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| Kitty Genovese |
The Leftists Celebrating Neely Wield a Weapon that Will Hurt More Like Him
I was debating gun control. Someone
insisted that his gun was his best protection. I told him that his best
protection is something he can't even see, something he's probably never
thought about. His best protection is something ephemeral, something multisyllabic;
something you can't explain in a soundbite. "Your best protection," I
insisted, "is narrative."
My family lived in the same house for
almost seventy years. I was in and out of that house for decades. Not only did
I never use a key, I don't even know if a key existed. We slept with doors and
windows open. Neighbors walked in and out without knocking. We lived in New
Jersey, America's most densely populated state. Our town was mostly white but
there were blacks, Ramapo Mountain People, Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Arabs,
and Hispanics as well.
It wasn't paradise. My hometown exposed
me to the slings and arrows that flesh is heir to. In just three short blocks,
I know of four women who had serious mental health or cognitive issues. This
was back in the bad old days when doctors would irresponsibly over-prescribe
drugs like Thorazine and Miltown. There was substance abuse, domestic abuse, suicides
attempted and completed, and the very rare ax murder. Our town was industrial
and cancer was ubiquitous. One family seemed targeted by God: cancer, crippling
injury, chronic illness. And we were poor.
What made the town so safe? My best guess. We shared narrative. We were all working class, and religiously observant, largely church-going Catholics. We were children or grandchildren of immigrants. We were patriotic Americans who realized how lucky we were to be here, and not there, where our cousins lived under Communism or otherwise in poverty. The kids played together. The adults socialized together. We thought of ourselves as characters in each other's narrative.
Some envision ideal love as A staring at
B and B staring back at A. That love eventually tarnishes. Passion cools and
familiarity breeds contempt. A more long-lasting love is structured as A and B staring,
together, at C. C could be God. C could be the kids. C could be a shared
business or home ownership. The C that binds people together could be a shared
narrative. That shared narrative, like a quilt, can connect diverse people who
have never met. Many Americans felt this after 9-11. That stunning attack
caused normally quarreling and remote people to feel invested in each others'
lives.
There were bad things I could have done,
that many kids do, that I never did, because they went against our narrative.
Shoplifting. Smoking. Getting drunk. Taking drugs. Teen pregnancy. Skipping
homework. Everyone around me, in what they said on these topics, informed me
that they went against our narrative. If I did them, I'd feel guilty and
ashamed. I would feel that I had taken a step down in status; I'd feel
degraded. I would feel that I had hurt and betrayed people to whom I was
connected, not just my parents, but my town and my ancestors.
Narrative: God bless America. Narrative:
young people owe older people respect. Narrative: sex before marriage is a sin.
Narrative: "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit." Narrative:
men and women are different and they have different roles they must fulfill.
Men support their kids. Women nurture life. Narrative: drug abuse is shameful
and deadly and a terrible burden for loved ones. Addicts are responsible for
their own recovery. Narrative: you are part of a larger society and you share
important values and history with that larger society. You donate to charity. You
stand for the national anthem. You give your seat to an older person on public
transportation. You stand up for the little guy. If you are drafted, you serve,
even if the Vietnam War is controversial. You stop at red lights. You wear a
slip under a skirt. You owe other people your participation in the larger
narrative.
Again, my little town hosted the same
challenges humans face everywhere. I know of at least two victims of domestic
violence who went to live with neighbors for a time in order to escape what was
going on at home. We were unaware of domestic violence shelters. Addicts were
pressured to attend Twelve Step meetings that were held in the basement of the
Catholic church down the street. In one case, my dad personally prevented a
neighbor from committing suicide. I don't know if this man ever saw a
therapist; he saw my dad, a neighbor. It wasn't paradise. There was a lot of
human pain. But it was extremely safe.
The most dangerous place I ever lived
was the Central African Republic, a remote and very poor country. Guns were not
the problem. Most people's most deadly weapons were their machetes. Overcrowding
was not the problem. There were only 2.5 million people in a country the size
of Texas. The Central African Republic had abundant resources. My students told
me that if they got hungry they could go into the bush and easily capture their
next meal.
Violence was unceasing: bombings,
stabbings, kidnaps, rapes, torture, cannibalism, theft, riots, threats. The
2013 reports of "genocide" of Christians by Muslims, and then
subsequent retaliatory killings of Muslims by Christians are just one violent
outbreak among many in CAR. One among many problems is a lack of shared
narrative. CAR was a major site of slave raids, then a colony, then ruled by
Bokassa, an evil, corrupt dictator. Some tribes were slave traders; some tribes
were cargo. Central Africans see themselves as members of their particular
tribe. The country has never had a unifying government or a national narrative.
I remember once traveling by pick-up
truck through miles of uninhabited bush. Those next to me on the truck were
plotting, in Sango, to kill the Arabic-speaking Muslims on the truck. The truck
broke down in the middle of nowhere and I got off and just started walking. I
didn't want to be around when and if the killing began.
The narratives that create a safe
environment can be destructive. I lived in a very safe, remote village in
Nepal. I slept with my door open. I trekked, often alone, miles through the
Himalayan Mountains. I recognized that one narrative that rendered that tiny
village so safe was the Hindu caste system and also karma, the caste system's
frightening threats of eternal punishments for anyone who violated caste. My
neighbors were devout and lived in fear of the punishments outlined in Hindu
scripture. In spite of my foreignness, given my pale skin and facial features,
Nepalis interpreted me as high caste. The caste systems' rigidity was a narrative
that kept believers in check.
Narrative's power is displayed in
efforts to institute new narratives. In recent years, the Woke have introduced
new vocabulary and severely punished those who refused to adopt it. Teachers
who refer to male students as "he" can be fired. Words must
constantly be rendered unspeakable and new words must replace them. "Racism"
becomes "anti-blackness." "Homeless" becomes "unhoused."
"Slave" becomes "enslaved person." "Pregnant mother"
becomes "pregnant person." "Breast feeding" becomes "chest
feeding." The Woke advance is charted in narrative changes.
Characters must be replaced. "White
man" is now an insult. New main characters arrive to replace the
problematic white man. In Hamilton, America's Founding Fathers are not
white. In the new Camelot, Lancelot sports an Afro. On Netflix, King
George III's wife, Queen Charlotte, is black, as is Henry VIII's wife, Anne
Boleyn, in a previous production. Cleopatra, a descendant of Greek rulers, has
also been turned into a black queen. "God bless America" is replaced
with Obama's mentor, Jeremiah Wright's, "Goddamn America."
Not that long ago, in 1992, Bill Clinton
called the traditional American narrative an "ideal." "Work hard and play by
the rules, you'll do a little better next year than you did last year, your
kids will do better than you." Clinton used the phrase often. In 1996, he said, "If you believe in the values
of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, if
you're willing to work hard and play by the rules, you are part of our family
and we're proud to be with you … When you walk out of this hall, think about
it. Live by it." It's hard to imagine a Democratic candidate today
speaking so openly of love for America's founding documents and an American narrative
of hard work and self-discipline.
An infamous story signals a hideous rent
in the American narrative. On March 27, 1964, the New York Times published
history-making coverage of the stalking, stabbing, rape, murder and robbery of
28-year-old New York bar manager Kitty Genovese by 29-year-old Winston Moseley. Moseley was a serial
killer, rapist, and necrophiliac. He was also a husband, father, and
home-owner. "I chose women to kill because they were easier and didn't
fight back,'' Moseley would say. Asked how he could commit such a heinous and
drawn-out attack in a heavily populated area, Moseley said, "'I knew they
wouldn't do anything; people never do." Moseley's attack lasted a half an
hour. Genovese fought back, as wounds on her hands show.
Initial Times coverage alleged
that 38 witnesses saw or heard the attack, but did not help or call police,
because they "did not want to get involved." The Times report
began melodramatically. "For more than half an hour 38 respectable,
law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three
separate attacks in Kew Gardens. Twice their chatter and the sudden glow of
their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he
returned, sought her out, and stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned the
police during the assault." The Genovese murder epitomized a shocking
change in the American narrative. Now, the story suggested, anomie and chaos
replaced community and mutual concern.
There were significant errors in the Times
story. There were not 38 witnesses who saw and understood the attack and
did not help or phone for help because they "didn't want to get involved."
Some witnesses did attempt to call police. Robert Mozer yelled at Moseley to "Let
that girl alone!" Moseley left the scene and waited for Mozer to return to
bed. Then Moseley returned and completed his attack. Many heard something but
weren't sure what they heard. Sophia Farrar, Genovese's friend and neighbor,
rushed downstairs in her nightgown to investigate, and cradled Genovese's head
as she lay dying. The Times' image of 38 people seeing, understanding,
and refusing to act was simply false.
Times editor A.M. Rosenthal resented attempts to correct the Times'
record on this story. He took pride in the positive impact the story had,
for example the creation of the 911 emergency call system. Rosenthal would
later say to Kitty Genovese's younger brother, Bill, "What was true?
People all over the world were affected by it. Did it do anything? You bet your
eye it did something. And I'm glad it did." Bill was devastated by his
sister's death. The 2016 film The
Witness recounts his efforts to come to terms with the tragedy.
On one hand, the Kitty Genovese story is
a hideous rent in the American narrative. On the other hand, Kitty Genovese
reaffirms the American narrative. Inspired by her story, others chose service.
Kitty's brother Bill volunteered to serve in Vietnam, where he lost his legs to
a landmine. Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger "said he was always haunted by the story of
Kitty Genovese." In Texas, when he heard the coverage, "I made a
pledge to myself, right then at age thirteen, that if I was ever in a situation
where someone such as Kitty Genovese needed my help, I would choose to act. I
would do whatever I could … I felt this real resolve … to live in a certain
way." Citizens struggle to find a way to "rescue" Kitty long
after her horrific death. They don't want to redeem Kitty alone. They want to
redeem themselves. They want to redeem their society. They work toward a
redeemed narrative.
If you think long enough about Kitty
Genovese, you will eventually think about the Holocaust. We have been trying to
redeem that narrative, too. To create a world where action would be taken
sooner, and the Nazis' victims would be saved in time. James Solomon, who
directed The Witness, attributed the inaccuracies in the Times'
coverage at least partially to the impact of the Holocaust. "I do
think that part of the reason this false narrative came to be was … the
Holocaust. In 1964, several months after Kennedy's assassination, the country
was asking, 'Who are we?' and I believe that that question extended back to the
Holocaust." Rosenthal "had been a correspondent in Eastern Europe in
the late 1950s. He was deeply affected by the Holocaust … he ruminates on
silence and the nature of being an observer and not acing. How much of that
thinking informed and influenced the Kitty Genovese narrative is an interesting
question."
Our attention to these questions takes
us back to two very much older narratives. Cain, the first murderer, asks God, "Am
I my brother's keeper?" A more contemporary translation has Genesis 4:9
thus: "Am I supposed to look after my brother?" The answer the Bible
implies is, yes, you are supposed to look after your brother, and not just your
brother.
The Good Samaritan is a game-changing
parable from the New Testament. When asked what is the highest commandment,
Jesus says to love God and your neighbor. When asked who one's neighbor is,
Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan. In Jesus' day, ethics
were tribal. One was to treat members of one's own tribe with one set of
ethics, and strangers with a different set. Jesus proposed universal ethics.
Other cultures struggle with universal
ethics. In 2011, a two-year-old Chinese girl, Wang Yue, wandered into a market.
Subsequent events were recorded on camera. In the video, a bus runs over Wang
with its front wheels, then, with effort, with its back wheels. Wang, still
living, lies in the street. Eighteen people pass by her and do nothing. They
appear well-fed, well-dressed, and not in any hurry. They can see exactly what
they are passing – a two-year old girl bleeding to death. Another truck comes
along and runs Wang over again. Eventually a 58-year-old woman, a garbage
scavenger, Chen Xianmei, aka "Granny Chen," stopped to help Wang. Of
course by then it was too late.
A discussion ensued in China. Many
argued that Chinese ethics, especially a feature called "guanxi,"
demands that one extend concern to those to whom one is intimately connected,
and allow for one to ignore the pain of strangers. The character for "guanxi"
consists of the characters for "closed" and "system." "We
are brought up to show kindness to people in our network of guanxi,
family, friends and business associates, but not particularly to strangers,
especially if such kindness may potentially damage your interests," one Chinese author wrote. "We need a
Good Samaritan ethic," some Chinese stated, using that very term. A story told two
thousand years ago by a Jewish carpenter is cited in new laws in 21st century
China. The power of narrative.
On May 1 2023, according to reports,
Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, entered a New York City subway car
and behaved in a threatening manner. Multiple passengers phoned 911, at least
one reporting that someone had a gun or a
knife. Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine, immobilized Neely with what
has been called a chokehold. At least two other passengers participated in
immobilizing Neely, as video shows. Neely was later pronounced dead. Penny's
hold has been blamed for his death. Penny is white; one of two other men
restraining Neely appears to be black.
The New York Times ran articles
depicting Neely as a Michael Jackson imitator. One article was accompanied by a
very attractive photo of Neely, looking harmless. USA Today depicted Neely as a
"beloved part of many New Yorkers' daily commute" The paper quoted
Lennon Edwards, a "family lawyer." "What he could have been, the
world will never know … But we do know that he was someone who should have had
an opportunity and a chance, a chance to recover – a chance to turn his life
around, a chance to fulfill a dream that he had as a child." Clearly, in
this narrative, society never gave Neely a chance. The paper quotes activists
alleging that society – white society – "successfully campaigned to keep
poor people in jails" and "flooded our subways with cops."
"Neely's death is the direct result of 'abandonment and dehumanization of
people experiencing homelessness and mental health complexities.'"
Conservative media dug deeper and
exposed truths that interfered with the Neely-as-black-Christ-figure narrative.
The New York Post reported that a
Reddit user claimed that Neely had attempted to push him onto subway tracks.
Ten years ago, Corazon DeLeon posted on Reddit, "Try to stay away
from the Michael Jackson impersonator if you see him." DeLeon warned that the
man had "become a maniac" "He's just been a scary dude." "
I was scared for the people next to him … Just avoid the guy at all costs, try
not to look at him at all. Stay safe."
Newsweek and The Gateway Pundit
catalogued some of Neely's many arrests and convictions; for example, Neely
pled guilty to attempting to kidnap a seven-year-old girl.
On another occasion, Neely beat an elderly woman, a stranger, so badly he broke
her bones. He carried out at least two other unprovoked assaults on women in
the subway between 2019 and 2021. On another occasion, he beat an elderly man. Neely used K-2, an illegal drug known to cause violent behavior.
The Left desperately craved to turn
Neely into a Christ figure. How do you commodify and exploit an adult man who
pled guilty to trying to kidnap a seven-year-old girl, and who liked to beat up
on women? The Left portrayed Neely as a victim of its chosen enemies: capitalism,
white supremacy and the stone-cold callousness of American society. Neely was a
"poor" "black" man undergoing a "mental health crisis"
who "needed help" but was murdered by a "white man." The
white man was a convenient, readymade villain. The Left has shown more care for
Neely than it showed for Tyre Nichols, an innocent black man beaten to death on
camera by five police officers. Nichols' killers were all black. Nichols' death
did not serve the narrative. Nichols will never receive the attention that
Neely receives.
Neely was exculpated for his anti-social
crimes because Neely was really the victim. Neely's mother's boyfriend
strangled Neely's mother to death when Neely was 14. That murder traumatized
him. Being mentally ill was not his fault. Neely was completely helpless.
Completely innocent. He made no choices that worsened his own life or his
treatment of others. America was to blame. America murdered Neely because
America is white supremacist and uncaring. The "amen" to this ritual
chorus is "We need a revolution!"
I grew up with someone whose parent,
when this person was just a child, was murdered in an unspeakable and
heartbreaking anti-immigrant crime. This person lived a rough road but grew to
be a law-abiding and productive member of society. If you ask me how he did it,
I would have to say, "Narrative." His narrative, and the narrative of
the community around him: don't wallow in your troubles. Be a good family man.
Don't quit. Work hard. Take care of other people. Fear God. The idea of living
on the street and taking illegal drugs would simply never occur to him.
Again, in my little hometown, in just a
few short blocks, I knew of at least four women with serious mental health
issues, at least one of whom was prescribed Thorazine. These women were neither
verbally nor physically abusive. They dealt with symptoms that luckier people
never have to confront, but they were otherwise non-violent, law-abiding,
clean, productive citizens. I knew these women fairly well and I feel safe in
saying that none of them would conceive of taking illegal drugs or living on
the street. That was not a plot point in their narrative nor did it appear in
the narratives of their husbands, who stuck by them "in sickness and in
health."
We are told again and again that
mentally ill people are more likely to be victims of violence than to be
perpetrators of violence. We are told this as part of an effort to remove the
stigma from mental illness. Further, mental illness alone does not predict
violence. Rather, other factors, including choices the mentally ill person
makes, make violence more or less likely. "While perpetrating violence is relatively uncommon
among those with serious mental illness, when it does occur, in many cases it
is intertwined with other issues such as co-occurring substance use, adverse
childhood experiences, and environmental factors, says Eric B. Elbogen, PhD, a
psychologist and professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at the Duke
University School of Medicine."
What co-occurring factors predispose the
mentally ill to violence? "Substance abuse." "Adverse childhood
experiences." What was Neely's first adverse childhood experience? Not the
murder of his mother.
Neely's father Andre Zachery, 59, has
spoken to the Daily News. "'I just want
something to be done … Obviously he was calling for help ... He wasn't out to
hurt nobody. He was a good kid and a good man too. Something has to be done … My
son didn't deserve to die because he needed help.' The victim's godfather Barry
Kniebs, 64, suggested the Marine was way out of bounds when he laid hands on
Neely. 'This individual seems like he's a vigilante … them days are over.'"
"'The whole system just failed him. He fell through the cracks of the
system," Neely's aunt Caroline Neely said.
Caroline Neely, Jordan's aunt, reported that Andre Zachery "abandoned
Jordan as a baby." Nedra Guaba, a close friend of the family, said that "Jordan
lived with his father occasionally but the two did not get along." His
mother's death destroyed him because "She was his sole support. His father
sure wasn't."
Being abandoned by his father was Neely's
first "adverse childhood experience." His mother moved in with a bad
man with whom she "fought every day." After his mother's murder,
Neely dropped out of school, an institution that might have provided structure
and support.
Some amorphous "system" did
not fail and could never rescue Neely. Neely's family failed Neely, and then
Neely failed himself. So many of his relatives have reported to the press that
his mother's murder, when he was only fourteen years old, devastated him. Where
were they? Did they feed him, house him, teach him a narrative that enabled him
to survive and thrive? If so, Neely listened to other narratives. Narratives
that approved of dropping out of society and using an illegal drug that may
have contributed to his violent behavior.
The "system," and rotten old
capitalist white supremacist Amerikkka, tried, again and again, to help Neely.
Neely resisted help. "Mr. Neely was on what outreach workers refer to as
the 'Top 50' list — a roster maintained by the city of the homeless people
living on the street whom officials consider most urgently in need of
assistance and treatment. He was taken to hospitals numerous times, both
voluntarily and involuntarily."
After one arrest for beating an elderly
woman, Neely was treated with kid gloves. The Times reports, "He was to
go from court to live at a treatment facility in the Bronx, and stay clean for
15 months. In return, his felony conviction would be reduced. He promised to
take his medication and to avoid drugs, and not to leave the facility without
permission. 'This is a wonderful opportunity to turn things around, and we're
glad to give it to you,' Mary Weisgerber, a prosecutor, said. 'Thank you so
much,' Mr. Neely replied. But just 13 days later, he abandoned the facility.
Judge Biben issued a warrant for his arrest."
Jordan Neely was living his life by a
narrative that facilitated violence and human decay. Living on the street,
begging and threatening those who didn't give, taking drugs, hurting, rather
than contributing to society, were all acceptable plot points in that
narrative. Those who give money to homeless panhandlers subsidize this
narrative. Leftists who denigrate America and despise those of us who "work
hard and play by the rules" advance this narrative.
Neely was not the only New Yorker living
with trauma. On January 15, 2022, Michelle Go, an Asian-American woman "who
did everything right," was pushed in front of a subway train by an
assailant sharing significant demographic details with Neely. Martial Simon was
a homeless black man and said to be mentally ill. The subway murder of a good
woman, Michelle Go, received a fraction of the attention allotted to Neely.
In April, 2022, Frank James mounted a
terror attack in a subway car. He shot ten people. James was also black. On
April 11, 2023, a teenager was shot dead on the subway; authorities say his
death is most likely related to gang violence in a largely black housing
project. On or before December 10, 2022, a man was stabbed to death on the
subway. On October 23, 2022, video was released showing a black man
shoving a man onto a subway track.
The New York City subway system is a
deadly place. Crimes are disproportionately committed by black men. Passengers
take that information with them when they enter the subway. When Neely, as
reports indicate, began shouting in an irrational and threatening manner,
passengers went into "fight or flight" mode. The three men who
restrained Neely worked to keep him immobilized until police arrived.
The New York Times has been
working hard at selling Neely as a Christ figure and cruel, cold, capitalist,
white supremacist America as the assassin who did him in. In a surprise move, New
York Times readers are having none of it.
"A Subway Killing Stuns and Divides
New Yorkers," the Times reported, on May 4, 2023.
Neely's death, some say, "was a heinous act of public violence to be
swiftly prosecuted, and represented a failure by the city to care for people
with serious mental illness." The short article referenced "mental
illness" five times and "emotional illness" one time. Clearly, "mental
illness" is the new euphemism for "violent, anti-social criminality."
Times readers, in the comments section, voiced a very different narrative
from that of the Times itself. The following excerpts are from the nine
comments voted "most popular" by Times readers.
"If I were in a confined space with
someone menacing everyone and ranting that he's ready to die or go to prison, I'd
be thinking 'I'm in the middle of the next mass shooting.' It's very easy to
sit at home, in front of your keyboard, and claim that you'd remain perfectly
calm in that situation."
"Notice how this article omits that
he told everyone he was 'ready to get a life sentence' after he had been
yelling at people and behaving erratically. Instead they cite a different quote
to make it seem like he was less of a threat than his other words indicate."
"This guy had been terrorizing
people on the subway for years. 43
arrests, with many against women and the elderly. The rider who got involved
was trying to help others (yes there are people that still do that). The
government won't enforce the law, so its citizens are often left in dangerous
situations."
Neely's "aggressively threatening
behavior in a NYC subway car led to his being restrained by someone who would
have been hailed as a Good Samaritan had Neely not died. This is what happens
when the mentally ill ride the subways, walk the streets and threaten law
abiding citizens with physical harm. As for the protesters, I do not see any of
them taking into their homes or apartments the homeless and mentally ill."
"Tens of millions of Americans are
worried daily from experience about how uncomfortably drug addicted and meth or
psychosis addled desperate people may attack them or their family, with the
police unable to intervene and prosecutors unwilling to send them away.
Enclosed subway cars without a cop on them can turn frightening in an instant.
Sorry, but it's true."
"Everyone who rides the subway and
everyone outside of a few far left and/or craving attention and/or virtue
signaling people agree: it's a tragedy but the responsibility lies with the
city because people should not be threatened or harassed or scared on the
subways. No one has a 'right' to do that. The ex-Marine was attempting to
protect others from someone who was violating and threatening others. It's a
tragedy, but the Marine did nothing wrong."
"no mention that he had … punched a
67 year old woman in the face."
"Contrary to progressive doctrine,
law abiding people do not have to pretend that drug addicts are victims or that
violent mentally ill folks pose no threat."
"AOC is a member of Congress, and
knows nothing about this case other than what she's read or heard, just like
the rest of us. That she feels comfortable pre-judging the case speaks volumes.
And remember that Al Sharpton also called for the district attorney to be
charged in the Twana Brawley case."
There are thousands more upvotes awarded
to hundreds of more comments on this and other Times articles. The
overwhelming vox populi agree: Daniel Penny was a Good Samaritan. Jordan Neely
was a threat. His death was a tragedy, but larger forces ended his life, and
Penny cannot be held responsible for those larger forces. I identify those
larger forces as the narratives by which people choose to live, and teach their
children to live.
When it comes to Neely, both the Left
and the Right claim that they want to live in a society with more Good
Samaritans. Only one side is telling the truth. The Left is lying. Here's why.
Good Samaritans, to do their work, require a society where members share and
act on the same narrative, and that has to be a narrative that supports Good
Samaritan actions. If you want to take from society, you have to give to society.
Neely took, but he gave back violence, self-indulgence, self-destruction, and
hate.
Leftists support the narratives that
killed Neely even more surely than the Marine's restraint. Broken families, no
standards for behavior, a complete rejection of personal responsibility for
anti-social acts, drug use, living on the street, panhandling, refusing needed
mental health treatment, insistence that America is an unjust place and
cultivating despair, are all championed by the Left.
The Good Samaritan here is not the
leftists screaming for wealth redistribution and releasing criminals from
jails. It's not the leftists who side with the criminal, and ask law-abiding
citizens to passively sacrifice their bodies, their public spaces, their sense
of security, to victimization by anti-social elements. The Good Samaritan here
is the Marine who risked his own comfort and safety to protect those on that
train who are old fashioned enough to "work hard and play by the
rules." The Left's narrative, one where Amerikkka is a genocidal, white
supremacist monster who offers no services to the poor, where there is no such
thing as personal responsibility, responsibility to one's family, parental
responsibility to the children one brings into this world, where every
misfortune can be blamed on the "system" that is supposed to "do
something" where the family did nothing to help its own, that narrative
will harm many, many more Jordan Neelys.
Danusha Goska is the author of God through Binoculars: A Hitchhiker at a Monastery
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