Disunion is BORN of Inequality

In the President’s Inaugural Address, I heard a lot of talk about UNITY… but there was little talk of EQUALITY.

Disunion is BORN of Inequality. 

 

Unequal pay for women restricts Liberty by creating financial barriers; restricting access to education, job opportunities, and financial security. Without the affirmative protection of Equal Standing, the rights of women are subject to change at the discretion of whomever holds elected office.

 

Unequal application of the law gives rise to LIES by creating an apparent enemy where there is NONE. Mandatory minimum sentences for drug charges, imposed disproportionately upon communities of color, create the illusion of a “trend”. But in reality, if those laws were enforced EQUALLY we would see that addiction impacts the lives of ALL Americans, without regard for the color of our skin.

 

Systemic Inequality makes it possible for a white man to yell and scream at an officer of the law with NO FEAR, while a black man is killed in front of his children while breaking NO LAWS. 

 

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Inequality enrages protesters to march in the streets for CHANGE, where they are met by Federal Agents firing tear gas and flash grenades. Inequality makes it possible for a violent MINORITY to successfully storm our Capitol with NO RESISTANCE from the National Guard, intentionally…

 

Because it would have looked bad. 

 

 

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Inequality creates separate classes of citizens; where one group follows a specific set of rules, and the other is exempt from any accountability when those rules are violated.

 

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Inequality causes people to lose faith that their voice is being heard, and leads them to look for alternative methods to elevate their opinions. Inequality reinforces the belief that the system is rigged, and because of that fact, there is no other way… 

 

All because of the perception of Inequality.

All because of the REALITY of Inequality.

 

We can have Union without Equality, but without Equality… that Union will not last. Do we need Justice? Yes, but the need for that Justice was created within a system that is currently unjust. A system that is lacking in Equality. A system where Justice is determined based on the amount of money you have. The injustice and disunion only grows because of Inequality. 

 

Equal_pay

… 

 

The People of the United States have declared, by their VOTE, that Women should have EQUAL STANDING under our Constitution. Thirty-eight States have now voted to Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, guaranteeing Equality for Women and Girls. It is SELF-EVIDENT… equality cannot wait.

 

Now is the time for our new President and our new Congress to act. Thirty-eight of the fifty States… 76% of the United States DEMANDS Equality! Let us celebrate our new Constitutional Amendment and RATIFY EQUALITY.

 

100 years is Long Enough. 

 

Equal. Means. Equal. 

 

-JC 

Act as if it Would Happen Again

The odds of being struck by a tornado in the Great State of Kansas are 1 in 4.5 million.

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https://www.kansas.com/news/weather/tornado/article213923139.html

As I’ve said before… when you live where the Twisters live, you MUST be prepared! It’s a matter of LIFE or DEATH.

When I was a younger man, I had a friend with a pickup truck. When the sirens would sound, we’d try and chase down the path of the tornadoes as they rolled through Olathe. We never got “lucky” enough to see one, but we saw more than our share of extreme weather events. Massive hail, rotating straight-line winds, fallen trees… mild, compared to what we wanted to see.

Some years we would chase down one or two storms. Some years, it was one storm every 3 or 4 DAYS. We even crossed paths with the “professionals”. A little pat on the back for ourselves, knowing we were close.

Understanding how these systems work is key when doing something so dangerous. Being able to read the radar and satellite returns accurately, then taking that information and applying it to events unfolding on the ground in real time, is crucial. Miss one piece of data, and you end up right in front of the storm.

As random and chaotic as they are, to a certain degree these storms are predictable; and living in this State means we are ALL required to have a degree in meteorology! Well… at least, an intimate knowledge of how the weather works.

The tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, changed all that for me. That one was a beast of another kind. The speed at which it traveled. The speed of the winds within the system. The trail of destruction it left behind and the suddenness with which it appeared… they only had moments to react.


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https://hollybaumannphotography.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/two-months-later-joplin-tornado-recovery-efforts/

 

These systems were starting to Change. 

 

Understanding this, I had to consider not only my safety, but the safety of my children. It was obvious a simple ‘hide in the basement’ strategy would no longer be sufficient. Had that storm dropped over my home… there would have been nothing left. 

I had to act as if it would happen again. So we constructed a storm shelter in our basement, based on FEMA designs, that could withstand an EF5 tornado.

THIS TIME it was Joplin. Next time, we might not be so fortunate. 

 

 

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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-tornado-that-saved-washington-33901211/

 

“On the night of August 24, 1814, British troops led by Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn marched on Washington, D.C. and set fire to most of the city. Dolley Madison famously saved the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington and a copy of the Declaration of Independence before she fled to nearby Georgetown.

The British didn’t stay long, though; their occupation lasted just 26 hours. What happened?”

 

 

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https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-tornado-that-stopped-the-burning-of-washington/

 

“George Robert Gleig, a British soldier on the scene, detailed what happened next in his memoirs as the severe thunderstorm rolled into the city in the afternoon.

‘Of the prodigious force of the wind it is impossible for you to form any conception. Roofs of houses were torn off by it, and whisked into the air like sheets of paper, while the rain which accompanied it resembled the rushing of a mighty cataract rather than the dropping of a shower,’ Gleig wrote.”

 

 

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This isn’t about Donald Trump or Joe Biden. This isn’t about Republican vs. Democrat. This is about the FUTURE of our Nation, and what it is we want that future to BE.

RIGHT NOW, before all the nuance and intricacy. The endless debates over the delicate balance between our individual Liberty and the necessity of the government to defend itself from ALL enemies, both foreign and domestic. Before the political posturing and deliberative delays, we have a chance to declare exactly where we STAND.

Do we now support those who would incite violent actions for political gain? That is a slippery slope, and we all know where it will lead us in the END.

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We have come SO FAR! And the only way we keep moving FORWARD is by taking a STAND. After having been within that majestic building, I can’t imagine how anyone would allow these actions to stand as precedent for a future President.

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Had those people stopped and looked around them, they would have seen the scars from the LAST TIME our Capitol was taken by force. In such a hallowed hall, in the People’s House, it’s not about who resides within that building…

It’s about the ideals for which those hallowed halls continue to STAND.

… and may they STAND for another 207 YEARS without this happening again.

-JC

Where Should We Draw the Line.

Is there an ‘acceptable level’?

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https://thehill.com/homenews/531242-pennsylvania-trump-supporter-charged-with-voter-fraud 


Because we ALL know, if we look real hard…

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https://www.kcrg.com/2020/12/13/internal-audit-of-2020-iowa-caucuses-points-blame-at-national-democratic-party/


… we can definitely find it!

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https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/14/16640082/donna-brazile-warren-bernie-sanders-democratic-primary-rigged

How deep of a dive should we take?

 

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https://www.chron.com/politics/texas/article/Voting-machine-errors-changed-some-Texans-13339298.php


To what lengths should we go to find “fraud”?



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https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf

And who’s to say, if that evidence doesn’t fit a particular narrative…

would it even be heard?

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When people decide they want to go around and start throwing stones…

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https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/02/ted-cruz-electoral-college-challenge-453430


… we should always consider the SOURCE of that violence.


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https://www.marketwatch.com/story/lawmakers-who-take-the-most-money-from-the-gun-rights-lobby-2017-10-03

Because at the end of the day, we ALL know what the problem IS

 

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/04/us/politics/maria-butina-nra-russia-influence.html

Our elected officials work for the people who got them elected…

THE DONORS.

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https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals

And those DONORS invest in these candidates, not to advance the agendas of the American People, but to further their own agendas…

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-a-mcconnell-backed-effort-to-lift-russian-sanctions-boosted-a-kentucky-project/2019/08/13/72b26e00-b97c-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html


… by gaining access to opportunity and KNOWLEDGE.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/politics/richard-burr-stocks-sold-coronavirus.html

One side of this Constitutional debate is CORRUPT, while the other side is inept due to CORRUPTION…

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https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=5541

… all while ignoring the opinion of the MAJORITY of this nation.

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https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/nov/01/republican-senators-oppose-clinton-supreme-court-nominee

Just as it was in 2016, the rules of this contest were written well in advance. To change them NOW, after the fact, dishonors the Will of every American who voted this November.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/03/trump-republicans-reject-biden-win-expose-flawed-democracy-column/4118231001/

Our future National Security lies in the hands of elected officials who are BEHOLDEN to CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS, and they have shown they are willing to go to great lengths to satisfy those interests above all else.

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https://www.npr.org/2016/07/21/486874336/cruz-says-he-wont-be-a-servile-puppy-dog-to-trump-campaign


Who’s to say where they will STAND tomorrow.

-JC

(Page layout and structure updated 11/20/2021 -JC)