There were two messages on the Fourth of July that highlight the choice voters have in November.
One was, “We believe that our children should be taught to love their country, honor their history, and respect our great American flag. We stand tall, we stand proud, and we only kneel to Almighty God.”
The other was, “Black [people] have been dehumanized, brutalized, criminalized [and] terrorized by America for centuries, [and] are expected to join your commemoration of ‘independence’, while you enslaved our ancestors. We reject your celebration of white supremacy.”
The first quote was said by President Donald Trump last weekend at Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The second was a tweet by Colin Kaepernick. The public messages by presidential hopeful Joe Biden and other Democrats echoed those of the former National Football League quarterback, denigrating America rather than focusing on our greatness.
President Trump, who unveiled powerful campaign themes in his Independence Day remarks, also blasted those calling for the removal of American monuments, likening them to angry mobs that are “trying to tear down statues of our founders [and] deface our most sacred memorials.”
The day after Trump’s remarks, events proved this was not mere rhetoric or fear-mongering — a favorite phrase of Democrats to deflect legitimate criticism — when a statue of Christopher Columbus near Baltimore’s Little Italy was torn down with rope and dragged into the Harbor by vandals. Later, a 12-foot Columbus statue was beheaded in Waterbury, Connecticut by more criminals.
This is on top of statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and others being vandalized and torn down throughout the country. Does anyone doubt that if the Statue of Liberty was not surrounded by water it would also be a target today?
Democrats, including Biden, can’t bring themselves to unequivocally condemn these actions because it would mean offending their far-left radical base.
This is similar to the silence of Democrats in New York City relating to our crime surge. Just over the Fourth of July weekend, 49 people were shot and nine were killed across the Five Boroughs. For the week of June 29 through July 5, murder was up 50 percent citywide, according to NYPD statistics. There was also a 206 percent increase in shooting victims, and a 185 percent spike in shooting incidents compared to the same week last year.
It was heartbreaking to see a dad shot and killed in broad daylight in the Bronx last week while holding his seven-year old daughter’s hand. What was the reaction of New York City Democrats? Deafening silence. No protests, no chants, no tweets, and zero press conferences for all these Black lives lost and damaged at the hands of criminals — not cops.
Of course, the cat did not have their tongue when they were bashing the Police Department over every alleged accusation of police misconduct during the looting and protests, or when they supported cuts to the NYPD budget, or pushing for bail reform.
For the sake of public safety and American history, voters need to make sure their voices are heard on Election Day.
Bob Capano has worked for Brooklyn Republican and Democrat elected officials, and has been an adjunct political science professor for over 15 years. Follow him on twitter @bobcapano.
