Bubba's brother no fan of attack on the nation
I had never met Johnny, but felt I knew him in a very real sense. I figured he and I would get along since we have several friends in common, and he is, most significantly, Bubba McCoy's big brother. Bubba is one of John Brummett's good buddies.
As I view it, Johnny and Bubba are what I would consider unpretentious, even if sometimes ill-informed, good ol' boys I would really like to visit in person, perhaps sharing a few cold brews on the back porch.
When he answered the phone, Johnny was most gracious and ready to talk. Johnny open to conversation with anyone, and I had never heard or read of him, or his brother, being rude to other folk. To all appearances, each is a good-hearted fellow. But I was very curious to hear what he thought of the MAGA. "rally" in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6.
Johnny became subdued. I could not tell whether he had been to the rally himself, but he was well-informed as to what took place. He was concerned, even embarrassed, by what had happened at what he had believed would be a First Amendment "free speech" protest against those "uppity" liberal folk who want to turn our great democracy into another far-left socialist nation.
Just like his younger brother, he does not like the idea of the working man being subsidized by the government, or helped in any way. His thinking is not at all out of line with that of many Americans. He believes the beauty of the U.S.A. is that anyone can make his way. By hard work.
Those danged liberals, to his view, just keep asking for more free stuff for which he and his little "bro" have to work hard. I told Johnny I had no complaint about that, other than saying I wanted to visit about various programs the government has in place to try to protect the less fortunate of our citizens. He said I just needed to give him a call, or he would telephone me, after all of this "covid-mess" was over, and we could get together.
Before we hung up, I asked what about the rally had upset or disappointed him. Johnny became quite subdued and said he had been embarrassed when he saw those folks desecrating the Capitol building and, particularly, physically attacking people. He was particularly offended by the fellow from somewhere "up nawth" who put his feet up on Nancy Pelosi's desk, the really stupid guy who was wearing the tattoos and horns, but most particularly by the very fact that anyone would ravage an almost sacred building. And threaten and endanger other people -- just because they had different views about politics.
He felt the rioters had lost sight of what government "by the People and for the People was all about."
I like Johnny.
Don Switzer
Rogers
Extremist group figures out Trump is a letdown
Now the Proud Boys feel as if they've been played. It took the Proud Boys long enough to figure out that Don's a con, didn't it? Most Americans saw him for what he was decades ago.
The rioters feel let down? That's how millions of Americans felt when the other fewer millions voted for him.
My guess is he deeply regrets getting into politics. Reminds me of the mythical figure Icarus who flew too close to the sun with wax wings. The sun melted his wax and he crashed back down to earth.
Moral of the story is that one should not be where one does not belong.
Marianne Beasley
Fayetteville