Standing for What I Believe

 

I saw this post on Facebook today, so I did some research. The links are to follow. The Democrats were opposed to the Reconstructionism of the Republicans. Many were racist in those times. So were many of the Republicans. That is the past – over a century ago. The Republican party of today bears little resemblance to the Party of Lincoln, or even General Eisenhower. Democrat President LBJ, singed The Voter’s Rights Act of 1965 – not a Republican. The Democratic Party of today is the party of choice of majority of people of color, not just African Americans. Is this a coincidence? NO. Is this factual? YES. Do Democrats fight to restrict voting rights today? NO – That would be the Republican Party.

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The accusation the Democrats founded the KKK and started the Civil War is false. 

Fact check: Democratic Party did not found the KKK, start Civil War (usatoday.com)

The claim: The Democratic Party started the Civil War to preserve slavery and later the KKK

As America marks a month of protests against systemic racism and many people draw comparisons between current events and the Civil Rights Movement, an oversimplified trope about the Democratic Party’s racist past has been resurrected online.

“Friendly reminder that if you support the Democrat Party, you support the party that founded the KKK and start a civil war to keep their slaves," claims an image of a tweet Instagram user @snowflake.tears shared June 19.

Many Instagram users read between the lines for the tweet’s implication about the modern Democratic and Republican parties. Some argued this past action discredited current liberal policies, while others said it did not matter.

“Everyone knows that Abraham Lincoln fought to free the slaves, but he also created the Republican Party, and was the leader of it to help fight to free the slaves, yet it’s said that most black people still vote for Democrats who fought to keep the slaves,” user @shrukenshmuck commented.

“I’m a conservative but I find this argument pretty stupid because clearly that’s not what they support anymore, values change overtime,” user @james.dubee wrote.

Historians agree that although factions of the Democratic Party did majorly contribute to the Civil War's start and the KKK's founding, it is inaccurate to say the party is responsible for either.

Instagram user @snowflake.tears has not returned USA TODAY’s request for comment.

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 The KKK was founded by ex-Confederate Soldiers, not the Democratic Party. Nor were all members Democrats.  

Ku Klux Klan: Origin, Members & Facts - HISTORY

A group including many former Confederate veterans founded the first branch of the Ku Klux Klan as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1865. The first two words of the organization’s name supposedly derived from the Greek word “kyklos,” meaning circle. In the summer of 1867, local branches of the Klan met in a general organizing convention and established what they called an “Invisible Empire of the South.” Leading Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was chosen as the first leader, or Grand Wizard of the Klan.

The organization of the Ku Klux Klan coincided with the beginning of the second phase of post-Civil WarReconstruction, put into place by the more radical members of the Republican Party in Congress. After rejecting President Andrew Johnson’s relatively lenient Reconstruction policies, in place from 1865 to 1866, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act over the presidential veto. Under its provisions, the South was divided into five military districts, and each state was required to approve the 14th Amendment, which granted “equal protection” of the Constitution to former enslaved people and enacted universal male suffrage.

Ku Klux Klan - Wikipedia

First KKK

See also: Nathan Bedford Forrest § Ku Klux Klan membership

The first Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee, on December 24, 1865, by six former officers of the Confederate army: Frank McCord, Richard Reed, John Lester, John Kennedy, J. Calvin Jones and James Crowe. It started as a fraternal social club inspired at least in part by the then largely defunct Sons of Malta. It borrowed parts of the initiation ceremony from that group, with the same purpose: "ludicrous initiations, the baffling of public curiosity, and the amusement for members were the only objects of the Klan", according to Albert Stevens in 1907. The manual of rituals was printed by Laps D. McCord of Pulaski.

According to The Cyclopædia of Fraternities (1907), "Beginning in April, 1867, there was a gradual transformation. ...The members had conjured up a veritable Frankenstein. They had played with an engine of power and mystery, though organized on entirely innocent lines, and found themselves overcome by a belief that something must lie behind it all – that there was, after all, a serious purpose, a work for the Klan to do."

Although there was little organizational structure above the local level, similar groups rose across the South and adopted the same name and methods. Klan groups spread throughout the South as an insurgent movement promoting resistance and white supremacy during the Reconstruction Era. For example, Confederate veteran John W. Morton founded a chapter in Nashville, Tennessee. As a secret vigilante group, the Klan targeted freedmen and their allies; it sought to restore white supremacy by threats and violence, including murder. "They targeted white Northern leaders, Southern sympathizers and politically active blacks." In 1870 and 1871, the federal government passed the Enforcement Acts, which were intended to prosecute and suppress Klan crimes.

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David Duke - Wikipedia

 David Duke, the most prominent member of the KKK for decades, started as a Democrat. He switched to the Populist party after not making headway as a Democrat. He then became a Republican, mounting a minor challenge to President Bush in 1992. (An FYI)

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Trumpism:

TRUMPISM | What Does TRUMPISM Mean? (cyberdefinitions.com)

Trumpism - Wikipedia

The four characteristics of Trumpism | TheHill

Urban Dictionary: Trumpism

TOP DEFINITION

Trumpism

Trumpism is a nearly incurable disorder when a trump supporter blames everything else when someone criticizes Donald Trump.

Sane person: Donald Trump is a narcissist.
Trump supporter: Nobody is doing anything about the Martian invasion!
Sane person: How is that even relevant?
Trump supporter: I haven't talked yet about how much money was wasted on fighting global warming.
Sane person: I hope Trumpism is curable.

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 I believe the greatest threat to the future of our nation is “Trumpism.” At its core, is a morally bankrupt, soon to be ex-President, who continues his baseless and divisive rants about voter fraud – even after his own Attorney General and the head of Cyber-Security have clearly contradicted him, saying there was none of any significance.

 This is not the time for pettiness because Trump lost; and lost by the widest margin in history. Stop politicizing the attempts to slow the spread. Hospitals are filling up with patients affected by the virus. Denounce the calls for violence, and the threats against people of both parties over the results.

 I know my words will carry little weight in this world. I don’t care. All it takes for evil to prosper is for good men (and women) to do nothing; to remain silent out of fear. So, I will raise my voice and share my words no matter how many take the time to read them. It is my duty. It is in keeping with the oath I swore in 1972 at my enlistment. It is in keeping with my moral code. 

Review of Family Matters by Author Tirza Schaefer. https://www.tirzaschaefer.com/post/atb-familymatters

Book Review: Family Matters by Robert Ullrich

 

I have just finished reading Family Matters - Evolution of a Killer, Book 2 of the Lazarus Chronicles, by Robert Ullrich and found it absolutely thrilling! Usually, I start with the first book in a series but for some reason ended up with book 2 and read it anyways. It was absolutely thrilling. I love the character of the hired killer, Lazarus and the way his mind works. The plans he comes up with, the connections he has and the people he loves in his life. Unconditional loyalty is a trait that is not easy to find these days and this man has it in abundance. Maybe, that was the most outstanding character trait I loved about this man but also his intelligence, wit, humour and inventiveness.

In Family Matters, the author takes you on a journey of thrilling adventures, family love and debased cruelty of killers, such as a drug cartel boss, a psychopath, but also a professional killer whose humanity and love for the people closest to him stands in stark contrast to his professional life and his predatory nature. And yet, they seem to all have room in the one heart. The one thing I found challenging was my ignorance of military terms which had me look up things more than once but that did not lessen my joy in the story.

Lazarus is definitely a bit of a modern-day James Bond who has elected to work for the dark side. He has a beautiful woman he adores, friends he is close to and people who work for him that are loyal to him to the death. At the same time, Lazarus is not a fixed character and overly heroic in the sense that he would be too perfect. He has very real feelings and over the course of the book, the development of his character spans an arc of ignorance of his own feelings to realising that the people you love most, even though you are not related by blood, are your family and are loved just as fiercely as such.

I also enjoyed the supporting cast a lot, General Fischer, the "Team" of unique characters working for the military but are borrowed from the general for Lazarus' operations to rescue and avenge a friend who has been kidnapped by Los Zapatos, a Mexican drug cartel. And being German myself, the gay explosives expert who likes to flirt and make semi-x-rated remarks has given me many a chuckle and added enjoyment of this tale.

As I said upfront, this is Book 2 of the series and I had not read Book 1. However, that is now on my TBR and I am looking forward to reading it as well.

Family Matters is a strong story of a man with principles who proves that the world isn't only black and white and has well deserved the five stars I've afforded it.

·       Book Review

·       Military Novel

·       Crime Fiction

·       Thriller

·       Action & Adventure

·       Robert Ullrich

·       Family Matters

·       Lazarus Solaris

·       Evolution of a Killer

 

Review of The Green House by Dan Lawton

The Green House
by 

Dan Lawton (Goodreads Author)

Robert Ullrich's review

Feb 04, 2020  ·  edit

it was amazing

bookshelves: 2020-challenge

The Green House is a moving story of love, life, death and the struggle of one man to forgive himself. The narrative is excellent, evoking emotional responses and literally painting in the readers mind. It did for me. It is a story I can relate to on a deeply personal level. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Green House to almost anyone.

Link to Green House on Amazon: The Green House

Finding a Reason to Live

This is something I have struggled with sharing since January 6, 1992. That was the night that changed me forever; the night I SHOULD have died and didn't, at least not physically. Some call it an attempted suicide. I don't. I call it surviving suicide. It was no cry for help. It wasn't born in depression. I wasn't afraid of death. I had every intention of dying, and the means to accomplish my goal.

I've heard people say time and again, "Suicide is the coward's way out," or "Suicide is the most selfish action anyone can take." Of course. they probably don't know the taste of gun oil on the barrel of a Taurus 9 MM. I doubt they've ever pulled the trigger. I am positive they never heard the hammer hit the firing pin. I have. That's the story I've never told - nor the story of the abuse by a priest that I carry the blame for and shame of to this very day. Recent events in Pennsylvania brought it back again in all it's sordid glory.

I am done being a victim. I am done protecting the reputation of a dead man who stole my faith from me. A man I had to look in the eyes at my father's funeral. I wanted to kill him then and there. Even though I've never told him, my brother Steve stopped me. I know he doesn't know it; at least I believe he doesn't. Maybe he knew more than I thought, or maybe it was just pure instinct to protect his brother. Either way, I will thank him.

This book will come fast and furious when I finally begin. I won't be able to stop or I'll never have the courage to do it again.

Robert.

Book Review: From Dusk to Dawn: A Collection of Short Stories by Joe Chilson

          https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q5D3ZVJ/ 

From Dusk to Dawn: A Collection of Short Stories by Joe Chilson (Goodreads Author)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19008907.Joe_Chilson

Robert Ullrich's review, July 31, 2020  · 

Interesting and Captivating

        I've been a fan of short stories and anthologies for many a year -  too many some days. Joe Chilson has assembled a personal anthology of his own short stories.

        From the opening story you may, actually, you should notice you are a very much a part of the stories. Chilson weaves portions of some around you, drawing you in. In some, as in the opening piece, you soon realize it is up to you to fill in the blanks with your own interpretations and imagination. Others seem to be complete, but are they?
        I enjoyed m every story, some more than others, of course.  Particularly those leaving me wondering what would become of a character or storyline.
    Purchase "From Dusk to Dawn" with the assurance you will be entertained and challenged at the same time.

Book Review:T he Sapphire Eruption (The Sword's Choice Book 1) by I.M. Redwright (Goodreads Author)

 

A Truly Epic Adventure

They are occasions when the word epic is used to promote a book, movie, etc. This isn't one of those times. Redwright has created a fantasy world of four kingdoms, each worshiping a god of one of the elements, fire, water, etc. The journey of a young man, rightful heir to the Kingdom Furio is at the center of the epic adventure, as is a young woman chose to be the next Queen of the Kingdom of water and it's god of the Seas. It isn't a quick tale. You are given details to bring the story to life, an adventure far from over.

Book Review: Neon Prey (Lucas Davenport, #29) by John Sandford

 

Having read every book in the Prey series, up to Neon Prey, I am quite familiar with Mr. Sanford's style. Besides, who am I to disagree with Stephen King. Great summer reading, year round for that matter.

Neon Prey, to me, is one of his best. An exceptionally nasty set of bad guys, a good interacting assemblage of good guys, except for the Feebs, of course. No cop likes Feebs, but they will damn sure use them as much as possible when to their advantage.

I don't do spoilers. If you want to know what happened, read Neon Prey. You can thank me later.

Book Review: Dagger Path: Gaiadon Lore. Book One by M.T. Ceres

Only the Beginning

Gaiadon Lore is but the first leg of a fantastical journey in a new world. The author goes to great lengths to paint mental pictures of the characters, mystical creatures and a world unlike any other, and does a very good job. I won't mention the main character's name, it's unique is all I have to say about it.

One recommendation to all who embark upon the Dagger's Path; Do NOT bypass the prologue! It is very much an integral part of the story. And, one tip. There is a glossary at the end of the novel which was very useful to me.

Book Review: "Find Me", by Author Anne Frasier

Find Me (Inland Empire #1) 

by

Anne Frasier   (Goodreads Author)

Rating  

My review

Jun 18, 2020  ·  edit

Read June 18, 2020 to June 23, 2020.

Psychological thriller - well worth the read.

I don't often give out five star reviews. It takes something unique or it must engage me emotionally. Find Me did both.Now, No spoilers from me.

Anne Frasier has done an excellent job of analyzing the psychopathy of what drives some to heinous crimes against humanity and the impact on survivors and the offspring of those who perpetrate these crimes. The characters are very interesting and the thread woven through the story, provides almost as many questions as it does answers. As for the story - don't take anything for granted or at face value, there are more twists and turns then Ranch Road 2222 north of Austin, Texas. (It is considered one of the most dangerous stretches of roadways in Texas.) Google it.

I selected this book on a whim, looking for authors I've yet to read. I did quite well. Definitely recommended reading for the summer. Get it at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082HS7291/

You can thank me later.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1996211.Robert_Ullrich

What is Reality to a Mind Broken

I cannot tell if I am awake or asleep. My dreams are as vivid as the world in which I am typing. I assume the other world is of my dreams, it is all I can do – assume. I may be asleep right now. Can I prove it? Can you? I know I chose to believe this is reality, though I have no proof.

I wonder sometimes, is this the price I must pay for the years I spent embracing the darkness? Years of wallowing in excess and depravity with no regard for anyone. The harsh truth is I miss those days. I find myself wishing I had stayed there so many years ago and rode the dragon until the darkness became all I knew. I wrote of this once before, though it was years ago. I wondered if I was going mad, as surely as I was in my dreams. Now, I wonder if perhaps I did go mad and merely embraced it.

In my alternate world, I am close to my brothers, physically and emotionally. In this reality, the only time I have seen them in over a decade was a funeral and two weddings. I have no communication with them, save one. I sense in some their grudges, or spite for me. Spite for the years I spent in darkness when no one knew if I was even alive.

It does not seem to matter I left it all behind. Changed my perception of myself. I went through the rehabilitation process and can say truthfully, I have not ingested an illegal drug or drank of alcohol for over twenty-seven years. Two exceptions in the interest of transparency. I once sipped a so-called virgin margarita for my 17-year-old stepdaughter to verify the presence of Tequila, Cuervo 1800 to be precise. My wife was not certain of it’s true Virgin status. The second time was last week. I dropped a half once of Kahlua with cream into my coffee for a sip. I poured it out and got a fresh cup.

Alcoholic Anonymous Zealots would call that a relapse. I call it what it is. I decision to verify I no longer have a desire for alcohol. Which brings to mind I was actually asked to leave an AA meeting in Waterloo, Iowa in the early nineties.

Long story – short. I was listening to a gentlemen share how nervous and scared he was he might not make it to the coming Friday sober. It was Wednesday. I put forth an observation and inquiry out of curiosity.

“It can be rough, I know; especially in the first weeks and months. How long have you been sober?” I asked.

This is his answer. “Twenty-three years this Friday.”

I followed up, and in all honestly, I followed up as myself. “That is only two days away. How can you NOT make it to Friday after over twenty-two years?”

I was admonished by a senior member, a man of tenure. “There is no call for rudeness. Every day can be a bitter challenge.”

Perhaps I answered with a degree of sarcasm. I did not think so, but I am a poor judge of my own mood or tone of conversation. “Honestly? If I have gone twenty-two years and 362 days without a drink, I’d say Friday was a shoo-in.”

I struck a nerve. “We do not judge others in AA,” I was told with a venomous edge to his voice. I was already borderline as I used the term clean versus sober or I said clean and sober. That did not go over well in the early nineties. Drug addicts were treated as second class. I often brought up alcohol IS a drug. I was told by a physician the chemical compound of alcohol can is the same as ether with addition of an H2O molecule. Don’t quote me on that, look it up yourself.

The reason I was evicted; I said, “As long as you keep telling yourself you ‘cannot drink’, the longer you will remain a slave to booze, because the statement is bullshit.

“You can drink any goddamn time you want. I’s your fucking choice – not mine, not anyone else. I stay clean because I know with certainty not a one of you can stop me if I choose to do so.

“Staying clean and sober doesn’t work when you constantly live in fear. To tell you the truth, if I were three days away from twenty-three years and as insecure a mess as you – I would  be heading to the closest liquor store because you are miserable. Fuck miserable. If you cannot enjoy the clarity sobriety brings you, then all you are doing is pretending to be sober, when all you are just another drunk who still wants to drink.”

That is when I was asked to leave and not return. Such is life.

What the hell does that have to do with my issues with reality? Not a goddamn thing. That is the point of the digression. Staying clean for 27 years is no small feat. My love-hate relationship with narcotics and mind-altering drugs is the one thread that runs through my life from my early teens to the age of 40. My success in staying clean for twenty-seven plus years is the tie than binds it all together.

I will continue to convince myself this is the real world – that I am truly awake despite the vividness and often painful ‘reality’ of my dreams.

What I said of my brother is true, but without malice. I gave up contacting them years ago when I realized I was always the one initiating contact. I hate being right, though I will say this, my eldest brother has invited me to visit when we are physically in the same location.

The time I spent in the dark side of Dallas – Fort Worth was never dull. I met movie stars, athletes, rock stars and celebrities on a regular basis. I was never impressed by their celebrity which endeared me to some who treated me as an equal.

This is what I do when I mind teeters on the fine line between sanity and insane. I do not know which I am – and for the moment, once again I don’t gi

ve a shit.

So, I will continue to fight in my vivid dreams. I scream in my sleep. I fight foes who do not exist. I wake myself up violently – I dove out of the bed more than once to ‘tackle’ someone in my ‘dreams.

Perhaps, when all is said and done, I am insane. If I am, I accept it. It gives me a measure of self-confidence and fearlessness I use when faced with confrontations.

It is simple really. I died in my dreams and I will die in my reality. This much I know.

I am less stressed now for putting these words to paper. I have never felt I belonged in this world around me. Perhaps someday it will become relevant.

 

Until that day comes, if ever it should arrive,

I remain, Robert Ullrich

Erstwhile poet and writer.