In spite of it all

[whosinpower]

After today's horrific attack on the Holocaust Museum, I pondered for awhile, read some postings here, and elsewhere and wanted to give you all something to think about.

Your president is one of the finest leaders in the modern era. Not because of his education, or his colour, or his background, or his intelligence, or his oratorial skills - even though each one of these attributes is laudable. He is changing the ways things are done - even in small incremental steps, and sometimes there will be those who think those steps are not fast enough, or in the right direction.

Change is never easy, and is often painful. Hate radio spews it toxic language that incites polarization, fear and hatred. Some will say they should be shut down, and while I can understand the reasoning behind it, I want to say that America is free enough to allow hate, and if we somehow insist that the best answer is to forbid it, then America will have lost something and be poorer for it. That is not to say that reasonable people should do nothing - fight back with reason, not with a gag. Prove they are wrong openly, instead of allowing them to operate in the shadows - because they will not go away even if gagged.

There is more domestic terror attacks in recent times - and I expect to see those continue as a symptom. If Obama did not represent a radical change - I am not so sure we would see individuals take matters into their own hands, goaded on by hate radio. But what makes Obama unique, gifted or special is his total absolute faith in the American people. THAT is where he gets his strength from - from you.

If you want to put these radio/tv hosts in a gulag - they win, because you will be giving up a fundamental right in the process. You enjoy the RIGHT to disagree, to openly discuss controversial matters, to turn the radio/media off, to encourage others to do the same. They, those who incite hatred are NOT winning by having individuals act out on what they preach. They DO WIN if you give up something precious, by silencing them, for all their awful toxic speech, you also silence yourself. Now more than ever - DO NOT BE SILENT. Hatred only wins if you give up faith in yourself, in your countrymen, and your nation.

That is it. Take care of each other.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. K&R

Spot on in every way. You said it all beautifully. Just perfect.

Thank you...........

[ThatsMyBarack]

3. What TLB said....

:patriot:

[JuniperLea]

5. What TLB and TMB said...

:patriot:

We of the instant society who tap our feet whilst awaiting the microwave's bell need to slow down and think a bit, and use a little empathy. Those who cannot empathize are sometimes called sociopaths.

[lamp_shade]

2. Thank you very much. Very much. This needs to be on the Greatest Page.

[cliffordu]

4. And learn to defend yourself.

They might not be so ready to kill people if the people they are trying to kill shoot back.

I'm just sayin'

:shrug:


Go ahead, flame away.

[PDJane]

6. Off to the greatest.........

And I agree.

[NanceGreggs]

7. ...

:applause:

[OneGrassRoot]

8. How eloquent....

thank you for sharing your thoughts. :)

I don't want to see them silenced via court order or anything legal; I simply hope they will become socially unacceptable very, very soon. That right-wing hate radio/TV/books will be appalling to the vast majority of our citizens.

[MadMaddie]

9. I don't think it's a matter of silencing them

I think it's a matter of people that have the privilege to be on radio or TV abuse their given medium. We need to hold people responsible for their actions and sometimes their words.

It is illegal to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater because it can incite a stampede. Just as in Africa the radio stations incited a genocide.

Al Jazeera is seen as a Terrorist radio station by many in the US and the world.

Faux News, Rush, Hannity, Malkin and others are in the same league, they are irresponsible and are becoming a danger to Americans. They are quite capable of putting their arguments out without the racist and anti-American rhetoric and they choose not to. No one is saying put them in a Gulag but they do not get a free pass.

This is something else, this is a movement that is bent on poisening America and if they don't get their way they are willing to destroy America.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. Just to kick this important post ........

I have nothing to add, but I do have a keyboard, and I'm listening to "Hardball" on MSNBC, and my mind wanders as I listen to the discussion of this nutjob who opened fire in the Holocaust Museum today.

I heard that he was shot in the face.

Right now, he's at George Washington University Hospital - where they took Reagan when he was shot - and he's probably out of surgery by now, or maybe not.

I'm wondering if any of his surgeons/physicians/nurses are Jewish. Or black.

And, if he got shot in the face by that hero who was killed, there's a good chance that he's left blind.

If he's blind, guess what the last thing he ever saw was?



Stephen Tyrone Johns, who died today protecting hundreds of people in the Museum. A hero of unbearable proportions ...........