Finding Peace

There is a saying often attributed to Patrick Henry, but it was first penned by Evelyn Beatrice Hall.

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Hall, who wrote under the pseudonym of Stephen G. Tallentyre, wrote The Friends of Voltaire, an 18th-century biography of French Enlightenment writer and philosopher Voltaire, in 1906. Her book used these words to describe the principle of free speech.

The truth is you have the right to voice your opinions whether I like it or not. You have the right to express yourself in your own space and in your own way. I may not agree with what you say or even think you are wrong. But do you have the right to say it? Absolutely. This is still America, and the First Amendment still applies.

Too many people, unfortunately, have forgotten that principle.

Mature and intelligent adults can disagree. They can even have a respectful discussion based on facts and exchange ideas.

However, someone coming into your space to belittle, insult, and make demands on what you can or cannot say is not a mature adult. And I have sadly encountered a few of them lately.

In the last week, I have had to unfriend or even block several people from my social media sites, not because they disagree, but because they feel the need to attack, mock, and degrade to do it.

Most of us are secure in our beliefs. We stop reading if we encounter an article or post with which we vehemently disagree. We scroll right past it without commenting. It does not change what we think. It does not require a full-blown assault because we are confident in our own principles and values, even if they differ from the author's.

Some people, however, encounter the differing opinions of others as if they are storming the beaches of Normandy.

They tell you you are prohibited from saying this or that because it offends them. They may demand that you change what you have written. They may belittle, name-call, or use obscenities. They put immature little laughing emojis on all the comments. And they throw out "whataboutisms" and their own set of "facts"--many that have been disproven--like grenades at an entrenched enemy.

You need to understand the type of person who does this. They are not trying to convince YOU that you are wrong. They are trying to convince themselves that they are right. 

Sure, some people may simply lash out from pure anger. Others, however, do it out of insecurity. Deep down, they question their own beliefs. They are unsure of the values they adopted or the person for whom they voted. To elevate their self-esteem, they need to bring yours down.

If you must publicly belittle others or tell them what they can or cannot say to make yourself feel superior, you have far more significant issues than political differences.

I have a feeling I am not the only one who dismissed others from their digital world, either temporarily or permanently. And I am here to tell you, don't feel bad about it. It can be challenging to walk away--especially if that person was close to you at one time--but you deserve to feel safe in your own space.

No one has the right to tell you what you can say or how you can think. You would not allow them to do this in your own home. Do not allow them to do it on your social media sites.

People who cannot respect what you say in your own space are toxic. Even if they are family. Give yourself permission to eliminate toxins. Surround yourself with those who treat you respectfully, even if your politics differ. Kindness and political differences are mutually exclusive only if you allow them to be.

That said, if you attack and insult others on their sites, you are the toxin they have every right to eliminate. If you are using your own spaces to belittle others, that, again, is your choice. But please remember that nothing in the First Amendment protects you from the consequences of your own words and what they may do to your relationships. Is it worth having friends or family lose respect for you or walk away altogether over a meme? If you claim to be a Christian, does Jesus really want you to spread the faith by being cruel or narrow-minded?

Be the grown-up. Be secure and mature enough to scroll past what you don't like. Be confident enough in who you are to not insult others to make yourself feel better. Please be respectful, but demand the same for yourself. 

We all deserve safe spaces. Especially now, with the coming holiday season, we all deserve to find some peace. 

There's Someone You Should Meet

 I do genealogy research as a hobby. I would like you to meet my great-great-uncle, Antonio Sorichilli.

Antonio served in the Italian army during WWII. As you may know, Italy was initially part of the Axis Powers aligned with Adolph Hitler and the Nazis. After the capture and execution of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Italy fought with the Allies.

When Italy signed an armistice with the Allies in September 1943, the Wehrmacht--the united forces of the German army, navy, and air force--took approximately 600,000 Italian soldiers as prisoners. They had been given a choice: join the Wehrmacht and fight against their own families and countrymen or be sent to the work camps. These men had refused to fight. My Uncle Antonio was one of them.

According to a family who still lived in Europe during WWII, Antonio was sent to a concentration camp. Italian POWs were mainly sent to one of three camps: Flossenburg or Mittelbau-Dora in Germany and Gross-Rosen in Poland. I have yet to discover which one of these he was in.

My Great-Great Uncle Antonio never came home. He died in a concentration camp at the hands of Hitler and his Nazi thugs.

No one in their right mind would admire or praise a horrendous human being like Hitler. Yet, according to retired marine general John Kelly, who served as Donald Trump's White House chief of staff from 2017 to 2109, Trump said more than once that "Hitler did some good things, too." 

Trump also told Kelly that he needed some "German generals." When Kelly asked if he meant the generals of Otto von Bismark, the chancellor of the German Reich responsible for Germany's unification in 1871, or Hitler's generals, Trump responded, "Yeah, yeah, Hitler's generals."

If you are about to tell me that these statements have been "disproven," spare me. We all know Trump admires dictators. He makes excuses for the horrific acts of Vladimir Putin and cares little if Ukraine is overrun. He fawns over and exchanges love letters with Kim Jong Un. He had a playdate at Mara Lago with Hungarian dictator Viktor Orban. He admires these men because he wants to be like them. Wielding unlimited power and demanding those under him bow to his every whim.

And if it comes down to a choice between believing General Kelly--a four-star general who fought in the Vietnam War and led the U.S. Military Southern Command--and a man who couldn't serve his country due to "bone spurs" and lies as often as he breathes--I will choose General Kelly every weekday and twice on a Sunday.

Hitler did not do "good things." Besides the death of my uncle, he sent six million Jews to their deaths in concentration camps. He is responsible for the slaughter of approximately 70 to 85 million people--about three percent of the world's population at the time--during WWII, which he began by invading Poland in 1939.

Let me make this quite clear. I will never support a man who adores and wants to emulate dictators. Ever. I will never vote for anyone who defends him, emulates him, or seeks his endorsement.

If your inclination at this point is to jump in and chastise me for not defending "life" by supporting Democrats, save it. You are defending a man who brags about sexually assaulting women and cheats on his wives with Playboy bunnies and porn stars. Who told his own nephew when he asked for medical assistance for his disabled son that he should just put him in an institution and let him die, then refused to give him a dime. Who lies about everything from Mexico paying for a wall to having a healthcare plan to "I won the 2020 election." Who mocks disabled people. Who refers to women as pigs and dogs who are "bleeding from somewhere." Who caused a rise in hate crimes toward Asian Americans with his juvenile references to COVID-19 as "kung flu." Who believes that "really great people" willingly participate in rallies on the side of swastika-waving neo-Nazis and torch-carrying white supremacists who chant, "The Jews will not replace us."

Want to defend and support this man? That is your choice. But believe me when I tell you there is no moral on high ground on which you can stand and criticize anyone else.

Why does Trump admire Hitler's generals? Because he wants to surround himself with minions who simply obey his every wish. During his last administration, he accidentally put in people with a bit of integrity who put the country and the Constitution over political parties and the whims of a madman.  

From Mike Pence, who refused to violate his Constitutional duty to certify the election, to Bill Barr, who told Trump point blank that there was no evidence of election fraud to investigate and that he did indeed lose the presidential election to Joe Biden, guardrails were put in place. Trump won't make that mistake again.

Let's meet some of Hitler's right-hand men, shall we?

-Adolph Eichmann - the primary architect of the "Final Solution" and the Holocaust. Eichmann came up with the "efficient" method of slaughtering Jews by sending them into gas chambers and disposing of their remains in massive furnaces. Jews were not the only ones who met this fate. The Nazi camps executed prisoners of war, disabled individuals, Roma and Sinti populations, homosexuals, and Jehovah's Witnesses. They even threw in a few priests and nuns for good measure.

-Heinrich Himmler - second in power to Hitler, Himmler was in charge of implementing the Holocaust and oversaw the network of Nazi concentration camps across Europe.

-Hermann Goering - head of the German air force, the Luftwaffe. Goering was responsible for the Blitz on London, an effort to break the spirit of the people of Great Britain. An estimated 40,000 to 43,000 British civilians were killed in the Blitzkrieg.

Theodor Eicke - head of the SS division Totenkopf, Eicke was a significant figure in the development of the Nazi Concentration Camps. The Totenkopf he oversaw was responsible for many of the war crimes committed by the Nazis, including the slaughter of French Arab and African troops who had surrendered to them in France and the murder of Black French Army soldiers they had captured for the crime of simply being Black.

These are the types of people Trump believes should be his advisors. These are who he admires. So if I don't stand with someone who praises the horrific Nazi dictator and his cast of butchers who were responsible for the death of one of my relatives in one of their abhorrent work camps, I am sure you will understand.

Hitler did do one thing for the benefit of all mankind. He committed suicide and rid the world of Adolph Hitler.

 

The Truth About (Eating) Cats and Dogs

It's Halloween, an appropriate time for a horror story. This one's horror is that lies are being passed around as truth.

For weeks, Donald Trump has been railing about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating dogs and cats, a claim that is based on a Facebook post.  And we all know what a bastion of truth and accuracy social media is. These claims have been amplified in statements by his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

This all started with an actual case in Canton, OH--nearly three hours east of Springfield. A woman named Alexis Ferrell was accused of killing and eating a cat in front of several other people.

Here is the problem. According to WPXI news in Ohio, Ferrell is not a Haitian immigrant. She was born in Ohio and graduated from high school in Canton.  

(Reference: https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/woman-accused-killing-eating-cat-ohio-is-not-an-immigrant-was-born-canton/CNKQDHSCUVF75HKKPODXURQSXQ/)

The city has seen a rise in Haitian immigrants, but they are not there illegally. According to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R), about 15,000 Haitian immigrants have relocated to Springfield under a Temporary Protected Status program due to instability in their country.

The city faces challenges, no doubt. Public hospitals, which by law must treat everyone (citizen or non-citizen) regardless of their ability to pay, have been stressed by the influx. The governor is sending additional state troopers into the area not because of an increase in crime but because many of these immigrants are unfamiliar with traffic laws. Tragically, a Haitian immigrant was involved in a traffic accident with a school bus, which led to the death of a young boy. But more about that later.

DeWine, whose family operates a charity in Haiti in honor of their daughter who was killed in a car accident, has called the Haitian immigrants hard-working, family-oriented people who escaped the gang violence in their country to work toward a better life. 

(Reference: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ohio-is-sending-troopers-and-2-5-million-to-city-where-many-haitian-migrants-have-relocated)

So, naturally, we now have the starting point to spread false rumors that are ripe with racist undertones. 

According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, Springfield City Manager Brian Heck has released a statement saying there is absolutely no evidence that Haitian immigrants have kidnapped or harmed pets. Nor is there any indication they are participating in illegal activities, including "squatting or littering."

In addition to eating people's pets, Trump then insisted Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating ducks out of parks in Springfield. This accusation is based on a viral photo showing a Black man (no evidence exists that he is even Haitian) carrying a dead goose.

First, according to the newspaper, this photo was taken in Columbus, OH, not Springfield. Second, the individual who took the picture in July and wishes to remain anonymous told the reporter that he "regrets taking the photo and did not expect it to be used by right-wing accounts to weaponize against Haitian immigrants.

(Reference: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2024/09/17/springfield-ohio-truth-latest-since-trumps-haitian-pet-eating-claims-fact-check/75260318007/)

Combine that with the regret of the woman whose now-deleted Facebook post sparked the entire incident. Ericka Lee heard through the local grapevine that a neighbor's cat had disappeared, so she naturally posted the rumor that a Haitian immigrant might have taken the animal.

After the post began circulating, Lee checked in with the neighbor to determine whether the claims were true. Turns out they were not. 

The alleged missing cat did not belong to her neighbor's daughter, as Lee had claimed. It supposedly belonged to a friend of a friend of the neighbor's daughter.

The "eaten" cat is actually named Miss Sassy. After Miss Sassy disappeared in August, her owner, Anna Kilgore, did indeed file a police report insinuating that her Haitian neighbors had something to do with her cat's disappearance.

A few days after filing the report, Kilgore discovered Miss Sassy hanging out in the basement of her house. A picture of Miss Sassy has even appeared in several newspapers, showing her where she was found, alive and well, in a camping chair.

Kilgore told the Wall Street Journal that she has apologized to her Haitian neighbors not only for filing the false report but for the role she played in perpetuating the hateful lies now circulating in right-wing circles.

But the ball of hate was already rolling long before Kilgore's apology. Once Lee's Facebook post found its way into the hands of J.D. Vance and the right-wing media. It took on a life of its' own, much to the horror of Lee. "I was not raised with hate," Lee told the New York Times. "My whole family is biracial. I never wanted to cause problems for anyone."

The false nature of the claims is either lost on Trump and Vance, or they simply don't care as they continue spreading the lies. As a result, an entire community is now in right-wing crosshairs.

(Reference: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/us/springfield-haitians-pets-facebook-rumor.html)

Worst of all, Vance knew the rumors were false before spreading them. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, a member of Vance's staff called Springfield City Manager Heck on September 9 to ask if the rumors of Haitian immigrants eating pets were true.

“He asked point-blank, ‘Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten?’” Heck told the Journal. “I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless.”

(References:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/politics/springfield-ohio-vance-campaign-wsj-report/index.html

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/springfield-ohio-pet-eating-claims-haitian-migrants-04598d48)

None of this matters to Trump or Vance. As recently as last week, they have continued perpetuating the rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating family pets. Vance's staff even waved a copy of the now-denounced police report around as "proof" even though the woman who filed it has admitted it was based on false information.

 Vance even doubled down on those lies after being called out on them while also chastising the media for reporting on his lies. 

"The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes," Vance told CNN's Dana Bash in an interview on September 15th. "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I am going to do."

Bash then asked Vance to clarify what he meant about "creating stories. "Dana, it comes from first-hand accounts of my constituents. I say that 'creating a story,' meaning that we're getting the American media focus on it." 

Vance continued to perpetuate the lie by saying that "people who shouldn't be in the country" were eating pets.

 Even though there are no credible reports or evidence that this is happening. Even though pets disappear every day for various reasons that have nothing to do with people eating them. He also continues to ignore the fact that the Haitian immigrants he is accusing of eating pets are actually here legally.

Vance has lost sight of the fact that he is putting his own constituents in danger. Numerous bomb threats have been called in on Springfield buildings, including 33 bomb threats on schools. All the threats have been determined to be hoaxes, some even coming from bots that originated internationally. However, buildings must be evacuated and searched each time a threat is received.

And each time Trump or Vance repeat these lies, the threats against Springfield ramp up again.

Highway patrol officers sweep each Springfield school building for bombs every morning before students are allowed inside. All as a result of rumors that Trump and Vance clearly know are lies but don't care.

It is worth the collateral damage to paint an entire community in a false and negative light to score political points. And if a few people get hurt in the process--whether they are innocent school children or a group of black legal immigrants--it matters very little. It is the price they are willing to pay to gain an advantage through misinformation.

We should all be disturbed by this, but those who care little about facts and prefer to cast whatever their political biases deem "truthful" are clearly on board with spreading misinformation.

The parents of the young boy killed in the bus accident have every reason to be angry at the Haitian community in the Springfield area. But they are not.

Although Trump did not mention Aiden Clark--the child killed in the accident--during the debate, Vance has used the child's death as a talking point on several occasions alongside the false claims of Haitians eating pets and spreading tuberculosis and HIV around Springfield. He claimed that the boy was "murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here." 

Speaking in front of the Springfield City Commission on September 10--the same day Trump accused Haitian immigrants of stealing and eating people's pets--Nathan Clark, Aiden's father, blasted the far right for using his son's death for political gain. 

"You know, I wish that my son, Aiden Clark, was killed by a 60-year-old white man," Clark told the Commission. "I bet you never thought anyone would ever say something so blunt. But if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone."

"Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose," he continued. "And speaking of morally bankrupt...politicians like (Ohio Republican Senate Candidate) Bernie Marino, (Texas U.S. House Representative) Chip Roy, JD Vance, and Donald Trump then spoke in my son's name and used his death for political gain. This needs to stop now."

Clark went on:

"My son...was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti. This tragedy is felt all over this community, this state, and even the nation. But don't spin this towards hate."

"There is nothing moral and Christian about lying and deliberately putting people in danger. There is nothing moral and Christian about spewing hate towards anyone, even if their beliefs are different from yours. There is nothing moral or Christian about discrimination and hate-mongering. Jesus died on the cross to prove that."

(Reference: https://fox2now.com/news/national/his-son-died-in-a-crash-with-a-haitian-immigrant-he-says-politicians-are-using-it-for-political-gain/  )

No, it is not moral or Christian to deliberately lie and put people in danger. But it resonates with those who don't distinguish fact from fiction. And that translates to political gain that makes lying well worth it.

Suppose they are willing to lie about something as ridiculous as a group of legal immigrants eating pets while knowingly putting an entire community--including school children--in danger. What else are they willing to lie about for political gain? 

Well, hurricane relief, for one thing. Trump and Company are spreading false rumors that there is no hurricane relief money because it was all spent on "housing illegal immigrants" and that FEMA is seizing property and homes. They also claim that there are no representatives of FEMA in North Carolina and Georgia and that all of the cleanup work is being done by independent groups. All lies. 

Threats against FEMA workers have sometimes caused the agency to pull its people out of various regions. Explain to me how this helps the people who have lost everything?

These lies have been debunked by the governors of both states and many Congressional representatives, Democrats and Republicans. But again, the lies are worth the collateral damage.

The fact is that many who will be voting next week do not care about these lies. Anything that fits in with their political ideology and biases is deemed truth, no matter how bizarre and unlikely or who it hurts.

Some horrors, sadly, are all too real.