Wow! This article really made me think about what
was said until I got to this part...
"Also, most of
the Indian tribes that were wiped out following the arrival of Europeans in
the New World were not murdered over "land or mineral rights," as Mr.
Clinton suggested. Instead, more than 90 percent of native American deaths
were caused by contact with deadly foreign diseases such as smallpox. This
was an inadvertent consequence of European settlement."
What a crock of sh*t. If this joker can write this
crap, I can't believe much of anything else he says or value his opinion in such
context. "...An inadvertent consequence of European settlement" I'd be LMAO
if it weren't such a shameful twisting of history. I'd like to see his lily
white ass step onto any number of reservations in OK or AZ and make that
statement.
I can hear the old-timer now..."Yeah,
we "inadvertently sold them injuns some
blankets and dog-gone-it how wuz we suppose to know them smallpoxes was in
thar?
Sad, very sad.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 4:35
AM
Subject: [RollTideFan] Paying a price for
liberalism {non-Bama}
Jeffrey T. Kuhner
He's back. Just
when we thought that former President Bill Clinton was out of the public
spotlight, he delivered a speech at Georgetown University last week on the
state of "our world since September 11." His remarks caused public
outrage, and rightly so. Mr. Clinton stated that
the United States is now "paying a price" for its previous practice of
slavery and for looking "the other way when a significant number of native
Americans were dispossessed and killed."
Essentially, he drew a parallel between the terrorists who slammed jet
airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania
countryside, and the "terror" that has existed in America for hundreds of
years. The remarks were not only offensive,
but false. The United States is not "paying a price today" for the evils
of slavery; rather, it paid a heavy price in blood and treasure nearly 150
years ago when the Civil War that ended the abomination of slavery
resulted in 500,000 dead and deep social
antagonisms. Also, most of the Indian tribes
that were wiped out following the arrival of Europeans in the New World
were not murdered over "land or mineral rights," as Mr. Clinton suggested.
Instead, more than 90 percent of native American deaths were caused by
contact with deadly foreign diseases such as smallpox. This was an
inadvertent consequence of European settlement.
However, even more outrageous is that Mr. Clinton is suggesting a moral
equivalence between America's founding fathers and Osama bin Laden's army
of hate. Mr. Clinton believes that America is a flawed nation that is
despised by many people around the world, especially in the Middle East.
Rather than being arrogant and self-righteous in its current campaign
against terrorism, he wants the United States to be "more understanding"
of the reasons for the anti-Americanism in the region and to "engage the
Muslim world in a dialogue." Mr. Clinton's speech
reveals the instinctive America-bashing and intense hostility to moral
absolutes at the heart of modern liberalism. Mr. Clinton and many other
liberals are uncomfortable with the notion of the existence of evil in the
world. They cringe at the fact that the United States has no choice but to
lead an international coalition in defense of civilized values against
mass murderers such as the Taliban and al Qaeda.
In his desire to blame America, he is blinded to the reasons for the
terrorist attacks. Slavery and the mistreatment of Indians has nothing to
do with the events of September 11. Bin Laden admitted that the atrocities
were committed in response to recent U.S. foreign policy in the Middle
East: American troops based in Saudi Arabia, continued sanctions on Iraq
and Washington's support of Israel in the conflict with the
Palestinians. Furthermore, bin Laden's terrorist
network is not interested in achieving rational foreign policy goals.
Contrary to the claims of Mr. Clinton and many on the left, Islamic
extremists cannot be appeased by dialogue or compromise: They are
motivated by hate. Ultimately, bin Laden and his supporters seek the
destruction of Western civilization by targeting two of its pillars — the
United States, the symbol of the West's power and cultural influence in
the world; and Israel, the West's sole outpost in the Middle
East. Mr. Clinton's comments are offensive because
they suggest that there is some kind of moral equivalence between the
United States and its "racist," slavery-ridden past, and today's Muslim
extremists who kill innocent civilians. There isn't. Thomas Jefferson —
for all of his flaws — was no Osama bin Laden.
Moreover, to suggest that America is partially responsible for the
terrorist attacks is not only an insult to the families of the victims,
but undermines America's moral authority to conduct its current military
campaign. How can the world's leaders be expected to fully cooperate with
America's war on terrorism when one of its former presidents portrays the
United States as a nation whose history was dominated by "terror" against
blacks and Indians? Instead of bashing
America, Mr. Clinton should focus on his administration's failure to stem
the tide of global terrorism. Under his presidency, the 1993 bombing of
the World Trade Center was treated as a criminal matter, rather than for
what it was: an act of war. There also was no military retaliation for the
1996 terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, or the bombing of the USS
Cole. Moreover, following the 1998 bombings of two
U.S. embassies in East Africa, Mr. Clinton launched a series of feeble
surgical missile strikes against terrorist training camps in Afghanistan
that did nothing to dismember bin Laden's network. In fact, Mr. Clinton's
weak and ineffective response only emboldened bin Laden into believing
that he could murder innocent American civilians and get away with it. The
result was the heinous atrocities of September 11. Yet, Mr.
Clinton refuses to accept his share of responsibility for the terrorist
attacks. Rather than blame America, he should start by blaming
himself.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is an assistant national editor at
The Washington Times.
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