The Lynching of Paula Deen ... J. D. Longstreet

The Lynching of Paula Deen

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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What we are experiencing with Paula Deen is nothing more than a modern day lynching. 

Let's be clear:  I don't care for Ms. Deen's politics.  I don't even like her cooking show -- and I am a born and bred southerner.  In fact, I am a bit embarrassed at what appears to be the forced over-usage of the southern word "y'all" by Ms. Deen. 

But what got my dander up was the vicious attack on a woman honorable enough to answer a lawyer's question truthfully. 

Look. Ms Deen did not HAVE to tell the truth.  She could have lied -- as our President is fast becoming infamous for doing. 

I am also sick and tired of the hypocrisy of the black community, a "protected" minority, in America.  If they can use the "N" word,  then white folks ought to be allowed to use it just as easily, and as frequently, as they do -- and with absolutely no repercussions.

There is an old expression:  "If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas."  It's another way of saying be careful with whom you associate. 
Ms. Deen is reported to have campaigned for President Obama and even had Mrs. Obama as a guest on her TV show.  She could not have associated herself with more leftist leftists!  Yet, it is the political left after her head today.  She has learned, too late, that no matter who you are -- the left will throw you under the bus if they even THINK it is expedient to further their progressive agenda.

In my opinion, Ms. Deen should never, never, have apologized.  It was a sign of weakness and only emboldened her attackers who stepped up the ferocity of their crazed mob-like assault. 

We love to sand atop our soap boxes and proclaim our love for, and defense of, freedom of speech in America. 

We're lying!

You want to wind up like Ms. Deen?  Try speaking your mind openly in America today.  Freedom of speech in America today is saying only that which those in power agree with. 
Look.  Ms. Deen's attackers are hammering her for using a single word thirty years ago -- in PRIVATE!  What the heck do you suppose will happen to US today if we step out side the traces -- what with our government's 24/7 monitoring of everything we say and do?  Something I say today can be pulled out of the government files -- thirty years down the road -- and used against me. 

So -- this is where we are in America today.  I have to tell you -- this is pathetic.  I suppose it just puts the lie to the very old adage: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but WORDS can never hurt me."

How pathetic, how weak, how sissified, we have become when we recoil in utter horror at the sound of a single WORD, a simple utterance of sound.

But here's the thing: Much, if not most, of that horror is feigned!  I dare say if the host of Deen's attackers were held to the biblical test of "he who is without sin cast the first stone" -- the crowd would melt away.  Of course, in this day and age, when psychopaths hold respectable places in our communities and our society,  there are those tossing stones with great enthusiasm, all the while loudly proclaiming their defense of the defenseless and demanding that we all pay attention to, and praise them for,  the zeal with which they practice their high tech lynching of an honorable woman.  

There are two lessons here for all American young people.   Avoid honesty at all costs.  For, as we have seen with Ms. Deen, being honest can cost you dearly. And secondly, forget freedom of speech.  The constitution is dead. Today you may only utter the words approved by the political left -- or suffer the consequences.

And yes, I am a southern gentleman offering a defense of a southern lady's honor.  I'm old-fashioned that way.  I suspect, had we not outlawed dueling, there would be echoes of gunfire and/or the clash of dueling rapiers along the Savannah River at sunrise.

Make no mistake.  This is a seminal event. The seeds for future modern day lynchings have been sown now.  Worse even, the seeds of FEAR have been sown --  fear of words, which are nothing more than THOUGHTS.

The thought police are abroad in the land seeking those they can devour who, like Ms. Deen, used a word they are forbidden to use due to the color of their skin.  Does  anyone see the irony in this?  No.  The REAL question is:  Does anyone see the bigotry in this?  For, after all, that is EXACTLY what it is.

© J. D. Longstreet