May 18, 2021
A Veterans Thoughts: Are We Still a Freedom Loving Country?
By: Ski Ingram
As the saying goes, “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and you can fool
some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” It
feels to me that this is what the Biden administration is attempting, to fool all the people
all of the time. That has never worked and it won’t work now.
Here is one way they try to fool you. The late Richard Cloward and his wife Frances Fox Piven were college professors who penned an article in the ‘60’s that was published in
The Nation, a leading liberal political and cultural magazine. They titled it “The Weight of
the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty.” Their article suggested that the government could
invent a crisis so big that the only way to fix that crisis was for the government to take
charge, thereby making it easier to enact new laws in which to control the population.
This was not a completely new idea. It was Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), the Italian
Renaissance diplomat, philosopher and writer who first said “never waste a good crisis.”
Albert Einstein later said “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” We all
remember when Rahm Emanuel said “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.
And what I mean by that [is] it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do
before.” I believe this is how governors and mayors all over America justified shutting
down cities and states over Covid. As they exercised power, they wanted more for
themselves. And now they can’t let go.
When you team up Cloward and Piven’s ideas with those of Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for
Radicals” we have a recipe for disaster which could very well lead to socialism in
America. Alinsky wrote thirteen rules that would help to destroy the fabric of America.
Five of his rules are listed here.
1. “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Political
power is derived from two main sources – money and people.” The Left gains “people”
by buying them with government giveaway programs and by sanctioning illegal
immigrants.
5. “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s used to force
enemies into concessions. We have witnessed this tactic continually during the four
years of the Trump administration.
8. “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” For years America has been bombarded with
global warming, political correctness, Covid, impeachment, and the so-called
insurrection by Trump loyalists.
9. “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” The imagination is capable
of picturing far more consequences than any real threat. Think back on the many changes we have endured over the past year. The government has used Covid to frighten people so much that they are now afraid to be in a room with their loved ones. The CDC is now advising us to wear two masks in order to protect ourselves.
13. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” They are very adept at
cutting off their rival’s support network and divorcing them from any sympathy. They go
after people. They hurt them and threaten them. Still today, we see the Left trying their
best to hurt Trump and all who support him.
For years people dismissed Cloward and Piven and Saul Alinsky as part of the fringe
Left. In fact, few took them seriously until lately. Today we find these concepts
discussed in the mainstream media and on Capitol hill. It’s past time for every man and
woman to wake up to what is going on around them. Half of this nation no longer
believes we have free and fair elections. We are seeing how Biden is acting more like a
King than a president when he bypasses Congress and signs Executive Orders that
affect so many citizens in order to please those who helped get him elected.
There is more talk about implementing a “Reality Czar” much like the “Ministry of Truth”
in the book “1984.” Cancel culture is working hard to terminate our free speech and our
free exercise of religion. We no longer have a free press. If you do not agree with
certain segments of society you will be vilified and hated on social media and in the
press. President Biden is signaling that he is planning to do his best to restrict the
Second Amendment.
Ronald Reagan was so right when he said, “Freedom is never more than one
generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It
must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we
will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was
once like in the United States where men were free.”
Franklin Graham while speaking at the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, in
November 2012, said this, “Those (patriots) who come after us will once again have to
risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to bring back the Republic that this
generation has timidly frittered away due to white guilt and political correctness.”
What Franklin Graham said nine years ago we are witnessing today. Many on the Right
are risking their lives and their fortunes in hopes of saving the Republic while some are
forsaking their sacred honor to keep from being cancelled by the press and social
media. Like all veterans I took an oath to defend the Constitution and I will never
abandon that oath.
Ski Ingram is a former Airborne Ranger and a Viet Nam combat veteran. He served for
eight years in the Regular Army as a Drill Sergeant, with the 7th Army Training
Command and an instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He
also served in the U.S. Army reserves as an Executive Officer on a Green Beret “A”
Team before becoming a police officer. He is a retired police officer from Southern
California with a degree in Criminal Justice. He has served in many church callings,
including Institute teacher and in many Boy Scout leadership positions including
Scoutmaster, District Chairman and Wood Badge course director. Ski is also involved
with veteran’s issues and is a life member of 6 veteran Service Organizations (VSO’s).
He is also a patriot member of the NRA. Mr. Ingram welcomes readers’ comments. He can be reached at can be reached at Rangerski@cox.net
