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Read below- I couldn't agree more and from a fellow liberal Democrat(a grou=
p never exactly known for flag-waving) America is indeed the world's best h= ope in so many ways, including the fight against the evil we face today. =09=09=09=09 18-SEP-2001=20 Americans Blaming America The traumatic events of September 11 provided something of a=20 moral Rorschach Test for Americans. The vast majority of our=20 people -- and indeed, the vast majority of people around the=20 world -- immediately and instinctively saw the terrorist attacks=20 as an unmitigated act of evil, whatever their views on American=20 policies at home or abroad. =20 But on the political fringes of our country, there were some who=20 just as instinctively reached for explanations in which Americans,=20 in the end, were at least partly responsible for our own tragic=20 misfortune. =20 In the current issue of The Nation, Robert Fisk deplores the=20 terrorist attacks, but then all but equates them to a variety of U.S.=20 and Israeli actions: "the sanctions that have destroyed the lives=20 of perhaps half a million children in Iraq," the "17,500 civilians=20 killed in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon," etc., etc. No, says=20 Fisk, you can't blame anyone else for the September 11 attacks,=20 but "the malign influence of history and our share in its burden=20 must surely stand in the dark with the suicide bombers." This=20 slippery line of reasoning is, of course, being echoed on television=20 each night by a variety of "Middle East experts" who begin by=20 deploring the terrorists, but who eventually get around to blaming=20 America for not forcing Israel to cave into Palestinian demands,=20 thus "angering" public opinion in Arab and other Islamic countries. =20 On the Right, there was a breathtaking example of "blame=20 America" opinion from none other than the Reverends Jerry=20 Falwell and Pat Robertson, on the latter's Christian Broadcasting=20 Network. Quoth Falwell: "I really believe that the pagans and the=20 abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who=20 are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU=20 and the People for the American Way -- all of them who have=20 tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and=20 say, 'You helped this happen.'=05 God continues to lift the curtain=20 and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we=20 deserve." Robertson quickly replied, "Jerry, that's my feeling." =20 Perhaps the dozens of conservative politicians and commentators=20 who last year vilified Senator John McCain for calling Falwell and=20 Robertson "extremists" owe the Arizona Senator an apology. =20 These sporadic expressions of "blame America" sentiment have=20 been relatively rare. But they are eerily congruent with the rhetoric=20 of terrorists aflame at the alleged arrogance or wickedness of=20 America. Those on the Left who demonize our Middle East=20 policies or our support for economic globalization, and those on=20 the Right who are convinced that our culture is fatally decadent,=20 should prayerfully reflect on this congruence. Perhaps then they=20 can begin to share the moral clarity of most of their fellow-citizens. =20 America is hardly perfect, but in this fight against terrorism, it's=20 the best hope for good in the face of evil.=20 Further Reading: "Terror in America," by Robert Fisk, The Nation, October 1, 2001: http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=3D20011001&;s=3Dfisk ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: You are subscribed to ndol.org & ppionline.org=20 email newsletters as: clong@enron.com To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your=20 subscription preferences, go to:=20 http://www.ndol.org/cobrand/newsletter_subscribe.cfm=20 The New Dem Daily is published every weekday=20 morning by the Democratic Leadership Council. Complete archives are available on NDOL.org: http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ka.cfm?kaid=3D131 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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