Commemorating the Victims of A Forgotten Tragedy

Although it has been a busy month for me - with the semester ending, my new responsibilities at our parish church, and still settling in from our recent move - one thing I wanted to do was commemorate the memories of some people I have a deep connection to.  In 1915, a horrendous act of genocide was carried out by the Turks and other Islamist fanatics against primarily the Armenian people, but also caught in the crosshairs were Assyrians and Pontic Greeks, the total casualty count being approximately 1.5 million.  To this day, the Turks still deny and attempt to suppress the facts regarding this atrocity, and unfortunately they have made some powerful allies within our own government, and that is what I wish to address today.

It comes as no surprise that Capital Hill is filled with deadbeats we call Congressmen.  They claim to represent us, but in reality the overwhelming majority of them are career politicians seeking to advance themselves, and although President Trump promised to "drain the swamp" of these bloodsucking leeches (and, yes, they are both Democrats and Republicans!) that has yet to be made reality.  In commemoration of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian National Committee of America is in the process of producing a film called Architects of Denial, and essentially it exposes something very disturbing among those who we have elected leaders and trusted to represent us - due to a lot of kickback money coming from the Turkish Government (more so now with that madman Erdogan in office) many of our duly-elected Congressional "leaders" (I use that term very loosely and very facetiously) have opposed measures to recognize April 24th as "Armenian Martyrs Day."  As a matter of fact, they are so fearful of losing their Turkish bankrollers that they can be openly hostile about the facts and their blatant denial of them.  The film highlights two in particular - both liberal Democrats (big surprise there!) - and I am going to call them out here as well too.  Let's talk about these hypocritical "Progressives" who collect their salaries at the expense of hardworking taxpayers in their states a little.

The first one I want to mention is Eddie Bernice Johnson, who is Democratic Representitive from Texas.  Johnson has been in office 24 years (since 1993), and her track record has been one of race-bating, catering to the homosexual activist lobby, and supposedly setting up "scholarships" for underprivileged kids in her Congressional district, but the "underprivileged" it turns out are her own family members and friends!  Oh yes - she is the caliber of leader we want, right?  In Architects of Denial, she is approached on camera by the narrator of the film, and when confronted about the Armenian Genocide, she outright says she doesn't believe it happened (she ironically sounds like a Klucker or the late White Supremacist William Pierce - author of The Turner Diaries - who denies the reality of the Holocaust).  She is clearly one of the leeches that needs to be included in Trump's "Drain the Swamp" campaign, and to be honest, her callousness should have her flushed down a loo somewhere.  But, she is one of many, as there are others. (information taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Bernice_Johnson - accessed 4/25/2017)

Race-bater and Genocide denier Congressional leech, Eddie Bernice Johnson

The second Congressional Progressive leech is even more appalling, as this man is supposed to be a Holocaust recognition advocate and is Jewish by heritage.  Jews and Armenians should in reality be natural allies, but often people like this next person have hurt that relationship, and it shames me as a person of Hebraic heritage myself.  The man in question is Tennessee Representitive Steve Cohen, also a liberal Democrat, and his general behavior and attitude in regard to the issue of the Armenian Genocide is nothing short of appalling.  Steve Cohen likes to tout himself as being the "first Jewish senator from Tennessee," as if that is a big accomplishment or something - the "progressive" win over the "oppressive and backward" South.  A little history lesson might be something Mr. Cohen needs though, for in reality the "oppressive, racist" South of the Civil War era treated Jews better than did the  "enlightened" North - Grant banned them from serving in his army, but Jeff Davis appointed capable Jewish leaders to his cabinet in the Confederate Government (that is something you will not see in "enlightened" progressive history books!).  Much like the rest of the "Loonie Lefties" in Congress, Cohen advances a very liberal agenda of funding the killing of unborn children, sanctioning "same-sex marriage" as a mandatory requirement, and he has even went against his own people in his dastardly treason against the nation of Israel.  He also advocates the legalization of marijuana, and while supporting the preservation of spotted owls, he is stone-silent when it comes to Assyrian Christians being slaughtered by ISIS in the Middle East in recent years.  This all explains his position on the Armenian Genocide, when confronted with it in the film.  In an earlier press conference from 2008, he even became physically aggressive with an Armenian filmmaker, Peter Mursurlian, when Mursurlian confronted him with questions about why he is supporting the Turkish lobby - he claims to be supporting "good US/Turkey relations," and the "official" position he has for doing so is that recognizing the Genocide would "damage" US relations with Turkey.  Funny; I wonder if he would be that charitable with the Germans if the scenario were different?  The difference, however, is that the Germans owned up to their history, and Germany since WWII has sought to redeem itself; Turkey refuses to do the same.  Yet, Mr. Cohen (who shames his own name, which represents the rich heritage of the Levitical priesthood, which some of his ancestors - who are probably turning over in their graves now - came from) doesn't seem to grasp facts.  However, to people like Cohen, murdering innocents (whether Armenians, Assyrians, Serbs, unborn babies lost to the knives of Planned Parenthood butchers, etc.) means little as long as his own position is secure.  This is why the man is sick.  (Information from this section taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Cohen - accessed 4/25/2017).

Congressional leech and traitor of his own people, Tennessee Representitive Steve Cohen

The greed, self-serving butt-kissing, and shamelessness of people like Johnson and Cohen (and I would add Pelosi, Reed, Schumer, the late Ted Kennedy, the late Robert Byrd, Lahey, and on the Republican side, Paul Ryan and Joni Ernst) has made America a laughing-stock in the eyes of the world.  Putin mocks us, Israel is stung over and over by us, and the Islamists plot against us, and they have compliant puppets with people like Cohen, Johnson, and so many others.  One day though, the voice of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and others will rise in judgment against these sorry excuses for leadership, and God help them on that day!  Until that day though, we can pretty much expect the same level of chicanery and ineffectual leadership we see in people like this, and therefore it is up to those of us on the grassroots level to recognize and get the message out about the Armenians.  It is also up to us to remember the evils of the Holocaust, as innocent Jews were killed by another group of "progressives" not unlike some Democrats in Congress called Nazis.  

I want to now include an excerpt from my good friend, actress, and activist Rosie Malek Yonan's lengthy autobiographical novel, The Crimson Field (Verdugo City, CA:  Pearlida Publishing, 2005).  Rosie is a fairly well-known actress who has appeared in many popular shows (she played the neighbor "Mrs. Phil" on Seinfeld as well as a Bajoran engineer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).  However, despite her tremendous talent as a great Assyrian-American actress, Rosie is also passionate about the plight of her people, and she has advocated tirelessly for them over the past several years.  Rosie and I don't agree on every issue, but she is a dear friend and I have the utmost love and respect for her as a person, and I will always stand with her as she advocates for her people. In the book, on page 380 of her novel, Rosie describes in great detail what many Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks went through during that violent time of history, and here is what she writes on page 380:

The Turks began seizing clothing, money, jewelry, and whatever else they could tear off the Assyrian corpses.  They shot repeatedly at whoever still seemed to be breathing.  A Turk bent down to pry off the two wedding rings of my husband's and mine that I wore on two fingers next to each other.  The rings would not come off.  He cut my hand off and took the two gold bands.  Blood seeped the earth and when the earth could no longer drink, blood sat on the surface, red and thick.  They tore the crucifix from the wall and took turns urinating on it.  They smashed all the statues and icons in my church.  The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary toppled down the stairs.  Her head rolled down the stairs and smashed into Ramsin's head.  His head split open.  Ramsin took the hand of his little sister Ramina.  They returned home, finding their way through the firestorm.  Blood came down from the eyes of the Virgin Mary statue.

Then on page 381, this ominous sentence:

A hauntingly tense hush fell onto the church.  Even the birds became still with grief.  

Rosie is writing this from the perspective of a character based on her grandmother, who actually survived this atrocity by escaping to Russia and eventually making her way to the US.  But, it is a story that resonates with Armenian and Assyrian alike, as it details in grisly clarity the nastiness of what Islamic demonism is capable of - it is being repeated even now by the fanatics of ISIS in the Middle East.  Yet, our politicians refuse to acknowledge this even happened because we don't want to "upset" the Turks.  Progressive Democrats have done this before - remember World War II?  Jews were initially allowed to escape Germany when Hitler was starting to enact persecution on them, but our "progressive Democrat" President at that time, Franklin Roosevelt, turned them back and they ended up being fodder for the gas chambers and mass crematories of Auschwitz and other horrible places - does Mr. Cohen in particular recall that??? That is unfortunately what happens though when you have fat-cat politicians who are more interested in boosting their own prestige instead of serving the people who voted for them, and too much of that goes on.  The Armenian Genocide is a factual reality, and despite what some revisionist progressive who wants to kiss the groin of some powerful Turkish leader thinks, almost every Armenian-American today can recall at least one relative who was martyred in that atrocity.  Until our leaders get it together and wise up to truth, they maybe should have a reduction in their salaries and possibly some impeachment proceedings should be recommended against these leeches.  A little time out among us "common folk" may give them the education they lack.  One can always dream....

Much more could be said about this, but the more important thing is that there are many martyrs to commemorate, innocent people of Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian heritage senselessly slaughtered for the crime of being who they are.  This same week is also Holocaust Remembrance as well, and may the victims of places such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, and other hell-holes of death be commemorated as well, and may a sense of shame come over people such as Steve Cohen for being a traitor to his own people - Lord have mercy on his soul and the other wretches like him.  If people would treat the Armenian Genocide with the same recognition they do with commemorating a criminal like Trayvon Martin, the Turks would be forced to face up to what they did and the pressure on their government would bring fast recognition.  But, with a bunch of self-serving parasites in Congress in undeserved places of leadership, it will take a miracle of God to change things.  Good thing is, God is still in the miracle-making business, and He hears the blood of the innocent crying even if our politicians are too dumb and deaf to.  That is the hope in all of this.  God bless until next time.