Bum’s Rush

The news last week included some libels (and slanders) of radio commentator Rush Limbaugh.  Those of us that sometimes listen to Rush know that he is very bright, often caustic, sometimes egotistical and many other things, he is often abrasive, but almost always right, but above all fair and truthful.  The big story was that he wanted to buy into the St. Louis Rams football franchise.

Immediately, presumably because of the presence of a large African American contingent on the player roster, icons of reverse racism like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and members of the liberal press began to rail about anti black quotes and racial slurs that he had made, quoting some of his alleged comments.

The problem was, proved after a day or so, that he had not made the comments attributed to him … the quotes were lies.  Rush seems to have a prima facie cause of action.

So what’s the problem?  Well, let’s go back to the founding fathers.  The American experiment began legally, I guess, with the Declaration of Independence.  The founders were students of the Enlightenment, trying to understand man’s place in the Universe.  Having been chattels of the King of England, they were very cognizant of the requirements of being a free man.  Freedom rests upon rights, the Rights of Man.  A little reflection on your part will allow you to conclude, as they did, that no man has sufficient standing to give another those Rights.  The Rights of Man exist now and have always existed … they were here at the beginning, or if you prefer were God given, they came from the Creator or if you don’t want to offend people of diverse beliefs, the Grand Architect of the Universe.

As Jefferson so eloquently put it “… all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the … “.   He explained all men are equal (under the law), and he implied they are free to enjoy God given rights.  Our founders, our parents, all the generations down to us believed that.

And what did our Creator demand of us?  It was pretty simple, and written in stone.  Thou shalt not-s.   We all know what that is about … don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t covet, don’t swear and so on.  And those laws were brought in to focus by the Christ given, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

What happened to Rush … a “Bum’s Rush”…  if you please, was “thou shalt not bear false witness.”

This is a despicable tactic used more and more by the Left and I have condemned it before, it is:

DEMONIZATION

The real sin of bearing false witness is that once the lie is told it can’t be untold.  Rush will always be remembered by some, maybe many, as a racist because of these lies, although we who care to know know that he is not.  The people who demonize are very cognizant of this.  The tactic is to tell the lie, with the hope of ruining someone or of gaining some advantage over him by destroying as much of his reputation as possible and then, when the heat is on, to scurry away or lie some more to protect oneself.

We must become aware of this tactic and resist and revile the perpetrators, for they attack not only the innocent, but also all of us.  They are attacking human freedom, our freedom.