A Raw Nerve
Not long ago, my job transferred me. I went from a 7 minute commute to a 30 minute commute. At first I was annoyed but quickly got used to it. I take two parkways to work now. There’s plenty of traffic except Sundays.
The first week of the new commute, I was headed to work on a Sunday, driving about 55-60 mph. I drive an SUV and on my back window, I have a decal in memory of my cousin who I grew up with. He was killed on 9/11 when his FDNY Squad responded to the World Trade Center. Both units from his house, Squad 288 and Haz-Mat 1 responded with 19 firefighters. The house lost all 19 men, the most of any house.
As I was driving on the parkway, I came upon on an SUV with a huge, shiny, color decal on the back window of Osama Bin-Laden holding a missile launcher with an Arabic statement under it. As I flew by, I looked at the driver. A clean looking Muslim man, age 55 to 60, wearing a suit. I was angry that whole day. I never saw that before.
Today, months after, I was driving home on the parkway in stop and go traffic. Coming to a stop, I notice a woman in a little Honda with a big “Obama ‘08” bumper sticker. I came to a stop right next to her, and there it was right in front of her, on the back window of another car, a big decal of Bin-Laden and his missile launcher. In the car was a Muslim man, age 35-40, with a long black beard and a turban on his head.
In the 15 seconds we were stopped, first I wanted to ram the guy with my truck. Then I thought, trapped in the middle of rush hour traffic, what’s to stop this guy from detonating a car bomb and taking out 20 cars around him. He is obviously sympathetic to Islamic terrorism and believes in the Jihad. I was thinking to myself, if he was to trigger a suicide bomb, what could I do? Where could I go? Could I get out and run, or would it be better if I stayed in my car till after the blast?
I wasn’t “terrified” but I became concerned, uncomfortable and felt unsafe at that moment. As traffic moved, I maneuvered to get away from his car.
I got into the right lane because my exit was coming up. Traffic stopped for a few seconds again. Now in a line, it was me and my decal, in front of me was the Honda with the Obama ‘08 decal and in front of her was the Bin-Laden decal. Something clicked.
I was curious what the woman in front of me was thinking. I wondered if she thought “how nice, equality in action!” or did she wet her pants? I was hoping it was the latter. I became furious at this woman in front of me for helping contribute to my feelings of concern and the feeling of being unsafe in my own country.
This experience is not an ironic, isolated incident. It is the second time in a matter of months I’ve come across this Osama decal. I have travelled far and wide in the almost 9 years since 9/11 and I have never, NEVER seen this decal. What has changed?
The cold, hard fact is that we have a president in “our” white house who “aids and comforts” the enemies of America and emboldens the same on our streets. He denounces the country he was hired to represent when abroad. As he bows to the Saudi prince, as he calls the brutal regime of Iran “a great nation”, as he say’s that the U.S. Constitution is “a flawed document”, His allegiance is crystal clear.
The president of the United States is more of a threat than Osama Bin-laden. Bin-Laden is hiding in an obscure cave somewhere. Obama has control of the Oval office. He is destroying our country from within, right from our white house.
He is nothing less than a domestic national threat. He is doing everything he can, on every front to undermine this country. He walks the extremely fine line of our laws to make sure his damage is lawful. It is the ignorant among us who have inflicted this danger upon us. If Obama is left unchecked and unchallenged at every single step, America will become a pathetic, empty shell of its former self.
It has been proven time and time again that no words this man utters can be trusted or taken at face value.
We have long dealt with corrupt, criminal politicians but this administration is a different animal all together. The vast majority of Obama’s supporters have no idea who and what we are dealing with here.
This nation was nowhere near ready for this “historic” president.
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Jay,as is rarely the case with me,I’m speechless.I’m gonna have to digest this one for a while.But believe this,I’m with ya on this one.
Thank you buddy!
I must say Jay….. I’m impressed by your post. I can totally relate to how you feel in this situation. Did you read my post entitled “Civilian Terrorists”? If you did, then enough said. If you didn’t, then maybe you should go check it out.
I’ve been giving this whole thing some serious thought. Isn’t it a double edge sword? Aren’t abiding the Constitution when we give these people the freedom speech? If we take it away, aren’t we becoming “unconstitutional”? I don’t think it’s an easy question to answer.
Justin, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic…
I apreciate your comment Bonita! I will definetly check out your post. Your point is respectfuly observed. Free speech, absolutley. On the other hand, if I drove around with a swastika or a picture of Hitler proudly standing in front of an oven, I’m sure I’d be stopped immediatly and charge with a sting of offences such as “hate speech” “racism” “mennising” not to mention the law suits I’d face and the public outcry. Or just imagine for a second if I were to exercise my free speech by having a decal of a hooded Ku-Klux-Klan member posing with black person hanging from a tree? (not that I would ever do any of these things or agree with any of them) but you can be absolutly 100% sure, I would not make it down the street without being stopped and arrested, if not shot by someone. There is “free speech” and there is “hate speech” I think Bin-laden, Hitler and the KKK all fall in the same catagory.
Now, on the constitution part of your question, Bonita. In 1940, dealing with communism, congress enacted the “Smith act” which made it illegal to advocate the overthrowing or destruction of any government in the United States by way of force or violence. The constitutionality of the act was questioned in 1951 and upheld by the Supreme Court by a 6-2 vote. With that, It is clear and without question that Osama Bin-Laden calls for and advocates for the destruction of the United States by way of force and violence. An image of him represents “symbolic speech” which advocates his violent views and intentions. Therefore, the public display of his image is, by law, illegal. Nontheless, our laws are skewed by political correctness and the fear of enforcing laws that apply to everyone else, to the Muslim community. This practice is extremely dangerous.
Well that’s what I mean…. it’s not an easy question to answer. I can relate to what you’re saying. I haven’t taken either side on this. I’m on the fence….
It’s not that hard of a question, legally or morally. The law is quite clear and explained clearly. And morally it’s .. well I guess it depends on the person. But law is law “for everyone”. It’s your right to be “on the fence” but after the facts are presented, the legal questions answered and the constitutional question answered, anyone would wonder what’s to be on the fence about and may have serious concerns about that position. I’ll admit that I’m not wondering or concerned about your position. I’m not here to convince anyone one way or another. It’s not hard to make an informed decision when all the facts and laws are layed out. After that, it comes down to capability.
No need to be “on the fence.” The political correctness is the only issue, and being politically correct is not a law the last time I checked. Let’s see if we can’t get you off that “fence” here. We have a visual of the sticker. We know what Bin Laden did and wants to do to America. Maybe it’s just not striking the right chord? Remove the exsisting “Bin Laden sticker” and replace it with a picture of the WTC falling, and a caption reading “What a real leader can do!” pretty much the same message, wouldn’t you say? I wonder what the driver feels about Americans?
We know how the driver feels about Americans. The real question is howl liberals feel about Americans. That we pretty much know too. “classic” liberals cared about their country.(not many of them exist today). “mainstream” liberals have no idea what’s going on and follow like mindless sheep, the distorted meaning of compassion. And “radical” liberals…well, their communists. Known facts!!! If you disagree or don’t know which one you are, look it up! Do the research! Learn what the hell your doing before you spout off! You may feel a certain way but be labeling yourselves incorrectly and making incorrect arguments. If you consider yourself a “progressive”, that ideology has been taken over by the Communist Party USA. Think again! If you are an “independant”, most likley you are confused. The only party that stands for the constitution and the country’s founding, is the “conservative” party. It is the party of freedom and individual rights. Anything other, is opposite. The “peace” and “compassion” argument is a false one. Our constitution and bill of rights guarentees us both.