Prove Me Wrong!

Can We Argue? I Respectfully Disagree! What IS Rhetoric? Am I Right?

I asked The Robot to “draw the concept of a political awakening”. Uhm, is The Robot signing Art now?

I have never worn any political apparel (even while working at a Presidential Library) - buttons, t-shirts, pins, hats, anything with a politicians name on it - except a sticker I get when I vote. Oddly, it doesn’t say who or what I voted for, it merely expresses my commitment to the American Experiment. All that changed last Wednesday.

I received the first official Press Pass for Compass Star Wordsmith to cover the memorial for Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix Az on September 21.

Compass Star Wordsmith will be active on Notes starting Saturday for the five-hour drive from SoCal. I’m staying at one of the last hotels that were not sold out at 630 am this morning. It’s a Hilton, whew. It’s within a 6-minute walking radius and I anticipate less than what I will experience. I don’t know what I don’t know. This will be Cultural History.

This will not be the first memorial I’ve attended, but it will be the first “political’ event as the culture now assigns new labels to old activities. Even though I am always labeled a Trumper, the fact is, had votes for president been public knowledge when I was in prison, I would have got killed by my own race, the whites. One of three races inside - black and brown being the other two. The yellows and reds are usually lumped in with the blacks.

You see, I am a Reverse Negro - a white guy that voted for Obama twice before I served time in state prison. Had the man living in my prison cell called Snickers, the one with the swastika tattooed between his eyebrows, known that, I would have been shanked. Add to that the fact I was married to a Latina. Double Shank. Do you see how this works?

Today’s post is a a memorial. A monument. To a man. To a moment. To a movement.

Compass Star Wordsmith is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Your support today would be eternally appreciated. The Memorial Prayer post below was written a few years ago, but seem apropos for today. Consider donating to your favorite cause in Charlie’s name.

It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

Is the First Amendment alive and well? The Second Amendment is, well, “alive and well” seems to be not quite the appropriate phrase, as it’s abused to cancel the out the one above it. Where on the map are we? Is All Lost? Or Now Found?

My Five Elements of Life are well known round these parts. If you are not in the know take a look below. We have to understand other tribes and cultures. To survive this Now-Normal, the Five Elements are inescapable for civilization to survive. When one element is ignored or inhibited, culture at large suffers.

Sure, if this (civilization, that is) fails, localized warring tribes will consume the earth as they did throughout history. War is our nature, as power is our nurture. If we are out of power, we seek to regain it. Once in power, we strive to maintain it.

It is no surprise that the Art of Argument is lost, when power is both judge and sword. History is strewn with the souls of savants sacrificed on the altar of Free Speech. What is it about us? What will be the final straw? When do we break?

My name is Max. My world is fire and blood. Once, I was a cop. A road warrior searching for a righteous cause. As the world fell, each of us in our own way was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy... me... or everyone else.

Max Rockatansky

When a man gets shot from 200 yards in an open debate forum, what does that say about a society? When a man gets shot from 20 paces in an honor duel, what does that say about society? Both have happened - 250-some years ago and last week. Is one murder better than another? One murderer better than another murderer?

Cain, Adam and Eve’s oldest son, killed his younger brother Abel. It was the first human murder in History. There were only four people on Earth. Killing people is not going away. What, as Human Beings, are we to do with the dark knowledge of determinable death? Can talking openly open some doors so many think in their minds are closed? Each inmate imprisoned in their mind owns the key to freedom.