OPINION:
Halfway out of the parking space, a car whizzed behind me, then through rows of parked cars. I finished pulling out and parked a space away from her. The 40-something driver did not want to roll down her window. I explained calmly that her dangerous driving was a hazard to me, the cars around us, and to her. Her reply? “But nothing happened.”
“Ma, nothing happened when we jumped off the side of the barn to the ground. We are fine,” my seven years old self said. Hanging out with the Wynn brothers free of my parents was one of my best childhood days. Ma knew we found crawdads to eat (raw) instead of biking home for lunch.
This time I looked up to a double-barreled shotgun. The barrels seemed awfully big and dark right at your eyes as the greasy-haired man told me to un-dam the creek before lunch. “OK, whatever,” was my response, hoping the gun was not loaded. I knew what my Dad would do if I told him, and I probably should have. Back then, the man would be in trouble with the law. I have never told anyone because, at seven, fun is paramount.
“Nothing happened,” so it was safe, right? Ask Alec Baldwin. I hope this man never pointed a gun at anyone else because I did not stop him.
Hinduism dates more than 4,000 years and is the world’s third-largest religion. In this life and reincarnation, a person’s fate is determined by their deeds. “Getting caught” as in “nothing happened” should not matter to Hindus or Christians.
Although Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims she does not understand, it is easy to see why murders and crime are up. Soros-elected prosecutors in major cities are not prosecuting gun crimes, hoping that the rest of us will abandon our guns in response to violence. After all, take out a few American cities like New Orleans and the United States has low crime. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot even claims (inaccurately) that if you ignore the murder rate, the city’s crime rate is down. So “nothing happened.”
When city prosecutors in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco claim that $1,000 crimes are not worth prosecuting, criminals rightly say, “nothing will happen.” Unless you are the store owner, or the security guard shot. Although this surprises liberals, criminals commit more crimes when they know they will not be caught and punished. … Smash and grab has no risk in San Francisco? Know anywhere we can crash for a few nights? … Gun crimes are rarely prosecuted in Chicago? I’ll move there while on probation.
To make sure these fallacious ideas proliferate, school children today read differently. Their books do not carry the moral weight of the classics where evil is punished eventually and good triumphs. Surprisingly, I watched Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas recently, although reading the author is banned in schools. The Grinch is a species minority after all and should be protected. Liberals are offended that the Grinch learns that his evil ways are motivated by his own unhappiness, that dangerous idea! Better to watch Disney’s Aladdin, where stealing bread from evil shopkeepers to give to a hungry person is lauded.
After the Russian czar was overthrown, the capitalist democrats were briefly in charge. By 1922, fewer than 5,000 Bolsheviks had taken over Russia and held power for almost seventy years. Bad policy can take hold even if few people agree to it.
Eerily, our elected officials are acting regardless of the people’s will and best interest. The outgoing governor of Virginia raised teacher salaries again, hoping his successor takes political heat for balancing the budget. Streets are being renamed to remove all traces of bravery. Even Democrats say privately, “something has got to be done.”
A decade ago, I met the Lithuanians who spent their lives in and out of jail protesting communism. They were surprisingly happy, knowing they had lived their ideals. They sacrificed more than I would dare but won freedom for others, asking us, “what else is life for?” They were the few; we are many. What is right in front of each of us? Our baby steps will be enough to save ourselves — if we begin now. Otherwise, nothing happens.
- Donna Wiesner Keene was a Reagan, Bush and Bush appointee and lobbies for ideas if she agrees with them.
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