This is Charles Martel coming to you from Florida for the Canada Free Press because without America, there is no free world.
Can America remain as one country? Should it? The question is no longer outrageous, not if we define outrage as something beyond the pale, far outside the norm. Any 30 second search on google or duck-duck-go will reveal scores of articles that detail counties wishing to join adjacent states, regions of some states wishing to become a separate state, and, most significantly, individual states that would like to secede from the union.
According to a YouGov poll taken the first week of February, with more than 35,000 people surveyed, in a response to the question, “Would you support your state seceding from the U.S.,” Alaska, perhaps unsurprisingly, had the highest percentage of people who wished the state could become its own country, with 36% of respondents wanting out of the US. But while that may not cause an eyebrow to raise, 31% of Texans and 29% of Californians, as well as 28% of New Yorkers and Oklahoman’s would support their states leaving the union.
This suggests there are plenty of people on both sides of the political divide that support secession. Perhaps of further interest, slightly over 30% of respondents felt states had a right to secede, while a little over 40% said there is no such right. This last bit adhered along party lines, with Republicans and independents evenly split on the question, while only roughly 1 in 5 Democrats, 22%, believe there is any right to secede. Indeed, nearly half of Dems, 49%, thought people wanting to secede were “mostly traitors.”
It seems to me that while there are plenty of people ready to leave the union, there are plenty of others prepared to fight to keep them in. Of course, that may not be so; it may be that those against division would simply yell and bluster but at the end of the day conclude that good riddance, don’t let the door hit you in the #, is better than killing people and running the risk of being killed. I have no idea. What I do know is that we absolutely cannot stay on the path we’re travelling and remain a single, unified nation.
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Further, of the most contentious issues of our time, there is no middle ground, no compromise, no give and take. It’s a zero-sum game: One side wins, the other side loses.
There is no compromise between communism and free market capitalism. A country has a controlled border, or it does not. Speech, so important to our Founding Fathers it was enshrined and protected by the Constitution’s First Amendment, is either free or it’s censored. Merit and character are either honored and observed, or people are judged by their skin color or gender. Children should be exposed to drag queen story hour, or they should not. We have a right to be armed, or we do not. The weaponizing of various institutions of government at political opponents is wrong or it is not.
Given that foundation, how do we pull back from the precipice of this abyss at which we find ourselves staring? Following are two seemingly disparate events which I believe offer opportunities, or at least shine a light, on what I believe is the single hope of our saving ourselves, which absolutely means saving the world, from a dark disaster with no known or foreseeable end.
I read a review of a movie last week that made me determined to see it. The film is directed by reliable, if thoughtful, Hollywood lefty George Clooney, and it is the true story of difficulties faced by the University of Washington rowing team members on their way to winning the 1936 gold medal in the Berlin Olympics.
At the time, it was overshadowed by Jesse Owen’s spectacular 4 gold medal triumph, and in the years since was nearly forgotten, only to be resurrected in 2013 in a non-fiction novel by Daniel James Brown titled: The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The movie is called, simply, The Boys in the Boat.
The story is a tale of overcoming enormous, seemingly insurmountable odds and adversity, including dire poverty of a kind unimaginable in our present time, to become a team, become one, the boat, the term meaning not only the vessel, but the men in it, and then actually triumphing on the Olympic stage in Berlin. It’s strong, athletic American men pulling in one direction with a determined goal, achieved victory, or dare I say it, supremacy. For good measure, a real life love story, one that lasted 63 years, accompanies the plot; and better yet, it is not degraded with graphic detail.
In short, Clooney, to his everlasting credit, has made an old time movie, and the public response on the online rating site Rotten Tomatoes has been overwhelmingly good, with 97% giving it a positive review. On the other hand, among professional critics, only 58% have reviewed the film favorably. Among their criticisms are found, “too pasty,” “too Abercrombie and Fitch,” “no diversity.” Hmm.
Some time in the next few days, Judge Scott McAfee is to rule whether or not Fulton County AG Fani Willis is to be struck from the case against Donald Trump and nearly 20 other co-defendants. That Willis and her paramour, Nathan Wade, lied in testimony is simply undeniable to any honest person. That there should be an investigation into the two for corruption that could lead to disbarment and, potentially, prison, is equally obvious. And that Ms Willis made a fool of herself in what is charitably described as unhinged behavior during her testimony and in so doing underlined the dangers of affirmative action, is also objective assessment.
However, rumor has it that Judge McAfee fears that if Willis is thrown off this case for being a liar, every defendant sent to prison by her office will petition the court to have their convictions tossed because, well, the DA is now a proven liar.
In addition, McAfee, who was initially appointed to his judgeship but must now stand for election, has an attorney with a kind of Al Sharpton bent who says he plans to qualify to run against McAfee in a county that voted 72% for Joe Biden.
What in the world do central players in a movie and a trial have in common, and how does that relate to the nation’s present predicament?
Clooney and McAfee share an opportunity to exhibit courage. And in both instances, it may cost them…It could cost them financially, socially, and reputationally…Or perhaps not. Perhaps it’s a chance to show the elites they are outnumbered and they will certainly be challenged. Clooney needs to publicly call out critics who decry his picture because it’s too white or too triumphalist; he needs to criticize the critics, loudly and unequivocally. And McAfee needs to do what justice and the law demand, the circumstances be damned.
Whatever sacrifice is entailed, and, obviously, McAfee’s risk is greater than Clooney’s, neither will suffer damage too great to overcome. Men and women of much humbler background and achievement have given their lives so Clooney and McAfee could weigh in comfort whether or not to play it safe in this moment. Now is the time to stand up; history will not only exonerate them, it will honor them. Courage only exists where there is risk.
I need to extend this line of logic: Over the last few years we’ve witnessed outstanding reporting and commentary from Matt Taibbi, Sasha Stone, Bari Weiss, Glen Greenwald, and Michael Shellenberger, to name the most prominent, all reporters or commentators firmly rooted in liberal conviction, and all of whom have awakened to the dangers posed today by American progressives. The same can be said of entertainer/commentators Joe Rogan and Bill Maher. But we’re coming near to a time when objective observation and revulsion is not enough.
These people and others like them, men and women who are, as one might say, awake, to the totalitarian danger posed by the left in America are going to have to publicly pick a side.
No matter how at odds they are with some on the right over abortion or religion or guns, or whatever it is that makes them the most angry with conservatives, they’ve already admitted, many times over, that in this moment progressives pose a far greater danger. That if we’re not to come to a point of convulsive violence and division, then we must insure change at the ballot box.
The time is nearing when the people I’ve named and many others who cherish good will and believe in this country as founded, are going to have to engage in public support of Donald Trump’s candidacy. Anything short of that is a tacit advocacy for Joe Biden. There is no hiding; it absolutely takes courage; there is no guarantee of success, but it is very possible that failure will bring punishment. But as with Clooney and McAfee, it’s time to show your grit.
Like it or not, Donald Trump is the man of the hour; he is the man whose time has come. It is easy and fair to be at odds with his temperament, his character, his ego; I don’t care, we need a samurai, a warrior politician. His detractors may not want him at the Sunday dinner table, but we need him leading the alley fight in which we’re now engaged. That realization has become crystal clear. This battle is about survival: Will we remain one country or succumb to Balkanization? Like it or not, and doubtless counterintuitively to his lefty critics, Donald Trump is our last and only opportunity and chance to avoid cataclysm. It’s time to say it out loud.
On another note, there has been a noticeable uptick of listeners in my recent podcasts. I want to thank the listeners and thank Judi and Brian at Canada Free Press. More listeners mean it’s easier for them to keep the lights on. Please feel free to paste my podcasts on your own social media sites or pass them to friends.
This is Charles Martel, until next time.
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Charles Martel, laying down the Hammer for Canada Free Press
Charles can be found on Rumble and on Spotify as @CharlesMartelCFP
