I apologize if any of my comments seemed callous or insensitive, I was heated
and speaking from that, but...
To suggest that I am in league with terrorists is beyond the pale.
I never said "this is America's fault." I never said the terrorists actions
were justified. I never would say such things. I love my home. I am
profoundly saddened and disturbed by these attacks and the deaths of so many. I
think that those that perpetrated these attacks do need to be "hunted down and
brought to justice," in the words of our President (a man I have actively
campaigned against in the past but feel is doing a fine job in his strength,
compassion and patience so far, in what is probably the most difficult time for
a President in the last 50 years).
Not to belabor it (I was going to shut up until it was suggested that my words
somehow make me an agent of our enemies), but my point was that, before we
proceed in a blind rage, damning "collateral damage" as many of our people and
representatives suggest, we might examine the fact that as Tibor and others in
this international community have pointed out, to much of the world (the
overwhelming majority of whom are not terrorists, do not support terrorists, and
have never met a terrorist) the USA does not represent freedom and generosity
but violence and oppresion.
Some of their views are justified, others not. Yes we are the free, we are a
Democracy. We are generous and have helped many people, many times over. Those
are not points I concede, but things I am very proud of. That does not mean
however that we should ignore the instances in which our nation has acted
tyranically, it means we should acknowlege them and strive to do better, to be
even more free and generous and compassionate in the future.
I hope we can bear that in mind when we proceed to attempt to exact revenge for
these atrocities. I hope that we can proceed with strength, not with hatred for
those that did this to us, but love for those that are lost and those that
remain. This is not an instance when I suggest we turn the other cheek, but I
hope to God we don't slap more innocent faces in our zeal to get the ones we are
after.
With love and sadness,
/Robert
Jim Arnold wrote:
> Over the past few days, as I've read the posts here, I've gone from
> disbelief to rage to wonder and then, back to rage.
>
> At first, there was rage. Someone wanted to 'give me a little
> perspective'. Really? Seeing people, my countrymen, jump from a thousand
> foot building to escape being burned alive was just about all the
> perspective I needed. Erik Borälv said we've had enough 'hostile
> things'. We hadn't begun to dig the bodies out of the rubble and we were
> reading excuses for the terrorists. What could be more hostile than that?
>
> After the rage...wonder. What could motivate people to say those things
> about their country? Didn't they know their words were hurtful? Didn't
> they care? Did they think we would admire them for their intellectual
> capacity or their ability to understand all sides? To feel our pain? What?
>
> And then a thought I can only barely believe. The terrorists that did
> this have lived among us for many years. They lived in Florida and
> attended our flight schools to learn to fly our airplanes that they then
> made into their weapons. They have studied us and they know us. They are
> sophisticated in the ways of espionage and terror. Is it such a stretch
> to suspect that they also are sophisticated in the ways of
> propaganda? Could these posts be a calculated effort to erode our
> confidence in ourselves? Or the unwitting regurgitation of someone else's
> agenda?
>
> Consider the allegations. The posts and the articles have repeatedly
> charged that the US has ignored the needs and feelings of the countries
> supporting the terrorists. If you've read the articles referenced in the
> posts you'll see that a common thread is the charge by the United Nations
> that US policies have starved thousands of children in Iraq and other
> Muslim countries.
>
> Really???? Tell me, how many kids have we starved in Canada? In
> Mexico? In France? In China? In any other country? If we're so
> callous, how come we're the first ones, sometimes the only ones, to fill
> the Red Cross box with food? How come we fall for every late night
> commercial to sponser a starving child in ______ (fill in the blank). Name
> me one natural tragedy in the world where we haven't contributed more than
> the rest of the world combined. Just one!
>
> So, if it isn't true that we're out to starve kids, then what is the
> truth? I have a thought. Propaganda. Really. Hell, in this country,
> you can justify drowning puppies if you can spin it so it looks like it
> benefits the children. You think the propagandists don't know
> that? Think they won't try to use it against us?
>
> So, I have a different thought for you. A moral dilemma if you will....
>
> Suppose you have a nice house in a nice neighborhood. You worked hard to
> buy it and you work hard to keep it. Damned hard. Yours is the best
> looking place on the block.
>
> Unfortunately, your next door neighbor doesn't take so much pride in his
> place. In fact, it's a junkyard. Worse, he's a drunk that beats his
> wife. His kids are dressed like hobos and he hasn't mowed the weeds in
> his front yard in years. Worst of all, your idiot kids think he's cool
> just to piss you off. They don't understand why you dislike the guy and
> constantly bitch that you should help the guy out.
>
> So, to get your kids off your back, you give the guy a job mowing your
> front yard. It isn't a great job maybe, but it's a chance for him to
> prove himself and it gives you a rare chance to feel good about
> yourself. You pay him way more than it's worth but figure maybe, just
> maybe, if you give the guy a chance at respectability, he'll clean up his
> act and quit beating his wife and neglecting his kids. After all, it's
> worked before. Maybe this time......
>
> Nope. Not a chance. The guy takes every paycheck and buys booze, gets
> drunk and beats his wife and kids. After the binge, there's no money left
> to buy food or clothes. You talk to the guy, "Clean it up! Join your
> neighbors. You'll like what it does for you!". And he says you're
> insensitive. You can't possibly know what it's like to be him. You're a
> bigot and a racist.
>
> Soon, he's telling all your neighbors, who're slightly jealous of you to
> begin with, how unfeeling you are. You're a cheap SOB that doesn't care
> about anything but your own bank account. And someone slashes the tires on
> your Beemer. You can't prove it, but you have a pretty good idea who it
> is. After all, it was lawn mowing day and he was the only one around. But
> you can't prove it, so you take a wait and see approach.
>
> Someone pours plant killer on your rose garden.
>
> You find your dog dead. He laughs when you tell him about it.
>
> What do you do? You fire the guy, of course! Enough is enough. Hell, he
> only spends the money on booze anyway.
>
> And what happens? Why, you're accused of starving his kids, that's
> what. You're an insensitive, hardhearted bastard who deserves anything you
> get. Yep, yer kids hate ya more than ever, ya prick! They buy the plant
> killer.
>
> Just a little perspective for you.
>
> Jim, a card carrying, registered, pedigreed, patriotic, New Mexican
> redneck. Flames cheerfully ignored.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Sep 17 2001 - 01:53:48 CEST