One of my Senators (R-OK) introduced an amendment to Senator Cornyn’s (R-TX) bill proposing that Juneteenth become a national holiday. The amendment is to replace Columbus Day for Juneteenth. I got so fired up I sat down and wrote the letter below. I will be sending it to Senators Lankford and Ron Johnson (R-WI) who is a co-sponsor. I don’t take issue with making Juneteenth a national holiday, but why take away Columbus Day? (I know why, of course.) What have conservatives managed to conserve??
Dear Senator Lankford,
I thought it must have been a mistake when I saw that an Oklahoma Senator – a Republican – had introduced an amendment to Senator Cornyn’s bill that would replace Columbus Day with Juneteenth. But, no, the news was correct. If you cannot stand for perhaps the most important figure after George Washington from our nation’s history, when will you stand, Senator?
- Will you stand when they cry that the name “District of Columbia” be changed?
- If not then, will you stand when the Marxist mob calls for the destruction of the Lincoln Memorial?
- If not then, will you stand when they come for the Jefferson Memorial?
- If not then, will you stand in front of the mob that would blow up Mount Rushmore?
- If not then, will you stand when they demand that the National Anthem be replaced?
- If not then, will you stand when burning Old Glory is not enough and its imagery and history must be wiped away, too?
- If not then, will you at long last stand when the raging, ignorant, anti-freedom mob screams that the United States of America must itself be renamed and destroyed in order to atone for its past sins?
Because, Senator, we are at that place right now. The pointless gesture of replacing Columbus Day with Juneteenth will provide relief and healing and restitution to precisely no one. The demands will not end until what little still unites us has been obliterated. Christopher Columbus was a remarkable figure and a great man. Those who disparage him spout a poisoned version of his history. What have the mobs done except to destroy and defile? Of what lasting, positive value will be their contribution to society, to civilization, to the world?
If you do not recognize that a cultural revolution is being waged right now while our representatives either remain silent or aid and abet the enemies from within, then I suggest, Senator, that you take a stroll outside of the bubble. Take a look at the empty, spray-painted plinths, the boarded-up windows, the burnt-out cars, the closed businesses, and most especially at the cowards in their hoodies and face masks wielding clubs and guns, intimidating and attacking God-fearing, good, patriotic Americans. That is not a world I want to live in, Senator. Take a stand now or lose your nation, my nation – our nation forever.
11 replies on “Replacing History: My Cowardly Republican Senator”
Oklahoma used to be conservative, in belief and action – I grew up in Oklahoma, but moved away when I was 19. I still have family there. I’m sorry to know some of the same progressive nonsense is being promoted in my home state. I believe most of the people in Oklahoma are still conservative. Thank you for speaking up and letting your voice be heard. Too many of us are silent.☹️
Lynda, typically the strong blue areas are in the 2 major cities. Out where I live and I suspect in other rural areas, it’s still conservative. At some point the blue will out-vote the red, though, as we are seeing in Texas. There seem to be lot more California license plates here – and large pieces of land being offered for what would be ridiculously high prices for the average Oklahoman – but very good deals for someone from CA looking to relocate.
Please respond to this comment with a simple statement that you can see it. I saw a strange pop-up stating that the sender was blacklisted when I posted my comment about Lankford.
I can see your comment🙂
I can see your comment as well, Michael.
Lankford is one of my senators. I went to a town hall that he held several years ago. I submitted a question and my question was picked randomly. My question was why are we talking about amnesty when history shows that it does not work? I further stated that The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was theoretically created to solve the issue, making people here illegally and stopping further illegal immigration. It seems obvious that the Democrats had no intention of stopping illegal immigration as it would eventually give them more voters (approx. 80% of the immigrants vote Democrat). It turned out that Republicans did not want to stop it either. It appears that the Chamber of Commerce loves more people competing for jobs to lower wages.
Lankford responded by dodging the question, saying that many people are here illegally by overstaying their visas. That was it. He did not say anything further. He should have said that he opposed amnesty, was willing to enforce the border and support going after people overstaying their visas. He loves his job too much to create any waves. I am disgusted with him.
Thanks for the additional info on Lankford, Michael. Too bad he’s not up for re-election until 2022.
Given Ron Johnson is my senator, I did hear his reasoning and I can agree with it, even if I suspect it might lead to some of the same messaging you list: the government doesn’t need any more paid days off with the budget shortfall we already have.
In a way, I would count Columbus less a factor in the American (US) history than some other people. He was American in spirit, willing to go where others had not to explore and discover but his contribution to us is mostly just to find the place. We could name a few other Englishmen and Frenchmen that did more to discover and explore the North continent than the Central and Gulf islands.
I do not remember who, but Ron did echo a comment made that it would be good to more formally recognize and celebrate the freeing of the slaves. The original made the point that it was Republicans that did so, and the election of the first Republican president was the last straw for the Democrats in the south. I do not suspect many minds would be changed by pointing that out unless they were already open to the idea of leaving the Democrats, having seen them for what they are but it would still be a worthy effort nonetheless.
Good points, Karl. An earlier draft mentioned Columbus being important to the continent rather than our nation specifically, but it came off as rather clunky. Having said that, Christopher Columbus is inextricably linked to our nation – just look at how many places around the country are named after him. Whether other explorers deserve more recognition or not, Columbus is a symbol of the nation. Senator Lankford works, after all, in the District of Columbia.
Apparently Columbus Day is the least celebrated national holiday and that was also cited as a reason. (Frankly, with the way our government spends, using expense as an excuse is laughable.) My issue is with the timing and the message this amendment sends. At some point the line has to be drawn. We know tomorrow will undoubtedly be very ugly at Mt. Rushmore. Perhaps if we had stopped this statue-toppling and renaming madness earlier, we wouldn’t be anticipating a volatile situation on our most important national holiday.
Well I don’t know about the others, but Johnson got into government due to the TEA Party movement from running his own sizable business. He has stated he won’t be running for a third term, two was all he intended when running the first time, so I would take his issues about gov debt at face value.
I have no doubt that there are individuals in Congress who are concerned about the finances and do what they can to address the spending. Johnson may be one of the good guys – I don’t know anything about him. My comment about that was more general. Our government wastes an awful lot. One national holiday here or there is a drop in the bucket. IMO, Lankford is signaling that he is one of the “good” conservatives, picking an already maligned holiday to toss out in placation to the mob. No one is going to stick their head above the parapet to defend Columbus.