Self-Anointed "Monument Police" Engage in the Most Vicious, Disingenuous and Disgusting Politics of Personal Destruction

Some radicals want statues of Christopher Columbus torn down, claiming he symbolizes "European Conquest."

We simply cannot judge figures from our history based upon today's lens of laws, regulations, and social norms.

Our past is one of vicious cruelty to our fellow man.  It is ugly.  History is what it was, not what we wish it might have been.

Yet we celebrate figures from our history--even the most flawed.  Because all men are flawed, only God is perfect and we all know this.

Men that did horrible things by today's standards are memorialized with statues, bridges, monuments, highways, roads, airports, boats, and other honorary designations--based in most cases--on the totality of their contribution to our nation.  We find these all over the country.

But a recent phenomenon is troubling.

Certain folks are DEMANDING some monuments come down.  Others are vandalizing selected monuments.  Statues are being taken down in the dead of night, memorial designations are being taken away.

Meanwhile--some historical figures that did horrible things escape all scrutiny.  Why?

Other historical figures that did far less are being targeted by the "monument police" Why?

In Pensacola, it goes a little something like this......

Our bridge from Pensacola to Gulf Breeze is named the Philip D. Beall Sr. Memorial Bridge.  Beall was the Florida Senate President who procured the funding for the bridge, and died in office before the bridge was completed in 1962.  (He died in 1943 while his sons were fighting in WW II.)

Nobody paid attention--most locals just called the bridge the 3-Mile Bridge.

But the Beall family remained proud of this structure that carried their family name.  For decades.

Fast forward to 2019 and a replacement structure is being built, and under existing FDOT protocol-the replacement structure will carry the Beall name--absent any legislative action that would re-name the bridge.

And, you guessed it, a group HAS come forward and asked that the legislature name this replacement structure for a very worthwhile historical figure, General Darniel R. "Chappie James."  To do this, however, would mean the Beall designation would go away.

And for the Beall family--this is the rub.  They prefer to keep their family name on the bridge because they are proud of their family.  Understanding and valuing Chappie James' legacy--the Beall's have even offered to support the two families sharing a dual-designation on the new structure.

Sadly--this magnanimous overture by the Beall family is being met with open hostility and vitriolic attacks.

People are saying Senator Beall was a racist and a white Supremacist--even though he never owned slaves and nobody has presented anything at all that points to him being a "racist."

The haters hang their collective hats on legislation Beall sponsored in 1935 that made Democratic primaries "white only."  But these primaries were going on all over the south and the Supreme Court decision in Grovey v. Townsend ruled that such primaries did not deprive citizens of their 14th or 15th Amendment rights.

Yes--with the luxury of history we know this was wrong, all of it.  The poll taxes, the literacy tests,

10 Initial, Potential Ideas for Our Bridge Naming Committee's Consideration.....

Here are ten initial thought's for our "bridge naming" committee's consideration (below).  This committee should consider ALL alternatives on THEIR timeline--not an artificially-created timeline.

The Board of County Commissioners wisely voted to impanel a committee to look at the issues surrounding the naming of the replacement bridge being constructed over the existing 3-Mile Bridge.

Most folks had not realized the bridge has an official designation already, the Philip D. Beall Sr. Memorial Bridge.  According to FDOT and absent any legislative change in Tallahassee, the replacement bridge will carry the same designation as the original bridge.

A group of motivated citizens, however, are asking us to remove the designation from Beall and vote to advocate to our legislative delegation that the new structure be named for General Daniel R. "Chappie" James instead.

General James was born in Pensacola and he was a war hero who ultimately rose to the rank of 4-Star General and he was the first Black man to achieve this rank.

Sadly, upon some initial push-back being applied to this idea of ripping one man's memorial down in order to honor another man---some have resorted to the politics of personal destruction; they have actively begun to run down the Beall family name.  They have called Beall Sr. a racist and even a white supremacist.

This is all untrue and it is disappointing and disgusting that folks would lower themselves to this level in order to rip one family's good name from the bridge to get what they want. 

I believe that if General James was here to witness these machinations, he would be deeply disappointed;  I do not believe he would want to watch one family name be stripped from a monument so his name could be placed on this same monument.  But because nobody knows what he might think, because he has passed away, this is simply speculation.

So again, I'm proud that Escambia County voted to take a step back--just  as Gulf Breeze appears poised to do as well.  I'm glad we will be forming a committee to look at all aspects of this issue with the goal of giving the BCC a good, solid recommendation that we can act upon-- based upon rational, reasoned, and measured consideration of multiple alternatives by a committee of citizens taking input from the entire community.

I am going to advocate for giving this committee broad berth in looking at multiple ideas with the intention of asking them to bring back their preferred alternative (s) from which the BCC can choose.

Here's an initial list of 10 things that I feel should be considered by the committee:

1.  Maintain status-quo-take no option on the naming and let FDOT protocol prevail.

2.  Name replacement bridge for General James (thereby removing Beall memorial from bridge)

3.  Joint designation for bridge "James-Beall" bridge or "Beall-James" bridge

4.  One Span (Pensacola to Gulf Breeze) named the Philip Beall Bridge and the other Span (Gulf Breeze to Pensacola) the Chappie James Bridge

5.  Focusing resources on naming Airport for James instead of bridge (Like Louisville, KY, recently did for Muhammad Ali)--This is the alternative I prefer, as it makes the most sense in my opinion..

6. Switching Designations (e.g. Chappie James taking the name of the new bridge and the Beall family taking the designation from downtown's "Chappie James" state building on Government st.)

If Louisville Can Name Their Airport for Muhammad Ali--Pensacola Can Name our Airport for Chappie James!!

General Daniel R. "Chappie" James was an aviator.  A fitting tribute to this great American would be for his hometown to name its airport in his honor---just as Muhammad Ali's hometown recently did for Muhammad Ali.  The airport would be a much more apropos and prestigious honor than would be the naming a bridge for this hero!

General Daniel R. Chappie James  deserves a great memorial in his hometown of Pensacola.  There is no doubt about that and I believe this sentiment is universal in the community.  So instead of tearing away the Beall family name from the replacement bridge that is currently under construction over Pensacola Bay (which would be the net effect of "re-naming" this structure for Chappie James)--It just seems to make a lot more sense to re-focus efforts aimed at re-naming the bridge toward naming Pensacola's airport for Chappie!  There has been some noise out there that "this can't be done!" but I do not believe this is the case.  If Louisville can name their airport for Muhammad Ali--then Pensacola ought to be able to name our airport for Chappie James.  Doing this would truly be transformational and would be a great example of really BOLD, DECISIVE leadership.  A recent article describes in detail just how Louisville did this over the course of a couple of years.  If they can do it, why can't we?  from the article:

"Muhammad Ali once said his "greatness came and started in Louisville."Now his name will be among the first things visitors and travelers see when they fly into his beloved hometown. City officials announced Wednesday that Louisville International Airport will be renamed after the boxer and humanitarian often called "the Greatest."The new name: Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport."Muhammad Ali belonged to the world, but he only had one hometown, and fortunately, that is our great city of Louisville," Mayor Greg Fischer said. "Muhammad became one of the most well-known people to ever walk the Earth and has left a legacy of humanitarianism and athleticism that has inspired billions of people."It is important that we, as a city, further champion The Champ's legacy," Fischer continued. "And the airport renaming is a wonderful next step."The Louisville Regional Airport Authority board approved Fischer's motion that the airport be renamed. But the SDF code will not change, officials said."

READ THE FULL ARTICLE FROM LOUISVILLE HERE

Navy Federal Credit Union Revises Offer for Land Purchase at OLF 8

Escambia County has received a revised letter of intent from Navy Federal Credit Union for the purchase of a portion of the OLF 8 property in Beulah. This letter of intent to purchase 84 acres from Escambia County includes less frontage on 9-Mile road and less acreage overall (see illustration above).  Additionally, the new LOI's offer to purchase is priced at the average of our two recently received appraisals on a per-acre basis.  See the complete LOI below.  The creation of a minimum of at least 300 additional jobs by NFCU at their Beulah campus will be an additional consideration required by the BCC for this sale to occur.  I am hopeful we can get this transaction done in very short order. 

American Dream Stolen Part III: Can We All Achieve the American Dream?

In the wake of the terrible tragedy in Beulah this week, where three individuals allegedly conspired to rob a local shop owner and in the process murdered this man--thereby shattering his family's American Dream--some might ask the following question:

Is the American Dream still a reality that all can achieve?

I believe the answer is a resounding YES.  But it takes lots of hard work and lots of sacrifice.  It is there for the taking--more so here than in any other country in the world.

That's why people are clamoring to get here, by any and all means including sneaking in illegally, overstaying  student or visitor's visa (s),  and/or following the process to come here legally.

Point is, everyone knows America is the land of opportunity, and that's why so many are coming here by the thousands.  I mean, just look at the caravans of thousands of people coming up through Mexico from Central America, one after another,  trying to get here.  People know that this is the place where a person can succeed if he/she works hard.

And that is what is so depressing about some folks that are born here, raised here, and still haven't figured out what the rest of us all know about how great this country is.....

Why some people choose not to participate in society like normal, law-abiding and upstanding citizens--I will never understand.

America offers opportunity for ALL!

How do we know?

---When we see families from the orient coming to America not even speaking the language and within one generation owning their own businesses and sending their children to our finest schools.

---When we see immigrants from around the world come here to work and these folks find their slice of the American Dream by starting businesses and purchasing homes, and becoming naturalized citizens

---When we see record unemployment and record earnings gain by virtually every demographic category in the USA over the last several years.

Sadly, there are some citizens among us that still feel that America is not a great country and that America is not a place where they can succeed.  Many of these folks choose not to work or work as little as possible.  Many use drugs, abuse alcohol, have children they cannot afford, blame others for their failures and lead lifestyles that are completely dysfunctional.

Often these folks end up engaged in criminal activity.  Often these folks blame others for their lives that are disasters--or worse blame their dysfunction on the Country in Which they live--the USA---even though they were blessed to be born here where anyone, I mean ANYONE who works can achieve the American dream.

And so we get back to Pensacola, Beulah, and the robbery attempt and murder that tragically took the life of a minority business owner who was just trying to make his version of the American Dream a reality.  This guy came to America legally from India, he invested in a business, and served a community with products and services the community needed--and for this he is murdered by folks that were born here and could not, apparently, figure out how to lead a normal and productive life and not prey on upon others.

What a sad commentary on some folks and the levels to which they will stoop to get over on folks and victimize others to take "short-cuts" in life.

Luckily, most of these types--the non-workers and excuse makers--will sooner or later end up in jail when they cross the line from dysfunction into criminality.  And the rest of society will be better for it.

It's just sad and tragic that so many good people, like Mr. Reddy in Beulah, have to be victimized in the process....

American Dream Stolen Part II: Who Stole a Man's Dream?

A clerk was murdered by a Pensacola man seen in this screen grab from the convenience store's video system.  In the process, a man's life was taken, his family was shattered, and the American Dream this family had has been stolen from them...

A trio of alleged conspirators has now been captured and charged in the murder of Mr. Kotha Govarhdan Reddy.  Justice awaits them as the charges have been made.

These are the people of Pensacola that stole a man's dream and shattered a family.

They obviously obtained a gun for the crime which it appears the two men could not have done given their records.

And according to some rumors that have surfaced--this trio apparently scouted several nearby stores on Blue Angel and Mobile Highway that were deemed to be "too busy" before they drove down the road and found Mr. Reddy's shop and did what they are alleged to have done.

I'll never understand the senseless nature of holding a gun to someone's head, demanding money, and then---as the victim is simply attempting to comply and hand over the money----the bad guy shoots the victim and kills him.  Why?

According to reports, the victim was shot once in the chest and once in the head, as he was simply trying to comply and empty out his register and hand over the cash.  In the process of the robbery and murder, though, the register money wasn't touched nor were any items taken from the store. The thing that was stolen was a man's life, his family's future, and their version of the American Dream.

Now the victim's family is destroyed, and in the process the alleged perpetrators lives and their families' lives and their childrens' lives will never be the same.  Four families forever changed by the senseless actions of a three people trying to get over the system and take something that did not belong to them.

What a shame, what a senseless and unnecessary tragedy.....

American Dream Stolen Part I: Mr. Reddy

Mr. Kotha Govarhdan Reddy was murdered in his store last Tuesday and his family's American Dream was stolen.

Mr. Kotha Govarhdan Reddy was a merchant out near Beulah in District 1.  He bought a small convenience store that was run down and not doing well, and he turned it around.  He cleaned it up on the inside, spent a lot of money installing new tanks and a new canopy system so he could sell gas.

And he worked.  All the time.

I drive by his store nearly every day on the way home from work, and over the last year or so I noticed an interesting trend...one that I liked.

His gas was always 10-12 cents cheaper per gallon than his nearby competitors (Shell and Tom Thumb at Blue Angel and Mobile Hwy.)  Smart strategy--lower the prices well below your competition to drive traffic to the store, then make sales of other higher-margin items to the new gas customers!  Loss-leader.

So I started buying my gas at his store, and eventually I would go inside and buy lottery tickets, soda, snacks, beer, or an occasional newspaper.  His store was immaculately clean.  I mean it was incredibly clean.  And his prices were very good on an array of items.

He also had a game in his store that brought me back to my youth and that I hadn't seen anywhere else locally:  You insert a quarter and it pops out on a platform with other quarters  that moves back and forth--with the object being to position your coin drop so that your quarter is in the front of the others such that it would push more quarters (and cash) over a ledge and down a chute for the game player to collect.  As a kid growing up in Japan I used to play that game with 10 yen pieces.  You rarely win at it, but it was a cool game.

One day as I walked out of the store (the game was near the door) I asked him "Hey, is this game even legal?"  To which he quipped "As long as nobody tells the county commissioners..."

He didn't talk much, we had small talk on several occasions.  I told him I liked his gas prices, and he would just smile.

I noticed he was always working though.  Always.  He was a hard worker that was becoming more