Thoughts on the Presidential Rally

The now infamous chant “send her back” that echoed through President Trump’s North Carolina rally last night has sent shockwaves through many citizens in our great country. This idea of mob fury, threatening the safety and citizenship of fellow American citizen based solely upon her political views is an anathema to the very construct on which this nation was founded.

While the origins of the American Revolution included elements of mob violence, especially in the doings of the Sons of Liberty, those tendencies were tempered by the more moderate voices in the Continental Congress and were refined in the fires of the Revolution itself. The steady and clear-eyed leadership of George Washington helped lead this country away from the excesses that could have engulfed it. Time and again the fledgling republic faced challenges that could have allowed the voices of the mob to take hold, but with a wise leader at the helm we endured and flourished. We did not go down the road of the French Revolution, which gave the example of what happens when mob rule governs.

Last night was the antithesis of what America stands for. It was vile. It was ugly. I do not agree with the congresswoman who was targeted on most any issue, but she is an American citizen and she has an absolute right to have and to express her views. She has a right to put forth her views in the halls of Congress. I am not afraid of her views. I am only afraid of what happens when people allow fear to govern their actions. I will protect any person to peacefully and lawfully share their ideologies. It is their right. It is what my ancestors fought for. It is why my father joined the military in the 1950s and why my brother was in the Air Force National Guard in the 1990s. It is why I am joining in the conversation, to make sure that all people continue to have the right to free speech.