Posted by
Amicus on Thursday, August 17, 2006 2:06:51 AM
CNN spent considerable time and resources to do some Arab-street reporting. The story? Why "they" hate us. "They" being Muslim extremists. You know, the Muslim extremists who have a nasty new habit of being democratically elected to govern. Hamas is the legitimately elected government of the Palestinian Authority. Hezbollah holds cabinet positions in the Lebanese government - conveniently the Lebanese government has decided it will not disarm Hezbollah in direct contradiction of the U.N. cease-fire resolution.
CNN isn't the first to pose the question. What CNN could be the first to expose is: Why don't we at least have the guts to express a full-throated dislike of these animals who want us dead? Is it really so politically-incorrect to state that we, the U.S. and our allies, are disgusted with misogynistic, fundamentalist Muslim, mass-murdering madmen?
The answer is, judging by CNN's treatment, yes. Let's not focus on those responsible for September 11, 2001, for Theo Van Gogh, for Madrid's March 11, for the attempted blowing-up of multiple airliners on their way from London to the U.S.. Should I go on? I could. Do we need reminding? We act like it. (For any who need more...the first two WTC bombings, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, the U.S.S. Cole, the U.S. Embassies in Kenya & Tanzania, the Achille Lauro, PanAm at Lockerbie, etc...)
Acknowledging that the preceeding list is only SOME highlights of the long list of murderous acts perpetrated by Muslim extremists. It is high time for CNN to look into the real mystery of this time in history. Why do we not hate those plotting incessantly to kill innocents?
Have we, collectively, passed the warm-fuzzy stage of belief in a world full of "equally valid" cultures and gone rocketing into a twilight zone of self-loathing where an underlying belief that we don't have right to peaceably coexist with those other cultures has taken root in our collective psyche?
The western media has rocketed into that twilight. Luckily, many Americans have not. Those are the Americans who keep baffling the likes of John Kerry, who could never quite fathom, "why am I losing to that *$#%!@^ IDIOT"? Senator Kerry, sir, I have an answer. The American people, 51% at least, aren't cool with laying down to be killed by guys who hope to compel us all to worship their version of Allah or lose our heads. We're not okay with women being wrapped up like spring rolls and denied education, basic civil rights, and subjected to honor killings. May that critical 51% keep showing up, keep standing up, and keep speaking up.
We don't have to hate them. We do have to understand that they have no right to kill because of their hate, no matter what they think. Let the New York Times print THAT headline.