Tags

, , , , , , ,

In Gunsplaining In Good Faith, I mentioned Virginia Legislature Delegate Nicholas Freitas (R) who recently absolutely horrified and stunned the Democrats of that institution with a “fiery” speech about the Second Amendment. 

So incendiary was his rhetoric, so overpowering his delivery, it left Democrats “stunned,” many were forced to flee the chamber, and others demanded a recess, apparently to recover from the horror of it all.

One Graham Moomaw, a reporter with The Richmond Times-Dispatch, noted:

Moomaw neglected to mention the context of Freitas’ comment. He was reminding Democrats their party was the party of slavery, of denying women suffrage, of segregation, of Japanese internment, and a variety of other evils, and not for just an election cycle, but for much of American history. He was careful to say he did not believe any currently serving Delegate shared those sentiments, but Democrats needed to understand blaming Republicans for Democrat’s past sins did not encourage sincere debate or cordial relations.

In an article that followed the speech, Moomaw continued in that vein:

During Monday’s floor session, Del. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, the chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, called Freitas’ comments ‘hateful and divisive,’ adding that he wanted to put all legislators on notice that ‘our heritage will not be used as a political football.’

Bagby said many Democrats saw Freitas’ comments — suggesting ‘abortion, welfare, family structure and a litany of other stereotypes’ are also factors in the gun-violence problem — as racial ‘dog whistling.’

‘We realize that we live in a ugly political moment. So while we were offended, we were not surprised,’ Bagby said. ‘It should embarrass every member of this body that we have allowed such rhetoric to enter these chambers. Bringing up a very painful past to make a political point is disgusting and poisonous.

By all means, gentle readers, take the link to Conservative Review and see the speech. It was not “fiery,” Freitas wasn’t shouting or angry, but it was certainly effective. You’ll notice none of Freitas’ detractors actually try to address any of the facts in the calm and unassailably logical and fact-filled speech. It is its very effectiveness, honesty, and gravity that so horrify Democrats.

As to delegate Bagby, he’s crying “RACIST!” Citing a “racist dog whistle” is a common tactic of the rhetorically deficient when their opponents are manifestly not racists, and they haven’t said, or even implied, anything a rational person could perceive as racist, so one must magically perceive things never said, meanings never intended. Like Moomaw, he ignores the context of Freitas’ remarks and plays the race card, in effect, saying: “you’re wrong because shut up you racist.” It was Frietas who provided a brief history lesson, a lesson entirely factual and true, asking Democrats not to libel Republicans with lies about the past sins of Democrats. Frietas was asking that Democrats no longer resort to name calling and insults so all could debate honorably.

How does one insult black heritage by simply and entirely accurately, reviewing history? Democrats were the party of slavery and all manner of racial ills. It was Democrats that violently opposed civil rights legislation. Bull Connor, among the most vicious racists, was a Democrat and a Democratic National Committeeman at a time when there were few such, and their influence was great. I recently wrote in Condeleezza Rice: Race And Gun Control, of Rice’s appearance on The View, where, like Freitas, she horrified the audience, and it’s overwhelmingly Leftist hosts, with a true story of how her father and his friends saved the lives of their families when under attack by armed, white, Democrat racists. It was Democrat Robert Byrd–no Republican–the longest serving member of the Senate, who was a high-ranking Klansman. To be fair, in his later years, Byrd apologized for his Klan beliefs and acts, which is rather Frietas’ point: don’t project the sins of the pasts of others onto contemporary political opponents. Calling people with no racial animas, who have committed no racial sin racist is itself racist. And of course, Bagby and his Democrat colleagues cannot refute Freitas and his reasonable, constitutional arguments, so deflection and distraction are their default response.

Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, who walked off the floor Friday rather than listen to Freitas, also rose Monday to address what she called ‘insensitivity and disrespect’ that deflected from the issue of gun violence.

‘Let us not bring in things that would be hurtful and painful to people who have to live in a skin that some of you will never know and have to endure a reality that being black in America is sometimes difficult,’ McQuinn, who is African-American, told the majority-white chamber.

How dare Freitas speak the truth? How dare he correct Democrat lies and libels? Perhaps McQuinn and Bagby might address their pain by recognizing that Democrats have never served Black Americans, and that Donald Trump, in only a little more than a year, has done far more for the welfare of Blacks than the entire Democrat Party. One would think Black Democrats would be appreciative of the facts outlined by Freitas: The Democrat party is no longer the party of racism, and Freitas doesn’t believe any of his colleagues are racists, nor would he call them such.

Notice too the formulation: “majority-white chamber,” as though that observation somehow validates the racism of Bagby and McQuinn. According to the last census, a bit over 12% of the American population is Black. If the Virginia legislature is going to “look like America,” as Leftists often cry, they’ve achieved their goal there.

Freitas merely corrected the record, exposed Democrat libel and insincerity, asked for sincere and respectful debate, and provided facts and reason on the evolution of the Democrat Party and on the Gun Control debate, none of which his detractors have dared refute. Is it any wonder Republicans don’t trust Democrats on this, and any other, issue?

The behavior of the Virginia Democrats, and particularly the members of its Black Caucus, is shameful, but representative of the national Democrat Party and some of its black members. It is virtually a plank of their party platform to lie about the past oppression of Black Americans by their Democrat predecessors. They must still try to keep alive the fiction that America is an inherently racist country, though it was Republicans who changed it against their vicious and fervent opposition, and Republicans that have made true racists the social pariahs they deserve to be. It is also Democrat dogma that government can and will provide for and protect Blacks, in part by disarming them. That hasn’t worked out so well in black neighborhoods, and gun control will do nothing to change that.

Again, gentle readers, view Freitas’ speech. It’s time well spent, and then, please give your opinion? Was it fiery? Is he a racist? Should anyone have been horrified by what he said?