danger of descending into chaos and violence during an assembly for protest is ever present and all too real, as we have all witnessed on our TV screens over the last nine days.

And too often too many folks overlook the meaning and import of the first phrase of the First Amendment, and therefore misinterpret the heart of our Constitution.

“Congress shall make no law…”, which points to the unmistakable intention of the Framers – our Constitution was not written to tell citizens what they are allowed to do, but rather it was written to spell out precisely what our government is NOT ALLOWED TO DO.

So though we may disagree, even about fundamentals, let’s ALL celebrate our precious God given rights to say so freely. Peaceably.

Media, Like The GF Tribune, Can’t Help Themselves, They Just Gotta Lie

Take a look at the picture at the top of this article. It was published on the Vox “news” site today with the headline, “Trump’s latest tweets are from an alternate reality where the protests are out of control”.

That particular picture is intended to remind you of someone. The headline with it is intended to make you believe that anyone who thinks that some of the protests have gotten out of control is “from an alternate reality”.

The alternate reality is actually the space that Vox occupies because they apparently believe we can’t see whats going on in our country with our own eyes.

“Oh”, but you say, “well Vox is just a left-wing propaganda rag, real news media isn’t like that.” You’re only half right, the first half.

Here’s a headline from ABC News yesterday.

Do you see the subtle deception and bias here? The President didn’t say he was going to use the military to “stop protests”. That’s not just an innocent mistake, it’s an outright lie.

Here’s what the President actually said.

“As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property…We will end it now.”

You can read the full statement from the President here.

“Oh”, but you say, “that’s the national media, our local media gives us the straight scoop.” Wrong.

Here’s a headline also from yesterday’s Great Falls Tribune online.

No, that is a direct lie. The President did not call protests “acts of domestic terror”.

Here is what the President actually said.

“Small-business owners have seen their dreams utterly destroyed.  New York’s Finest have been hit in the face with bricks.  Brave nurses, who have battled the virus, are afraid to leave their homes.  A police precinct station has been overrun.  Here in the nation’s capital, the Lincoln Memorial and the World War Two Memorial have been vandalized.  One of our most historic churches was set ablaze.  A federal officer in California, an African American enforcement hero, was shot and killed.

These are not acts of peaceful protest.  These are acts of domestic terror.  The destruction of innocent life and the spilling of innocent blood is an offense to humanity and a crime against God.”

The Great Falls Tribune is lying to all of us with their dishonest headline.

They are fully aware that most folks just read a headline and move on without reading the article. Is it any wonder that they’re a laughingstock in the town they’re supposed to be serving?

And is it any wonder that the mainstream media in general is held in such low esteem by the American public.

Does Joe Biden Believe Tara Reade?

While the mainstream media continues to provide cover for Joe Biden, the truth is there for anyone willing to seek it: the former Vice President was recently accused of sexually assaulting a former staffer.

Detailing an alleged incident from 1993, Tara Reade told Yahoo! News that Biden digitally penetrated her:

She told part of her story in 2019, when Lucy Flores wrote in The Cut about the inappropriate way Biden smelled her hair and kissed the top of her head. At the time, several other women came forward to say that Biden had touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable, including Reade, who said that Biden used to put his hands on her shoulders and run his fingers up and down her neck. Now, she has detailed what she says is the entirety of her experience with Biden on The Katie Halper Show.

According to Reade, Biden pressed her up against a wall and digitally penetrated her without her consent. “It happened all at once, and then… his hands were on me and underneath my clothes,” she says. She also remembers him asking “do you want to go somewhere else?” and then, when she had pulled away, “Come on, man, I heard you liked me.” Reade says that “everything shattered” in that moment and his claim that he thought she liked him made her feel like she had “done this” somehow. “I looked up to him, he was my father’s age. He was this champion of women’s rights in my eyes,” she says. “I wanted to be a senator; I didn’t want to sleep with one.”

Remember the character assassination of Brett Kavanaugh? The reflexive preaching that Christine Blasey Ford was to be automatically believed?

Or how about Biden’s own words in the past?

During the Kavnaugh hearings, Biden told the Washington Post, “For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real.”

OK, how about now?