Ambivalence in the Besieged Town of `Run, Rudolph, Run'

NYTimes ^ | 6/1/03 | JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

[RJCogburn]

Crystal Davis doesn't quite side with Eric Rudolph, but she sympathizes with him.

"He's a Christian and I'm a Christian and he dedicated his life to fighting abortion," said Mrs. Davis, 25, mother of four. "Those are our values. And I don't see what he did as a terrorist act."

Her feelings were echoed, person after person, in this sawmill and cow-pasture hamlet today, where the Appalachian foothills rise above town in every direction. Mr. Rudolph, who is accused of the 1996 Olympic bombing and attacks on abortion clinics, was arrested in Murphy this morning after a five-year manhunt. Federal authorities said that for years he had been living off the land around here, a conservative, woodsy corner of the rural South.

Some people in Murphy expressed a certain amount of respect for the wily survivalist. Others vented a disdain for the federal agents who promised a quick capture.

"We thought it was kind of funny when the feds rolled in here all arrogant," said William Hoyt, an unemployed crafter of birdhouses. "They kept saying they didn't need our help. It put a lot of people off. Nobody around here condones murder, but I think a lot of people weren't sure which side to be on."

As the search intensified over the years, locals cashed in by printing up T-shirts that said "Run, Rudolph, Run," and "Eric Rudolph — Hide and Seek Champion of the World." Many people here had an uneasy relationship with F.B.I. agents, who often said they suspected the local population was providing the fugitive with food and shelter.

"If he came to my door, I'd give him food," Mrs. Davis said. "That's just how we are with strangers."

Today, scenic Murphy, population 1,500, felt as if it were the center of the world. Dozens of satellite television trucks clogged the narrow roads, and with all the reporters and law enforcement officials, it almost looked like Osama bin Laden had been hiding in this land of red-roofed barns and boiled peanuts.

"Who else wants to talk to me? Who else needs an interview?" Mrs. Davis asked, trolling through the throngs of reporters.

In the end, some Murphy residents almost seemed let down. Like the Washington sniper suspects found sleeping alongside the road last fall or the man believed to be the Louisiana serial killer arrested in a tire shop last week, the hunt for the elusive Mr. Rudolph had with a lackluster finish. After five years of searching caves, using heat-seeking military equipment and hundreds of agents, Mr. Rudolph, credited with being able to live off the land, was found picking through the garbage behind a Sav-A-Lot grocery story.

"I guess he lost focus," said Bill Gaither, an assistant high school principal here. "I agree with his views. But not his ways. I'm glad they finally got him."

[MineralMan]

"What is worse...killing babies or killing abortion doctors? Killing babies is "legal" only because 5 old,worthless supreme court "justices" used some twisted constitutional logic to declare that there is a "right" for mommies to hire somebody to kill their babies hidden somewhere in our Constitution. It was NEVER a law passed by even the most liberal legslative body any where in the United States."

Actually, you're quite incorrect. Way before Roe v. Wade hit the SCOTUS, a number of state legislatures had passed laws making abortion legal. Roe v. Wade simply made it impossible for states to have a simple no-abortion policy.

It's good to do some research.

[dmz]

It's good to do some research.
________

what? and get in the way of a well-rehearsed rant?

[wardaddy]

I did not know that...do you have a link explaining that.

I'm not flaming...just curious.

[wardaddy]

Glad to see I'm not the only one skeptical about the Olympic bombing.

[wardaddy]

I've been "exposed" to CI....I knew two. One was a big cheese and is now locked up. The other had been locked up.

Does that make me a racist?

I've known NOI guys too...does that even it out?

[wardaddy]

No honey....you are the reason. You have publicly proclaimed that you have no remorse. 40% of women who have abortions are repeaters.

Why are the AMs protecting someone here who is vocally pro-abortion?

Is being pro-abortion part of the new FR "big tent"?


However, if anyone threatened you then ....my regrets.

I'd just prefer to see you spend more time at NARAL and less here.

[wardaddy]

Actually, you're quite incorrect. Way before Roe v. Wade hit the SCOTUS, a number of state legislatures had passed laws making abortion legal. Roe v. Wade simply made it impossible for states to have a simple no-abortion policy

I must admit...you are right.

[hunter112]

The one thing I found most disgusting about the "news" coverage of the Rudolph capture is that abortion mill nurse, looking like some kind of Rosa Parks style heroine. I guess I despise Rudolph most for making her a liberal saint.

[wardaddy]

Rudolph (if he did it...and in Birmingham...it looks that way) screwed the pooch beyond normal by the secondary timed explosions and if he is a CI operator. The former was wrong by even the most sympathetic subjective reasoning and the latter issue of CI is very problematic.

If G-d decides manana to have lightning hit and destroy all abortion mills nationwide, I won't be crying in my oatmeal.

[marajade]

It was reported...

[Hildy]

First of all I NEVER said I was Pro-Abortion and I dare you to cite one post that contradicts that. Secondly, this is Free Republic, not an anti-abortion forum, that is why the AM's would never delete a post such as mine. This forum is here for the "free flow" of ideas, something you obviously have no respect for. So if what I write offends you so much, DON'T READ WHAT I WRITE.

[wardaddy]

But, you're so "entertaining"....sort of the Susan Estrich of this forum.

So you claim to have had an abortion 25 years ago and to have no remorse...not one bit...in fact as you put it: "I hadn't given it any thought(about what your aborted child would have looked like) until you just asked me"....from your famous Jane Russell thread.

All that and you profess not to be pro-abortion. Are you for outlawing abortion then?

One last thing. Actually I enjoy your acerbic nature...honestly but if you care to weild the sword as much as you do, why do you holler for the AMs so frequently? I would think you of all people could handle the attacks you seem to enjoy provoking.

Yes....I do think being Conservative means being Pro-Life.

[B.O. Plenty]

"...Actually, you're quite incorrect..."...NO I'm not.....my only mistake was to use the word NEVER....

A brief History of Abortion

[Hildy]

I hollered for the AM ONCE...the other time the post was so vile against me, I didn't have to complain, it was taken off without my reporting. Look, don't conservatives always argue that libs look at things through emotion, and that's not the way to do it? Hmm? My point by posting what I did was to say that the argument that women who have abortions will regret it later is not a good one to use. That's all. I'm not going to defend my feelings, or my actions to anyone on this forum. I think abortion should be incredibly hard to get, and parental notification must be mandatory. That's what I think. I don't think it will ever be outlawed, nor do i think it should be completely. If it had been hard to get, I probably would never have gotten pregnant in the first place, if you catch my drift. And that's what I hope for future generations.

[wardaddy]

OK...I got it.