Last week an odd-looking maniac with race hatred in his heart killed 9 innocent people in a church in South Carolina.  In a world beset by senseless tragedies, this one was perhaps the most senseless and tragic of them all.  Reactions to this despicable crime were varied, and sadly, predictable.  Most reasonable people were shocked, angered and called for justice to be done.  Members of the church in South Carolina, to their everlasting credit, called for healing and forgiveness.  And, of course, the rabid Leftists, heeding Rahm Emanuel’s advice that no crisis should be wasted, called for censorship.

Fear-mongering is a powerful tool of the Left, which misses no opportunity to turn any tragedy to its advantage.   Somehow, 9 murders by a reprehensible punk transformed into an attack on “conservative media,” “conservative talk radio,” and, of all things, the Confederate flag.  Now, there is precious little conservative media, and there is no evidence that this half-wit killer was even able to operate a radio, but that doesn’t matter.  As always, form triumphs over substance.  As a consequence, let’s have more gun laws, even though criminals, by definition, don’t obey the law.  Let’s use this terrible crime to ban the Confederate flag.  Now folks, I have no love for that flag.  The Civil War ended 150 years ago and the Confederates lost, so, I think taking the flag down from public buildings is long overdue.  But a Government ban on the image?  Do we really want the Government to restrict what can and cannot be seen?

If nothing else, our Government is adept at disguising its actions, hence, The Affordable Care Act, which is not affordable and restricts care.  George Orwell had this figured out when he wrote 1984 in the 1940’s.  1984’s Government’s Ministry of Truth actually censored and controlled information.  We are headed in that direction, and that is dangerous.  You see, the Founders were so careful to protect the dissemination of information that some might find objectionable, that they put free speech in the First Amendment.  There are even calls this week to ban Gone With the Wind; “that flag” is in it you see, and it didn’t adequately denounce slavery.  Really?  Once again, the Civil War ended 150 years ago, and slavery ended with it.  I don’t think the Leftists have thought this  Gone With the Wind thing through, however.  You see, the American Film Institute (AFI)  voted Gone With the Wind Number 4 of its 100 Greatest Movies.  AFI is not part of the “conservative media.”  Its Board of Trustees includes Halle Berry, former liberal Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, liberal contributor Steven Spielberg and Ron Meyer, Vice-Chairman of NBC Universal, which runs such racist extremist outlets as MSNBC.  Leftists are nothing if not hypocritical, though, so an Obama Ministry of Truth is entirely capable of burning both flags and GWTW  DVD’s.  Of course, if you burn Gone With the Wind, you also destroy the Academy Award wining performance of Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to be so honored.  So, maybe we don’t burn the whole picture, we just edit it.  Obama can release a new “Big Brother’s Cut” with commentary by Al Sharpton.   See, who says Government can’t get things done?