R.
Lee Wrights
Contributing Editor
R. Lee Wrights is a writer and political activist living in North Carolina. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All and an editor at Free-Market.Net.
How
many bad calls will it take?
Two weeks ago, on December
16th at Cleveland Stadium, a near riot broke out during a
professional football game as fans pelted the field,
players, coaches, and in particular the referees with
plastic bottles, cups, cushions, trash, and anything else
they could get their hands on after a controversial call
by the officials. The game was promptly suspended, of
course, and the field was cleared of teams, officials,
and debris. The obligatory arrests were made and the
stadium was cleared. Almost an hour after the incident
occurred, both teams were brought back out onto the field
to finish the game in front of an almost empty stadium.
All this as the result of a bad call in a football game
on a cold day in December.
Now to many the fact that people would rise up in such a
fashion and express themselves in such a violent manner
was quite distressing. The very idea that anger over a
perceived injustice could incite people to fling objects
in malice born of frustration was appalling to many of
the talking heads that grace the post-game sports talk
shows. Of course, they called upon the league to do
something to reduce the opportunity for another outburst.
As a result, many stadiums will no longer sell beer in
plastic bottles; although, they will continue to sell
water in plastic bottles. (I guess a bottle of water is
not as dangerous as a bottle of beer.)
I must admit that the whole scenario was distressing for
me as well. Not because unruly football fans decided to
deposit their empties onto a football field, and not
because I fear an uprising of the people when they think
they have been wronged. I mean, sure it is wrong and more
than a little childish to throw things at defenseless
people on a football field, but even this was not the
most distressing aspect of this ugly incident, in my
opinion. Most distressing of all is that it happened in
the wrong place and at the wrong time.
It is very disturbing to know that the same people that
allowed themselves to become so wrapped up in a game that
it prompted them to violence when they felt their team
had been done an injustice, will lie quietly as they are
raped by power-hungry politicians in the hallowed halls
of CONgress everyday.
Where were the bottles when senators and congressmen
passed a bill (that most of them had not read) that
ripped the Bill of Rights to shreds and robbed the people
of more of their freedom? Where were the bits of trash
when CONgressmen gave themselves substantial raises at a
time when most Americans are having to cut back on
expenses and the unemployment rate is the highest it has
been in a decade? How many “bad calls” will it
take in the various legislative bodies before people rise
up and say, “Enough is enough, we will have no more
of this injustice?”
Where are all these bottle-throwers when a local city
council meets and decides to raze a whole neighborhood in
order to put through a new highway? Where is the anger
when a county commission takes a family’s land and
gives it to a developer to build the newest superstore?
Where are the malcontents when legislatures vote to steal
more of their hard-earned money in order to fund the
latest whim or fancy of unprincipled bureaucrats? Where
is the uprising to protest the daily erosion of our
waning liberty and fading freedom? Yes, it is most
distressing to think that people would leave all their
frustration on a football field on a chilly afternoon in
autumn, and have none left for the things that affect
their daily lives and our future as a country.
I have spent a great deal of time trying to find the
positives in this disturbing episode. I asked myself if
there was anything good to be garnered from the events I
have witnessed. And I think I have found a tiny glimmer
of hope underneath it all. The hope that people can be
moved to action when they are made to feel helpless. They
react quickly, sometimes violently, when they can see
how, or they can be shown how, they are being screwed.
The trick is to remove the veil from their eyes and make
them aware of the injustice done unto them.
If we can successfully demonstrate to most thinking
people that their money is being wasted and their freedom
is silently being stolen, then we might just have a
chance at restoring this country to its former greatness.
We must educate and inform. We must expose and enlighten.
We must convince our fellow citizens to use their votes
as their bottle to fling at the nearest corrupt or
unprincipled politician by voting for candidates that
will fight for the restoration of freedom and liberty
that is supposed to be safeguarded by our Constitution.
We must teach them to use their vote as a weapon to
defeat if not slay the beast Bureaucracy.
I have decided to take the events of December 16th as a
sign. A sign that there is hope for America. An
indication that it is possible to raise a voting army of
citizens that will march to the ballot box and reclaim
the ground now occupied by an elected enemy. We can make
a difference when confronted with the proper
circumstances, and it is up to us to point out the
circumstances as they present themselves. If we remain
ever vigilant I believe we can breach the defensives of
an entrenched tyrannical government and trip the trigger
of change. The only way we can be defeated in our pursuit
of less government and greater liberty is if we quit.
How many bad calls will you suffer before you take
matters into your own hands and say, “Enough is
enough?”
