Nobody Ever Says We Were Attacked By Agnostics, White Men, New Yorkers, Republicans or Veterans on 4/19
If the glibness of this blog post’s title makes you angry, then read on. There’s actually a very important point to my sarcastic and jingoist-baiting statement above. This is a long one, but this is a big problem.
On April 19, 1995 the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City was bombed by Timothy McVeigh, a Caucasian, sometime Catholic later Agnostic, decorated Persian Gulf War veteran, American militia movement sympathizing, registered Republican voter who was born in the state of New York.
McVeigh committed what was the single most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. It claimed 168 lives, not counting an unmatched adult human leg that may belong to a possible, unidentified 169th victim who remains anonymous to this day.
The 168 death toll includes 19 children under the age of six.
Tim McVeigh claimed he initially wanted to destroy the Murrah building itself, but that he later came to the conclusion that his “message” would be heard only if there were many deaths. Most of the fatalities were directly caused by the violent collapse of the building’s structure, and not the bomb’s sudden instantaneous blast.
After April 19, nobody focused on any of the groups of which McVeigh was an identified member after his cowardly bombing with the ferocity, venom and prejudiced hate that Muslims have endured in America. Why? Because it would be manifestly stupid to suspect all persons born in the state of New York of terrorism. It would be an act of absolute idiocy to suspect all Persian Gulf War veterans of sedition and treason (And yet I would not blame them for those sentiments after the scandal of Walter Reade hospital during the Bush administration.) It would be irrational to assume that Caucasians want to bring down the government because of Tim McVeigh, and his accomplice Terry Nichol’s racial identity.
Yet this is the reasoning too many of us apply to Muslims in America.
You wouldn’t know that “guilt by association” is actually illegal in America from watching pundits on the Right, or by listening to the screams of protesters opposing the building of a Islamic learning center, (or mosque it doesn’t really matter which it is) in downtown Manhattan.
That’s all prejudice is at its core: the judgment of individuals based upon a belief applied to a group. The individual disappears, and all manner of injustice and violence is allowed. To paraphrase comedian Chris Rock, there’s always a lot of “accepted racism” when people start getting angry or scared or both.
We are angry and we are still scared in America, -and with good reason. Some spoiled fundamentalist asshole billionaire named Osama Bin Laden keeps releasing new tapes faster than the late Tupac Shakur; threatening violence and death against “the west” from all corners, sides and borders. Regardless of what motivations are ascribed to this homicidal thug and his fellow sociopaths, Bin Laden’s reasoning has more to do with perceived affronts to his reputation as a freedom fighter and protector of his culture and religion than the actual religion of Islam itself. When the House of Saud refused his help in pushing Saddam Hussein back across Kuwait, he openly threatened the Royal family. When the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia ran to their old friends the Bush family for support, he openly threatened the United States, leveraging the coming installation of an American military base within miles of Mecca as a rallying insult for Al Qaeda to galvanize around during and after the Persian Gulf War. Underneath all of this, the United States’ motivations had nothing to do with freedom or religion, -just the securing the uninterrupted procurement and distribution of oil at any cost. Nobody remembers that Bin Laden’s former target was the Egyptian government after the Soviet Afghanistan war, a fact conveniently lost in the post 9/11 us-versus-them propaganda deluge that ironically served the purposes of maniacs like Bin Laden himself: Every Muslim made to feel they do not belong gives his self-indulgent war of religion and culture legitimacy; Just ask John Miller, the only western reporter ever to interview Bin Laden face to face in 1998.
Even Bill Maher, another comedian like Chris Rock whose powers of reason and ethical humanist clarity I respect greatly, -actually defended racial profiling to my shock a few short years ago. If you’re looking for someone who looks and sounds like Osama Bin Laden, it still allows everyone who doesn’t look that way free reign to harm. I don’t feel safe around anyone when I’m at the airport, because I know that persons looking a particular way, being of a particular race, creed or color doesn’t make them any particular thing for better of for worse, for good or ill. Maybe old people get a pass, but that might be it.
And this is my point, and the motivation behind the title of this post:
Fox “News” Channel’s Bill O’Reilly said that “Muslims killed us on 9/11” on the TV talk show, The View this week. While that statement in isolation remains a fact, its selectiveness as a statement lends authority to a lie because all Muslims did not attack the United States on September 11, 2001. His statement is as ridiculous and dishonest as positing that “Veterans, Republicans and White men attacked us on April 19, 1995.” No one would uphold that statement or use it as justification for let’s say, denying a permit to an RNC convention in downtown Oklahoma because the GOP’s presence would be “an insult to families of the 4/19 victims.”
I am an American and I am tired of pointing out what is still racism and what still amounts to bigotry and prejudice over the shouting of people like Bill O’Reilly. I am exhausted from pointing out just how hypocritically selective hate is in America. I’m tired of pointing out the obvious to people who would rather act before they think just because they say their anger gives them the right.
Sadly, I am scared too.
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon and the failed run at the White House by high jacked flight 93, the United States is one terrorist attack away from a federal lock down that would make the Patriot Act look like a Civil Rights initiative (no matter who is in office.) The cultural and social repression that would emanate at street level is too monstrous to contemplate if we are hit again in sizeable measure. I know we’d lose everything valuable about this Republic because we’re not the nation we used to be. We don’t listen to smart people anymore, we call people who try to think things through “pussies,” and we call people who defend the powerless even worse names.
Just try and remember this: The casualties on 9/11 included nationals from over 70 countries. That’s one isolated fact that Fox “News” Channel and Osama Bin Laden are glad we have forgotten.
-SJ
Well-said, SJ!
Thanks Greenlight,
-not an easy one to write without veering off.
-SJ
Great piece SJ. As always I thoroughly enjoying your writing. My issue with the 9/11 incident has always been that every one working in the Twin Towers who died was declared a hero. I have a problem with that. They were victims of a horrendous crime yes, a terrorist act yes, but nonetheless they were victims whose families demanded and received vast sums of money. The first responders acted heroic in the line of duty and deserve the praise they received. However, there were 11,000+ other people in this country who were murdered in 2001 and no one rushed to care about their families or build a monument to them. They were killed by Christians, atheist, agnostics, Muslims, Jews, Hispanics, and every other denomination and nationality one can think of who are in this country. The problem was, at the time we had an administration that was part of the hate and fear mongering proliferation that entered into their political agenda. The simple minded population of this country bought in to it and you can’t change their mind with logic or rational thought. My favorite saying which is stolen from comedian Ron White is “You can’t fix stupid.”
Well put Bill.
Many thanks Lazer. Agreed and I couldn’t have said it better.
-SJ
There is an interesting video on youtube with interviews of Atheists in Atlanta regarding the Freedom From Religion Billboard campaign. You should check it out. Interesting comments.
Thanks Lee. Glad you stopped by and hope to see you more often.
SJ, thanks for taking the time to consider the whole equation and bring light to it. It’s a very very good piece. It exposes HATE.
As do a few comments here… too.
Good Morning, er Afternoon Gwen,
I was writing Holte that I actually cut this one down. There was a bit in it about Lincoln Chaffee, former Republican representing RI, who I admire greatly and whose political career was one of the first casualties of the rush to war in IraQ. It kind of veered, so I’m happy I cut it ultimately. Thanks for reading.
-SJ
It’s the age-old logical fallacy employed by people the world over and at all times. Daryl was a boycott. Daryl murdered and raped someone and was sentenced to life in prison. All boycotts are murderers and rapists. It goes to show how simple-minded a lot of people are.
Damn C.H.,
you could’ve saved me a lot of time by sharing that example with me before I wrote this whole thing!
It’s an excellent example to throw at this kind of stupidity.
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Damn all the while I’d thought it was muslims who flew those planes on 9/11…go figure,it was’nt them?
So let me get this straight….Timmy McVeigh was pissed off at Janet Reno and the american government over Waco,went nuts and blew up a building killing innocent americans…..so that justifys a bunch of guys who wear their underware on their heads flying airplanes into buildings killing over 3,000 people…yea that makes perfect sense.
No you didn’t get it straight Rusty.
I’m not condescending to you in any way, I’ve read and enjoyed your posts for a while and I respect you, but I want you to understand what I mean clearly, so I’ll summarize it for you here:
While the terrorists who flew the planes into the buildings and attacked the nation on 9/11 were Muslims, it does not “justify” the conclusion that all muslims attacked us, or that the billions of muslims around the world are terrorists. This kind of thinking is precisely what Osama Bin Laden says he wants repeatedly so he can expand the conflict. That this kind of thinking was not applied to Tim McVeigh’s act of terrorism is actually a good and sane thing on the part of the government and society no matter how scary our own extremist militias are, but the double standard raises questions about why certain groups are always painted with one brush so easily in our society and hated so readily.
and this?-
“so that justifys a bunch of guys who wear their underware on their heads flying airplanes into buildings killing over 3,000 people…yea that makes perfect sense.”
-is your own mistaken conclusion about my reasoning in this post and it has nothing to do, in any way with what I have written.
-SJ
If you all are so damn positive about muslims…you sure as hell dont see many american women adopting that life style.Lets go stone someone or cut off their hands.You dimwits are living in Oz.
Conflating opposition to mindless hatred with being “dimwitted” is pretty fucking ignorant,Rusty. Typical of your comments.
Why not offer a reasoned response rather than a lame remark?
Perhaps it’s time we all came out of the closet and when we see or hear bigotry/hatred call it out. Any disagreements we have with people/politics/religion should be considered and a measured argument provided. Thanks SJ.
Thanks Holte, I apologize for its length, but this was actualy cut down.
Excellent post and I agree with every single thing you have written. I get tired of using the McVeigh argument with wingers, as far as terrorists, because they see him as just a disgruntled ex service member mad about Waco.
@Jess Many thanks, -but I think that’s the way they should see him, along with his being terrorist: McVeigh’s actions should never incriminate entire swathes of people who’ve done nothing to anyone in America, and so it is with the billions of muslims around the world. It would be nice if we just could assume what everybody was going to do by their association, or just by identifying them as being common to our enemy, but it just doesn’t work.
As always Sandy, you hit the nail on the head. Muslims and gays are basically the final frontier when it comes to open bigotry. If one gay person does something deviant, then all gays are guilty of it. If one Muslim does something wrong, then they are all guilty of it. It is quite something that every serial killer in this country has been white (I honestly don’t think that Wayne Willams was responsible for those killings in Atlanta) and yet we don’t walk around in fear of every white person we see or claim that they are all potential serial killers. But it’s surprisingly easy how quick we are to brand all Muslims as potential terrorists and all Gays as morally and spiritually corrupt. The problem is that most people, even those among us who considered themselves as enlightened, are seldom willing to call people out for their bigotry when it comes to these two groups. How often have we heard someone called a “fag” and just let it go? Perhaps we’ve even used the term ourselves. How often do we let someone rant and rave about our impending destruction of our civilization at the hands of the Muslims and say nothing? How often have we felt uncomfortable flying on a plane next to someone in a traditional Muslim outfit?
I know personally the soul crushing pain that is caused by racism and bigotry. To have someone ascribe a whole set of thoughts, actions and feelings to you because of your skin color, religion or sexual preference is about as depressing a feeling as one can experience. There are over 600 million Muslims in the world and according to one study 1 in 10 of us is gay. Do you know what the actions of one person or a small group of people who happen to belong to either of those groups says about the rest of them? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We would do well to remember that.
Thanks man as always for your fellowship. This post came predictably out of the long phone conversation you and I had yesterday afternoon. The awakening I’m having, and it’s embarrassing in light of this post, is the realization of just how many friends I have who are devout Muslims (like Di Di’s husband), or were just raised in the middle East (Lebanese Christians for example, Muslim Turks). They (especially the friends I’ve made since 9/11) are very reluctant to divulge their culture or nationality in today’s world. One young woman at this year’s AMC in Chicago confided to me that she’s always told people she’s East Indian, although she’s actually Egyptian “Better to avoid it altogether.” she said. I was very conscious of the way I was looking her over as she talked, and I felt very, very strange about it.
What an excellent well written post. If only most people had that kind of reasoning and logic, SJ.
“I know we’d lose everything valuable about this Republic because we’re not the nation we used to be.”
I wished I could say different but what you say is true. We aren’t the same anymore. One major event happening and it will be a total lock down with everything going to security. Schools, bridges, roads, everything will be put on hold for a generation if not forever.
Gotta share this one on FB.
@Many thanks for the vote of confidence Krell, and sorry to you all for responding so late. I actually went out after writing this to clear my head and got home about 3am. Nothing crazy, just a dinner with friends in Brooklyn, good food, good wine, good beer.
Big props Sandy.No rush to bomb northern Idaho or Michigan after 4/19.
Like you,I’m getting weary of trying to reason with those obsessed by their own mindless hate. Maybe this will provide the words to sway some of the less mindless among us.
Thanks Oso. It takes far longer to counter a lie, than it does to repeat one. Sorry for the long post, this came out of cnversation I had yesterday afternoon with MyCue23.
I suspect my earlier comment was just a bit cavalier so I am replacing it with something a wee bit more substantive.
This is a brilliant piece Sandy and you managed to analyze and isolate a growing problem, i.e. the prejudice that has managed to creep into our nation’s culture with regard to the Muslim community. Thanks for sharing with us.
Yes SJ! So few understand. This is the reality and not hard to understand if only the ones who need to be saying it would. Reality works real good on most topics but America never really gets it. How can you learn and make decisions when you’re getting fed and bunch of bull shit. Soon we will really know how bad it is out there ya know there you see.
Yeah One Fly, exactly. You know I distinctly remember in the hours after the 9/11 attacks, Giuliani put more cops out on the street and got on the radio to tell people to absolutely remain calm and not attack their fellow New Yorkers, to leave Arab grocers alone and not take their anger out on them. For all I’ve found wrong with the man as a New Yorker, I have to say that was an unqualified act of sanity from him when it was really hard to tell people to back off,The radio pundits across the country and on TV were asking for blood from wherever they cold get it.