The Patriot Post® · A Hero Comes Home

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/64759-a-hero-comes-home-2019-08-10

Fifty-two years ago at Dallas Love Field Airport, Major Roy Knight, Jr., said goodbye to his family, including his five year-old son, Bryan. He was heading off to Vietnam. His family never saw him again.

Major Knight was shot down in combat, and his parachute failed to deploy. Rescue teams could not find him. In 1974 he was declared killed in action and promoted to colonel.

In February, Col. Knight’s remains were found and identified. On Thursday, Col. Knight returned home to the United States aboard a Southwest Airlines flight that landed at Dallas Love Field Airport. The plane bearing his remains in a flag-draped coffin was piloted by Col. Knight’s son, Bryan.

Canadian journalist Jackson Proskow was at Dallas Love Field yesterday and happened to witness Col. Knight’s Dignified Arrival ceremony. He wrote that Southwest agents started handing out flags, and the entire airport fell silent as an announcement about the ceremony was read over the PA system. Proskow added:

“Dallas became the place where the weight of the world seemed to melt away – the place where the good outweighed the bad for the first time in days… It was peaceful, it was beautiful and it was a privilege to watch.”

As Americans who lived through the Vietnam era know well, there was tremendous division in our country then. In many ways, this era is reminiscent of the 1960s and 70s. But there was also tremendous decency in the country then and there still is today.

Col. Knight’s return is also a reminder of this country’s commitment to those missing in action and to our prisoners of war.

What Is Killing Us?

In the wake of the tragic shootings last weekend, many Americans are asking the same question: Why is this happening? As I wrote on Monday, I believe it has a lot to do with the decline of faith and the rise of an increasingly, often militant, secular culture.

Or, as one columnist bluntly put it, “We killed God, family, and community – and now it’s killing us.” That certainly appears to be the case with the Dayton killer.

The Daily Mail, a British media outlet, obtained pages of the killer’s writings. He was an avowed Satanist, writing, “‘I am the servant of the serpent evil incarnate, flesh consumer, light destroyer, fueled by hate, rage my strength, distrust my shield.”

He wrote about “hunting” people. And friends say he was constantly consuming drugs – marijuana, methamphetamines, cocaine, and abusing prescription drugs.

Of course, we’re getting this information from a British source, not the New York Times or the Washington Post. The American media want to assign blame on two things and two things only, eager to get rid of both: Guns and Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, the country is rushing headlong into the legalization of marijuana, in spite of growing evidence linking marijuana to psychosis.

Kudos to Miranda Devine for her latest column in the New York Post describing the potential link between pot and mass shootings. It should be required reading for every elected official.

As Devine warns, “We’ve successfully demonized cigarettes while new laws send kids the message that marijuana is harmless.” But it is far from harmless. Just consider these excerpts:

“In 2007 the prestigious medical journal Lancet recanted its previous benign view of marijuana, citing studies showing 'an increase in risk of psychosis of about 40 percent.’

"A seminal long-term study of 50,465 Swedish army conscripts found those who had tried marijuana by age 18 had 2.4 times the risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia in the following 15 years than those who had never used the drug. Heavy users were 6.7 times more likely to be admitted to a hospital for schizophrenia…

"A 2011 study in the British Medical Journal of 2,000 teenagers found those who smoked marijuana were twice as likely to develop psychosis as those who didn’t. Another BMJ study estimated that ‘13 percent of cases of schizophrenia could be averted if all cannabis use were prevented.’”

“That’s more than 400,000 Americans who could be saved from a fate worse than death.”

Other Headlines

Jerry Nadler drops all pretense, telling CNN, “This is formal impeachment proceedings,” adding that Speaker Pelosi is being “very cooperative.” This is the clearest signal yet that House Democrats have not abandoned their collusion delusions and will try to impeach President Trump in the lead-up to the 2020 campaign.

Sen. Lindsey Graham is hinting that big things are coming in the Deep State investigation. Well, I certainly hope so, but I’m tired of hints. I’m tired of explaining to people why Hillary Clinton can get away with jeopardizing national security or why James Comey gets away with illegal leaks when any another American would be locked up!

Illegal border crossings are finally coming down. Last month, Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 72,000 illegal immigrants, a drop of nearly 50% compared to May. This shows that President Trump’s tough approach with Mexico and other Central American countries is making a real difference.

While progressive politicians and their left-wing media allies have blamed Trump for the violence in Dayton and El Paso, not one Democrat presidential candidate was willing to go on the record condemning the violence of Antifa. Speaking of Democrat presidential candidates, or more appropriately Democrat presidential candidates who can’t speak, Joe Biden has been in full gaffe mode this week. (Here, here, here and here.) I know that if you are giving multiple speeches a day, there will be gaffes. But Biden is breaking records.

In the wake of the El Paso shooting, Joe Biden and the left-wing media are trying to resurrect the hoax that Trump called neo-Nazis “very fine people.” It’s a disgusting smear. Even CNN’s Jake Tapper says it’s false. Watch this Prager U video for more.

As I told you yesterday, Biden compared Trump to Alabama segregationist George Wallace this week. Well, it turns out that Biden, who worked with segregationists in the Senate, has also praised George Wallace!

As tensions flare in Hong Kong, the Trump Administration is accusing Beijing of acting like a “thuggish regime.” It certainly is that. This week, as a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, I called on China to release underground church leader Hu Shigen, and condemned China’s deplorable treatment of religious minorities.