By John F. Di Leo -
The week of July 26 saw six days of memorial services for the late congressman, U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D, GA). Some were big events, with lots of people in attendance. Since he was a politician, he had politicians speaking at his nationally-televised funerals. And that’s certainly fair.
But here’s the odd thing…
I lost a very dear friend, a few months ago. Not from “The Virus”… no, she was 89, and she had been suffering from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's for 5 years. It was just old age.
She hasn't had her funeral yet.
In fact, her family has scheduled and then postponed her funeral service twice now, each time bumping it two months further out, figuring that HAD to be enough. But no. Not in 2020.
During this time, when regular folks haven't been ALLOWED to have funerals, the political left has staged massive events, from funerals to riots, for people like George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and John Lewis. Again and again, hundreds or even thousands of people in a room, and thousands more outside it, gathering to cheer political speeches…
…while the rest of us Americans have been denied our right to gather and mourn our loved ones in peace.
Now, if the left really meant it – if Democrat activists were all staying home too – then we might believe that they were just wrong, that’s all, and not accuse them of hypocrisy.
But no. The same politicians and their acolytes – from governors and mayors to state and local legislators and bureaucrats – who have shut down our factories, retailers, and theaters – the same people who have driven thousands of restaurants out of business and driven hotels, car rental chains, and airlines into bankruptcy by ordering them closed for the pandemic – have been perfectly happy to gather together for a funeral if it could be used to score political points.
This is the first time since the ratification of the Constitution – when city and state governments have so publicly violated the Bill of Rights on a daily basis. Forbidding commerce, forbidding free assembly, forbidding church and synagogue services, all in blatant disregard of our First and Fifth Amendment guarantees.
And why? All because – allegedly – letting people attend church services, even if masked, even if numbers were controlled, might allow The Virus to spread.
So they tell us.
And then, when they hear of a certain death – maybe of a famous person, maybe of an unknown with a marketable story – one that they think they can exploit for political points – then all those rules and fears are tossed out the window, as they plan their speaker lists, as they build up their impressive dais, and as they send out notices to the press that there’s a big event coming up; you’d better give it prime coverage.
The left will break any rule they set for others, if they can get some PR out of it. If it gives them any opportunity to make some speeches and attack the president on TV, they're all in.
What we have found, once again, to no one’s surprise, is that, while regular Americans aren't even "allowed" to hold wakes and funerals for our loved ones, the left can always manage to stage a political event.
As a result, with no other funerals taking place, anywhere, they are guaranteed massive news coverage, in this news blight that they have so carefully engineered – coincidentally enough – in a Presidential election year.
Personally, my primary prayer for this autumn is that the American voter processes this information, and comes to the only rational conclusion: that the Democratic party has indeed fallen even farther than any of us realized, and no longer deserves loyalty, contributions, or votes.
Would the Democratic Party of old have closed the factories where our breadwinners earned their living, closed the restaurants where our teenagers get their first jobs, closed the churches and theaters and park districts and sports stadiums that have tied their communities together? It’s inconceivable.
The modern Democratic Party is simply not the Democratic Party of our grandparents’ day.
Their 2020 overreach has made clear what every remaining Democrat must do this autumn:
#WalkAway. Just #WalkAway.
Copyright 2020 John F. Di Leo
John F Di Leo is a Chicagoland-based trade compliance trainer, writer, and actor. His columns have been found regularly in Illinois Review since 2009.
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