Obama In Response To 9/11: We Need Combat Racism And Bigotry Against Middle Easterners
Here’s an excerpt from a speech Obama gave about 9/11 on 9/19/01 which basically has him one step away from blaming the 9/11 attacks on anti-Muslim, anti-Arab racism and bigotry.
We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.
We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe—children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and within our own shores.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not sure I want a leader who sees something like 9/11 as a call to become an international social worker.
Also, I hear a lot of talk from Obama about helping the oppressed international masses find hope. Obama has bemoaned the use of force to liberate the people in Iraq, and the idea of using our military to free people from oppression in general, so I’d like to ask him how he’d plan on freeing the oppressed masses of, say, Iran without the use of at least some sort of military force?
Does he honestly think he could accomplish such things just by talking to thugs like Ahmadinejad? Maybe he does given his enormous ego inflated by the fawning adulation of the left and the media (he is, after all, a “lightworker") but those of us a bit more grounded in reality know that the brutal political thug of the world aren’t swayed by talking. They’re empowered by talking. They’re legitimized by talking.
If you want to defeat tyranny you must fight it, not talk to it. Obama doesn’t get that, which is why he shouldn’t be president.
mmie
Kenny
Lioncourt
likwidshoe
gustave776
Justin B.
