Dakota Beacon

It seems that one thing a pandemic does is get people’s characters out of the closet and puts people's personalities front and center.  Everyone has his own reaction to this new and scary situation. We’ve been inundated by visions of pop celebrities “roughing it” in secluded splendor via youtube and their selfie cameras.  Some of us wish we could unsee Madonna in her tub, for example, telling us amid a scattering of rose petals and bubbles that this is the “great equalizer”. Not really, Madonna. You aren’t having a soak while you ponder where you will go when you lose your house.  Others have been criticized for similar tasteless “shelter in some fabulous place” videos while those lucky enough to be living indoors at least, and have access to your selfies, are probably living in some 300-square-foot one-bedroom apartment with paper walls and no yard to walk in.  

But that’s the least of it - that’s just people getting above themselves, not really setting out to be nasty - they are just clumsy and tactless.  What is astonishing, though, to a normal person at least, is the acidic attitude and the breathtaking ingratitude of people in the press and the media when someone comes forward to help.

One thing that happens in America is that due to a capitalist system, there are highly successful industries of all kinds, there are all kinds of factories, all kinds of experts, technicians, and above all, innovators and inventors whose talents and abilities come into play when the chips are really down.  President Trump, in recent press conferences, has offered what information he has to be conveyed to an anxious public. He has been asked why he doesn’t “force” companies to produce what things are needed in this crisis, why he doesn’t authorize a government takeover, nationalizing these businesses. (This is a solid indication of what they hope will be the end result of a really shattering disaster - a government takeover of business and an end of capitalism.)  Trump has said clearly, that we don’t do that in America, and anyway, businesses are coming forward on their own to offer needed services and products.  

Ford and GM, for example, are gearing up to produce affordable ventilators.  If we can stay at home long enough there might be enough to go around if they are needed.  Other companies, such as Hanes, are offering to produce face masks, of which we have a shortage.  Today, Mike Lindell, an open, unapologetic Christian businessman, was introduced.  His company, MyPillow, is going to produce face masks. He had a few words for the public, basically, while we’re all at home it’s a good time to read the Bible.  Well, that’s not the worst idea, and no one is going to force you to act on it, but the vitriolic response to this man, whose entrepreneurial enterprise has equipped him to step up when needed to offer this, was astonishing.  Talk about hate speech! Twitter was blitzed by what pop culture celebrities, such as Samantha Bee and others. (One cannot help but wonder, what if Lindell were a devout Muslim and advocated reading the Qu’ran while we were at home.  What would these celebrities have to say about that? Because to attack his suggestion in that case would be categorized as “hate speech”, you can be sure.)

I would have to ask these people and all of those who got a good belly laugh out of their sarcasm and rude ingratitude, “What, exactly, can you offer?  And don’t tell us it’s your great humor to lighten our hearts because you haven’t been funny in anyone’s memory.” The bottom line is that the left and their peanut gallery, the media jockeys, have nothing to offer.  Their ridicule is what they offer, their sarcasm and their snotty comments. Unfortunately, snottiness and ugly comments don’t come in the least handy when someone you love is struggling to breathe and needs a ventilator, and might not have become ill if someone had come through with a face mask in time.  

In contrast, on the “far right” as Canadian freedom fighter and commentator Ezra Levant is labeled by these people, he took about fifteen minutes on his show to acknowledge the leadership, as he saw it, of New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo.  He often disagrees with Cuomo’s positions on issues, he is not a fan of Cuomo’s brother’s news network, CNN, and said as much, but he did not mock leadership or public service which Cuomo is demonstrating at the moment.  He noted that Cuomo is leading well during a time of crisis and Cuomo’s appreciation for federal help in New York’s time of need showed him in a very positive light. It is often this way. In our era, people on the left who will show appreciation for those who are being helpful to the public in time of crisis are few and far between if those helping are from the right.  It is a one-way street.

So if anyone out there on the “far left” wants to come forward and commit his successful manufacturing plant and his workforce and financial resources and materiel to the fight against this virus, I, for one, will honestly thank him.  But it seems that the kind of help we need requires a factory, which means a company, and that entails - God forbid - a CEO.  

We owe a debt to these CEOs who are doing what they can with their great resources to help people from across the political spectrum.  They deserve thanks, not a kick in the groin for providing desperately needed goods. Perhaps this is one of the sad consequences of a generation of kids being raised in daycare.  Their mothers never taught them any manners.

Comments:  (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)