Facts are Stubborn Things: Reaction to the Ferguson Grand Jury Decision

"Facts are stubborn things," our second president John Adams said in his Argument in Defense of Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials back in the time when presidents said things that mattered. 

"Facts are stubborn things: and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion..."

As I watch the country erupt in anger and rage and passion over the decision of the Grand Jury not to prosecute Darren Wilson and listen to the reaction of people great and small (Barack Obama among the latter), I'm impressed most by the utter disinterest in the facts. To hear prominent figures describe Michael Brown as a "gentle giant," as an unarmed young man cowering (hands upraised in surrender) before a race-obsessed policeman, as shot from behind, etc. all of which has been disproven both by forensics and testimony, is to marvel at the refusal of many to allow facts to dictate the narrative. The quaint cliché, "you're entitled to your opinion but not your facts," is brushed aside like a pesky mosquito. It's practically the norm (at least in mainstream media reporting and some cable news programming) to gloss over the facts and dissect the narrative.

"Facts are stubborn things: and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." 

It's the narrative, stupid, which is usually the case, but what's really unsettling is how quickly the narrative replaces truth until the narrative becomes truth. Ask anyone you know who Matthew Shepard was and how he died and you'll hear about how the young man who was gay was brutally "beaten, tortured, and left to die" by two young men who were repulsed by Shepard's sexual advances. This was in 1998. Since then new information has been revealed and a book written that tells a different story, not only about Matthew but about his killers, as well. But the narrative is all that matters. 

Ask anyone you know who Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman are. The narrative (racist Zimmerman stalking and shooting unarmed black boy Trayvon) and the reality (Zimmerman, with no personal history of being racist, and Trayvon, who, contrary to the images that saturated the media of a sweet-faced young boy was, in fact, a pretty buff, strong, fully grown kid who managed to overpower the older man and begin to slam his head into the sidewalk. The ensuing struggle resulted in Zimmerman managing to retrieve his gun (legally owned) and shoot the teenager dead. The facts support the scenario, which resulted in Zimmerman's acquittal. The facts did not support the narrative. Thus, the rioting. 

Here we are again. The facts do not support the narrative. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to Al Sharpton or to CNN or to President Obama who said we need to "understand" their (i.e., the rioters') response. Understand looting? Understand destruction of property? Understand torching of cars and stores? Understand a refusal to accept the truth that Michael Brown was not a gentle giant, that he assaulted the officer, attempted to wrest the officer's gun from inside the police car, was apparently shot in the scuffle before running away and refused to stop. We can second guess the officer's actions, but that's all we can do. Monday-morning quarterbacking, it's sometimes called. But we weren't there. Police officers are trained to react to these kinds of situations. Factor in the aggression of the suspect, the adrenaline of the encounter, the uncertainty of the suspect's actions, his size and demeanor (apparently under the influence of marijuana), his refusal to comply with an officer's orders. 

Facts are stubborn things. Our wishes, our inclinations, our passions, our interest in a narrative, cannot alter the state of facts, cannot alter the evidence. 

They may alter them for a time. It's only been two years since Trayvon Marin died, fifteen years in the case of Matthew Shepherd. How long will the story of Michael Brown be one of an unarmed gentle giant gunned down by a racist cop, who was merely doing what all cops are inclined to anyway. Ferguson, according to one writer, is "yet another unraveled thread in the closely woven fabric of racism that has cloaked this country for 500 years." 

More to say on this. Maybe later. 

Pity the Left and Its Offspring

2014 may well be remembered (by those who recall beyond the 24-hour news cycle) as The Year The Left Showed its True Colors. Of course, people who study the Left are not surprised. Leftism is a religion, and its devotees, fanatical. Unlike devotees of true religion, however, Leftists are not content to simply believe their creeds and coexist peacefully with those who differ. Leftists, at their core, are at war with those who differ from them. 

I looked up the word jihad, and the definition seems apropos. In the context of Islam, it means "a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty." But the broader meaning, "a crusade for a principle of belief," sums up what the Left is engaged in. 

A few recent examples:

• Calling those who believe the jury's still out regarding man-caused climate change deniers (word association: Holocaust deniers).  

• Calling those who adhere to the the time-honored, Judeo-Christian, Biblical definition of one man/one woman marriage bigots and pressure them to resign unless they recant (you heard that correctly, recant). 

• Denying someone an honorary doctorate and refusing to let her speak at college commencement because she has the temerity to tell the truth about radical Islam. 

This is the strategy of the Left. Don't merely disagree with those who hold different views or challenge them to a debate. No, you must shun them. Debate is not an option since to debate is to concede that maybe a middle ground exists.

And so the Left traipses merrily along. 

I pity its followers, in a way, especially the young people, so proud of their progressive views, blissfully ignorant of what they're missing out on when, for instance, in the case I mentioned above, Brandeis decreed that they should not be exposed to Ayaan Hirsi Ali's views. The students, knowingly or not, are the poorer for the exclusion. 

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: What I Would Have Said at Brandeis

* Note: updated for clarity July 2018

True or False: Black People Should Vote for Black Politicians

Apparently, that's what some (fortunately not all) blacks think.

Here's a woman who happens to disagree. Stacey Dash, an African-American actress, who did vote for Barack Obama in 2008 but who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, has a different idea about how to decide on a candidate: "I chose him [Romney] not by the color of his skin but the content of his character."

There's a thought. Why didn't someone else think of this?  Oh wait.

Some of her black brethren don't agree. Stacey's been the recipient of some pretty nasty tweets by the so-called tolerant left. 

Here's an interesting discussion on the issue, posted on the Huffington Post ("Black People for Obama: African-American Support for Obama Called Prejudice, Blind Loyalty," by Jesse Washington).

And here's a snippet of an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN.

Will the Real Racist Stand Up?

The rodeo clown who wore an Obama mask while being chased by a bull at the Missouri State Fair has been castigated as a racist and banned (for life!) from ever performing at the State Fair again. 

He made fun of the president--no, let me rephrase that. He made fun of Barack Obama, who is black. Apparently he didn't get the memo: it's OK to poke fun at George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, et al. But poking fun at Barack Obama is off limits. There will be no clowning around with Our First Black President.

Rodeo clown, banned for life from performing at the Missouri State Fair, tarnished forever as a racist, receiving death threats, getting spat upon, because he dared to poke fun at at a black president.

Welcome to Barack Obama's America.

The rodeo clown, whose name is Tuffy Gessling, finally decided to tell his side of the story. Here he is, being interviewed by KCTV Channel 5 News. Listen to him, decide who the real racists are in this story, and then, feel free to chalk up yet another example of how this country has become race-obsessed in the wake of America's first African American president. So much for Dr. King's dream of a colorblind society.

KCTV5