Posted on 07/14/2008 10:32:56 AM PDT by mojito
Eight days after the atrocities of September 11, 2001, Barack Obama wrote a piece for the Hyde Park Herald—and blamed the attacks on “a failure of empathy.”
"Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we as a nation draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy. Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction."
"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."
Obama’s comments display an appalling disconnect from reality.
Osama bin Laden came from one of the richest families in the world. None of the 9/11 attackers were poor; if anything, they could be considered “middle class.” Ringleader Mohammed Atta was educated as an architect in the West.
Almost everything Obama wrote in this article was proven wrong. And he gave absolutely no consideration at all to the ideology of radical Islam, which is much more to blame than any imaginary “poverty” or “lack of empathy.”
And now he’s within reach of the presidency.
“Terrorists just needed a hug” PING
“There must be a root cause to Obama’s idiocy.”
Oh . . . what do you think? . . . Public screwl system . . . stupidity (57 states, Joint Chief of Staff declares war . . remember?) . . . black racism toward all of us former slave owners? . . .
Maybe Obama will give the terrorists therapy.
“There must be a root cause to Obama’s idiocy. “
It’s called Liberalism!
And just what was it that provoked the Taliban to blow up 1,500 year old Buddhist statues in March of 2001?
The man is a useful idiot and a denier.
This is as ridiculous as saying the terrorists took over the planes becasue they didn’t like the inflight movie.
What an idiot.
I disagree, it is called Socialism!
Lord help us if this s**thead actually does somehow get elected President.
Ping for later so I can remember to send this to my addle-brained friends who still think that Lord Obama is the best thing since FDR.
Doesn’t Obama know it is not the poor muslims setting up the terrorism, it is the rich ones. Somehow I don’t empathy is what they are all about.
Yep, that’s what we need. Send more shrinks to Afghanistan. I’m sure they’ll be able to talk some ‘empathy’ into the guys chopping people’s heads off.
“To the extent radical Muslims experience “helplessness and despair” it is mainly connected with their outrage that they cannot dominate and rule the entire world according to 7th century Islamic principles.” Enchante
Check my tagline. Consider that particular brilliant insight to be repeated without attribution whenever I can work it into the conversation.
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois. He is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2008 presidential election, and the first African American to be a major party's presumptive nominee for President of the United States.
A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama worked as a community organizer and practiced as a civil rights attorney before serving in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.
yep, there it is "A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School"
The F we do. B. Hussien O., why don't you ask them. They're your homeys.
No doubt Obama is just the one to understand madness.
Logic and reason simply escapes him.
Thanks, feel free to use it in any way possible to get the word out!
That’s what all this angst and rage and despair from Muslims amounts to: those Muslims who want the rule the world and make all the rest of us either dead or dhimmis.
The more time he has to expound his speechwriters’ policy positions the clearer it becomes Obama is either out of his gourd or has lost control of his own campaign.
Crack was a government conspiracy to eradicate blacks, so it's not a great stretch to a government conspiracy to destroy the Twin towers solely to increase funds for the CIA, military, and counter-terrorist units - right?
The '9/11 Truthers' are gonna be unhappy with the Obambi.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.