Hazardous Duty

“You talk about vengeance?  Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you, or my boy to me?  I forego the vengeance of my son.  But I have selfish reasons.  My youngest son was forced to leave this country because of this Solozzo business.  All right.  And I have to make arrangements to bring him back safely, cleared of all these false charges.  But I am a superstitious man.  And if some unlucky accident should befall him, if he should get shot in the head by a police officer, or if he should hang himself in his jail cell, or if he is struck by a bolt of lightning, then I am going to blame some of the people in this room.  And then I do not forgive.”

—Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather

I was aware when I began Chasing Jefferson nearly a year ago that I was taking a risk by speaking out.  I was reminded of that yesterday in a piece Michelle Malkin ran about the persistent personal attacks and persecution levied by some of the more fanatical on the Left against conservative bloggers who dare tell the truth.  She has called for a show of solidarity from the blogosphere on the Right, and while I have another piece planned for tomorrow so I can’t make her call for Friday, I’ll pre-emptively do that today with this link to her piece.

These are some of the bigger writers on the Right, so they draw more attention.  But it could happen to any of us, because this is how the Left operates: silence opposition by any means necessary.  We see that with the push to reinstitute the "fairness doctrine" to get Rush, Hannity, and Levin knocked off the air.  We see that with the bullying schoolteacher in North Carolina threatening her student with jail time for criticizing Obama.  And we see it with the personal attacks against conservative bloggers.  They count on intimidation to shut us up.  

I don’t have any sponsors, and I don’t run ads.  I don’t make a nickel off of this space.  But the Internet is open to all, and there is no telling when something I post here might attract the ire of the wrong person at the wrong time.  I am not afraid of that, and I fully intend to keep on doing what I do as my small part to try to inform, educate, and pull on the oars to try to save what’s left of this Republic.

I may not do this forever, but I won’t close this site without saying something.  If this site disappears or permanently ceases activity without some word from me, ask questions, because that alone will tell you something's not right.

Speak up and speak out.  Only if we're silent can they win.