Americans – the free world is watching. It’s your call.
By WALTER BINGHAMFireworks explode behind police officers during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of African-American man George Floyd, in St Louis, Missouri, U.S., June 1, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/LAWRENCE BRYANT)
In our fast moving world, where science fiction has become a reality, where men and women are launched on rockets to explore space and no corner of our Earth remains undiscovered, it is inevitable that the English language has evolved reflecting the signs of our time.When one of the British queen’s subjects reaches centenarian age she no longer sends the famed telegram, but rather an Instagram. “Gay” no longer means happy, and a “hard disc” is far removed from a seized-up vertebrae. Naturally, new words have to be found for the constantly developing phenomena in the realm of science, medicine, technology, food and even law, where an informer becomes a whistle-blower and fake-news means lies.However, there is also a dark side in the development of language. There are words used by the underworld like “narc,” a police informer and others not fit to be printed.The latest buzzword used by the pseudo-historian wreckers of United States history is “Cancel Culture.” Americans are known to favor replacing the old with the brash ultra-modern. In New York, historic buildings have been torn down and been replaced with tasteless structures. The reason why Manhattan gets so unbearably hot in the summer is because of its concrete buildings that retain the heat and reach to the sky, preventing the flow of air. But I digress.The phobia of destroying the old has an even more sinister consequence. Many statues of America's ancient builders and benefactors, have fallen foul of a new breed of pseudo-intellectuals. Classics, whose content describes facets of history not to the liking of the new elite, are deemed unacceptable in their “new order.”One outstanding example is Gone With The Wind, the film based on the 1936 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Margaret Mitchell. The film received 12 Academy Awards; but because its set during the Civil War, it does not fit into the culture of the new epoch, centered on only Black Lives Matter! Inexplicably, HBO has succumbed to their pressure and withdrew that film from its repertoire.The new anti-fascists have acted like fascists. The Nazis who also called art that did not promote their philosophy “entartete Kunst” – degenerate art – and then destroyed it. Will Police Academy, Cops and similar shows have to go the same way?Is the Confederate flag no longer worthy of a place in American history? Is that why it’s being removed from some military establishments?Unfortunately, some reputable organizations, for reasons best known to themselves, are submitting to the demands of the anarchists, whose aim is to set up a radical socialist regime in the United States.What about Christopher Columbus, whose statues had already been taken down in several American cities? Are his epic journeys to be deleted from the American history books?
History is not to like or to dislike. History exists so that we learn from it; a truth that has escaped the rebels.This new order appears to be inspired by Antifa, the anti-fascist movement that acts more fascist than the Nazis who banned all history and culture of which they disapproved. The Nazi’s next step was to publicly burn such books. Will the anarchists follow this example?THE BRITISH say that the westerly winds carry all bad things across the North Atlantic and that this “Cancel Culture” craze has already made landfall in the UK.The statues of Robert Baden Powell, the founder of the Scout movement, have been temporally removed in three English cities by order of their city councils to protect them from the hooligans, hell-bent on wiping out his memory. They accused Baden-Powell of racism, homophobia and support for Adolf Hitler; yet according to historian Dr. Andrew Norman, the Nazis vowed to execute Baden-Powell in the event of a successful invasion of Britain.Even Churchill has been accused of racism, and his statue in London’s Parliament Square is in danger and has been protected.Seattle anarchists have erected a fence around seven downtown blocks and established an autonomous zone. Signs declare, “You are leaving the United States,” and guards secure the entrances against the police. When the mayor of that city was asked by CNN, “How long do you think Seattle and those few blocks will look like this?” she replied “I don't know. We could have a summer of love.”Some have referred to it as a street festival but surely not the traders within that area who are asked to contribute; a kind of protection money with all that this entails.All that, is happening in the country that was once the paradigm of freedom and democracy, the country to which millions of people from all over the world aspired to emigrate and live the American dream.In November, the US will hold its presidential election. It’s a two-party race with Republican incumbent Donald Trump hoping for a second term and the Democrat’s prospective nominee John Biden, formerly Barak Hussein Obama’s vice president, vying for his turn in the White House.Biden, who is perceived as weak, is strongly supported by the far-left radical socialists. They are masquerading as Democrats led by the so-called “Squad” – Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, who advocate the impractical Green New Deal and hope to be the power behind the throne or at least to influence Biden’s policies should he reach the Oval Office.In the past two weeks, the American people have experienced an unprecedented upheaval.In November they may have to choose between a society where the emergency number could be 311 instead of 911; where Social Services instead of the police could be the ones to attend to shootings and kidnappings. Alternatively, they could opt for the continuing administration headed by President Trump, who despite the temporary setbacks of COVID-19, achieved a flourishing economy and increased employment figures in all sectors of society. If re-elected, President Trump can be relied upon to establish and maintain law and order, so that the population can again safely go about their daily lives and shopkeepers can conduct their business without fear of lawless mobs.Americans – the free world is watching. It’s your call.The writer is the host of Walter’s World on Israel National Radio (Arutz 7) and The Walter Bingham File on Israel Newstalk Radio. Both in English.
