Gathering my thoughts and words.
Today marks seven days since hearing Jessie Montgomery's "Records from a Vanishing City" at the Gateways Music Festival in a concert held at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance in Rochester, New York. Incidentally, the Hochstein is housed in the repurposed church in which the funeral of Frederick Douglass took place.
This concert took place on the day before the final concert of the Gateways Festival, a concert that included a stunning "familiar work with new ears" performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with Stewart Goodyear as soloist and an orchestral performance of Brahms' Second Symphony that, like in years past, I walked away from thinking "If I had to retire the violin after this, I would be okay because THIS was tremendous and I am grateful to have been a part of it."
However, that weekend also included the horrors of Charlottesville, Virginia.
What can I say, eh? I think it's safe to say this: while I am gathering my thoughts and references, we have to remember a few things. Do understand that this is NOT the time to become outraged at our current leader's statements in which he said that there were "good people" on both sides. Screw the words - look at the laws. THOSE are important, and THAT is where our energy needs to go from this - hell, from LAST week forward:
1. Permits were granted.
2. Virginia is an open carry state. "Open carry is generally allowed without a permit for people 18 years of age and older. The following cities and counties have exceptions that disallow the open carry of "assault weapons" (any firearm that is equipped with a magazine that will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or is designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock) or shotguns equipped with a magazine that holds more than 7 rounds: the Cities of Alexandria, Chesapeake, Fairfax, Falls Church, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, and Virginia Beach and in the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Henrico, Loudoun, and Prince William. These restrictions do not apply to valid concealed carry permit holders. Stated differently, you may open carry an assault weapon/shotgun with more than 7 rounds with a permit in the aforementioned locations, but do not need a permit to do so in any other locality in Virginia."
Notice: Albermarle County, the county in which Charlottesville is located, is not listed here. That means that those who came with assault weapons (which you shall clearly see in the linked video) were acting within the LETTER (as opposed to the SPIRIT) of the law. Think about that. If you're having a problem understanding this, talk to anyone who went to a public high school that took a course called "Civics".
3. From what I'm hearing from the ground, the police in Charlottesville were told to "stand down" while profound intimidation took place over two days. TWO DAYS.
Mind y'all, I think you all know that I'm hardly an advocate for this type of incendiary behavior. HARDLY. But think about it....we're talking about factions of people who have, for decades, been working out, storing food, purchasing guns and assault weapons, all while believing the ideology that "there will be a race war" and advocating for racial and ethnic cleansing of the United States.
The police were told to "stand down" (I shall hopefully confirm this in a few days).
"There's somethin' happenin' here....what it is..."
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