An Open Letter To Mr. Roland Martin (Political Commentator)

Sir,

I just watched one of your commentary videos (specifically, the episode recorded on April 13, 2021) in which you discuss Colonel Allen West, and your debate with him on the issue of voter ID (1).

Obviously, I can't claim to speak for Col. West. Nevertheless, I feel the need to comment on some of your remarks (yes, I'm aware they were recorded a while ago).

First, by implication, you seem to be stating that all Republicans are racists and segregationists.  This stereotyping could not be further from the truth.  I know of many Republicans that judge African-Americans “not on the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”(2).

To imply that all who vote Republican are somehow racist is wrong, and in itself racism.

Second, to support your view, you trot out the name of Lee Atwater. I am aware that man had a...let's say rather colorful...history on race.

Even so, you fail to mention several other interesting names. George Wallace, once governor of Alabama, was an unabashed segregationist. So too was Robert Byrd, the long-time Democratic senator from West Virginia.

In fact, here's a noteworthy tidbit about Byrd; in the 1940s, he organized and led a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. But I digress (3).

Do you deny that these two men were Democrats? If you admit to this, then what makes the Democratic Party any better on matters of race?

Third, you claim to be “a real Texan”.  On this, let me say that I did some digging.  It seems that, although you were born in Texas, your family origin is in Louisiana.  And I see that you once were a newspaper editor in Chicago (4).

Those being facts, why are you lying about being "a real Texan"? I could say that I'm "a real Floridian" because I once lived in the state; that doesn't make it true (I'm actually from Connecticut).

Finally, you go on to insult and disrespect Col. West’s military record.  I must ask; have you ever been part of the military? Have you ever picked up a weapon, or stood a post?

I have good friends who were badly injured in overseas combat. Can you say that you stood alongside them, or someone like them? If you can't, then please spare me the self-righteousness.

Mr. Martin; I have no doubt that you're committed to your cause. And you're obviously fond of the sound of your own voice.

That said, I think that before you paint Republicans like me "with a broad brush" again, you should study your history a bit more, and perhaps not exaggerate your own qualifications.

After all, "those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it".

Eulogy For A Legend

For those of you that missed Monday’s news, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has died at the age of eighty-four (1).

As far as his music is concerned, Mr. Lightfoot was a rare breed; an introspective songwriter who penned hits that discussed life and living.  Some of his legendary hits include “Sundown” and “If You Could Read My Mind”.

Then there is “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, a song that hit number two on the Billboard charts (and number one in Canada) in 1976 (2).

In the lyrics of this ballad, Lightfoot tells the story of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, an American iron freighter that sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Typical of the style of other Lightfoot hits, it has all the elements of a great Shakespearean tragedy:

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.

They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters" (3, 4).

“Wreck” is one of those songs that simply screams AM radio.  To someone of my age, that is a very appealing and comforting factor. Lightfoot had many songs like this; their popularity made him a legendary figure in the world of music, and one of my favorite artists of all time.

There aren't too many singers who can make you feel a certain way, and perhaps remind you of days gone by. Mr. Lightfoot was one of these; a unique artist whose ilk (see definition) is rapidly disappearing. He will be sorely missed.

(5)

RIP, legend.