City Of Hate

Bob Newman

If asked while in the middle of a firefight what a Marine or other American military man is fighting for, he is highly unlikely to reply that he is fighting for his country and is very likely to tell you that he is fighting for his brothers around him.

Now, after the fight when given a moment to reflect upon the bigger picture, he might give you the patriotism answer. But when the lead is flying and people are screaming and you are soaked with the blood, guts and brains of the man who used to be your very best friend, patriotism isn’t the first thing on your mind.

Nope. When all that’s left of your pal is a smoking hole in the ground and a pink mist hanging in the air, and you are as deaf as a haddock because a mortar round just exploded a few yards from your head and you can’t see very well because a piece of shrapnel is sticking out of your right eye and it hurts a lot, the flag is not your first concern.

Nevertheless, American warriors can explain what they are fighting for when they do have a second to focus on the reasons behind a war. One of those reasons is frequently that most precious American right: freedom of speech. We don’t like the idea of our rights—especially that right—being taken from us.

So you can probably understand why military men and women get upset when some of their fellow Americans attempt to deny them this precious right, oftentimes in the name of political correctness and “inclusiveness.”

This is what’s happening in the city of Denver, where Mayor John Hickenlooper was able to very adroitly convince the majority of Denverites that he was a man of personal courage and conviction who would stand up to radicals and those who purvey hate, intolerance and bigotry. Instead, Hizhonor is leading the charge to make Denver one of the most hateful and intolerant cities in America, much like Selma, Montgomery, Memphis and Atlanta back in the bad old days, only with the loathing of Christianity as the catalyst rather than someone’s skin color.

Mayor Hickenlooper, without bothering to check with his employers (the citizens of Denver), has informed the ignorant masses that 2004 will be the last year he will allow those most vile and hateful of words, “Merry Christmas,” to be displayed with the nativity scene on the steps of City Hall. The micro-brew-baron-turned-metropolitical-dictator, fearing a lawsuit from the fascist American Civil Liberties Union, says some people are offended by those words and he doesn’t want to offend anyone.

Since when do Americans have the right not to be offended?

Of course, Hickenlooper’s smokescreen is a thin one. In reality, he is simply showing his true colors as a politically correct, intolerant secularist who mistakenly thinks he can trounce on the 1st Amendment rights of anyone he so chooses.

Hickenlooper’s administration also approved the bigoted policies of the Downtown Denver Partnership, a hate-filled body of Hickenlooper’s cronies who have outlawed the singing of Christianity-based Christmas carols, all Christian symbols and, of course, the words “Merry Christmas” in the city-sanctioned Parade of Lights, which is Denver’s annual Christmas parade. In defense of this policy of intolerance, exclusion and anti-Christian discrimination, Partnership representatives are trying to convince Denver that the parade isn’t a Christmas parade but a holiday parade. If this is so, why are Santa Claus and Rudolph part of the parade and why isn’t the parade conducted in July?

Of course, the business executives who make up the Partnership do want you to spend lots of money with the words “In God We Trust” on the currency. And Hickenlooper sees nothing wrong with giving city government employees a paid day off on Christmas Day.

Will Hickenlooper and his henchmen next attempt to ban images of the Christ child and Christmas trees? Will the mayor order city employees not to utter that horrible phrase, “Merry Christmas,” on city property? I mean, what is the difference between reading those words on city property and saying them aloud?

Denver’s mayor and his mindless minion have an agenda driven by hatred, intolerance and discrimination against Christians. His biggest mistake is arrogantly assuming Christians don’t vote.

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Bob Newman, a decorated, retired US Marine, is host of the "Gunny Bob Show" on Newsradio 850 KOA in Denver, and host of "Inhuman Newman's Anger-Management Hour" on 630 KHOW, also in Denver. His "Global Positioning Statement," a daily insider's update on the war on terror, is carried by various Clear Channel radio stations from coast to coast. A ground-combat veteran, he is the director of international security & counterterrorism services for The GeoScope Group and is the military science & terrorism columnist for The Denver Daily News.

bobnewman@clearchannel.com