home > archive > 2003 > this article

American hating bullies

By Charles F. Wickwire
web posted March 24, 2003

In La Habra, California there exists a small memorial dedicated to the victims and heroes of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center. Recently, however, it was purposely destroyed to send a message to the world. What is that message? First a little history…

Immediately following the bombing of the World Trade Center, Sandra Pischer and her son Adam put up an American flag along the fence line of a RV center in La Habra. She and her son asked others to help decorate the fence and soon it was full of contributions from area residents.

After weather had taken its toll on some of the decorations, city officials decided to have them removed. Tracey Chandler stepped in, cleaned the area up and now maintains it. Many of the contributions are from her and her four children. Contributions include many US flags, painted boards, military emblems and stepping-stones painted red, white and blue.

Chandler's future plans for the memorial included more grass and a cobblestone walkway. But those plans have to be put on hold, at least until the damage done to the memorial is repaired. You see, the left, in their rabid anti-war fervor, identified this beautiful park-like memorial as a danger to their cause. And, as you know, anything that endangers the cause of the left must be destroyed.

The newly restored memorial in La HabraIn a fit of self-righteous rage, vandals, I mean anti-war protestors, attacked the small memorial, burning and ripping up flags, trampling on flowers, shredding patriotic signs, shattering stepping stones and sending a very clear message to the public; "support for America in any manner will not be tolerated".

It did not matter to them that they were attacking the hard work of women and children nor that they were destroying private property. All that mattered to them was that some one dared to express their love of this country and their sorrow for its being hurt.

So where was the law, you might ask? I certainly wondered. Well, they were watching the whole thing. Police Captain John Rees said that the vandals, (oops sorry), the protestors were exercising the same freedom of speech that the people who put up the flags were. To be vandalism, there has to be ill-will intent and for the police to take any action a complaint would have to be filed.

Vandalism requires ill-will intent? Since when? If a gang member is spray painting on the side of a building there is no ill-will, he is merely expressing himself. But it is still illegal and defined as vandalism. At best, this is an example of police laziness and at worst, it shows a fear in the police to act on political crimes. After all, if the police had stepped in to stop the vandals, (oops did it again), the protestors, they would have had to answer to the left leaning media. That is certainly not a career booster. So they just stood and watched as childish miscreants jumped up and down on flowers and burned flags.

Police were forced to intervene (finally) when physical violence took place. News of the memorials destruction made it to Matt Drudge's popular Drudge Report giving the story a national audience. Emboldened by the report of police non-interference and enraged by the thought of sympathy to America, Jennifer Quintana, a 19-year old Orange County resident, traveled to La Habra and assaulted Tracey Chandler.

The left must be proud, a young teenage woman pushing and shoving people aside as she forced her way through a crowd to grab a mother of four and physically assault her. At least this time the police did act, arresting the 19-year old on assault charges.

Jeff Collison, the owner the RV center and the fence where the memorial is located, attempted to file a complaint against the vandals but he was told he couldn't because he was not the victim. It seems that you can destroy private property on private property as long as the owners of each property are not the same and the destroyed property is patriotic. Sounds idiotic to me.

Coincidentally, Collison has been charged with a misdemeanor for not having the proper permits. Collison believes this is in retaliation for the "fuss about the vandalism of the fence". City officials claim otherwise.

Of course the story would not be complete without a comment from the academia. Les Howard, a sociology professor at Whittier College claims that the vandals, (I have to stop doing that), the protestors are confused and uncertain how to express themselves. To give credit where it is due though, Howard does state that there is no excuse for the "desecration of people's symbolic participation".

And now for the silver lining in this tale of gloom. Since the story of the original vandalism was reported on the Drudge Report, support for the memorial has been rolling in. Parents, schoolchildren and war veterans from near and far have come to offer their assistance. That assistance has taken the form of flags, decorations, construction materials, and money.

The father of Lisa Frost, a 22-year old Boston University graduate who was aboard United Airlines Flight 175, came to the memorial and distributed buttons with a picture of Lisa on them. The told those he met at the memorial that "I'm here to say, thanks for remembering all these months later. Just when we think America is forgetting, something like this comes up."

The American hating far left has sent their message to us and now we have a message for them. They can bully women and children by trampling flower gardens and destroying art projects, but in the end, America will stand against you and come out all the stronger.

Charles Wickwire is a Computer Specialist who likes to share his opinion with those who are interested and even those who are not. He can be contacted at CharlesWickwire@Yahoo.com.

Printer friendly version
Printer friendly version





Printer friendly version


 


Home

© 1996-2023, Enter Stage Right and/or its creators. All rights reserved.