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

NYTimes ^ | 6/1/03 | JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

[RJCogburn]

"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."

I would say she is an idiot...but that's just me.

[Mr. Bird]

"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."

A much more rational statement, I think.

[habs4ever]

This woman is a twit, ignorant and ought to be ashamed, as a "good Christian" to offer any inkling of support for this killer.

[Catspaw]

According to Rudolph's former sister-in-law, Deborah Rudolph, in CNN's "The Hunt for Eric Rudolph," Eric Rudolph's anti-abortion zealotry only extended to the abortion of white babies, not to all babies.

[FLAUSA]

The article is from the New York Times and you comment is from CNN. Both sources are less than completely honest.

[habs4ever]

Rudolph is as as "pro-life" as Heinrich Heydrich ever was.These "good people" of Murphy ,NC who gave tacit approval to him, are worthy of every caricature and insult that comes their way.

[martin_fierro]

These days, whenever a NYT reporter starts describing "sawmill and cow-pasture hamlets" in his story, I have to wonder if he actually visited the place.

[Catspaw]

CNN showed Deborah Rudolph saying that Eric Rudolph was only concerned about the abortion of white babies. Are you saying she's a liar?

[Catspaw]

Rudolph is as as "pro-life" as Heinrich Heydrich ever was.These "good people" of Murphy ,NC who gave tacit approval to him, are worthy of every caricature and insult that comes their way.

I'm not going to blame an entire town for giving tacit approval to Rudolph. It may well be a small minority of the townsfolk. However, if anyone helped him and harbored him, God help them, because they're going to have the book thrown at them.

[Gone_Postal]

this artical is very condensending of rual south, and I would say rual America.

[FLAUSA]

What I said was "The article is from the New York Times and you comment is from CNN. Both sources are less than completely honest."

[MEG33]

They love to get the controversial statement. The majority of the town is relieved. Pro life doesn't mean one condones bombings and the community has the ability to get the unwanted feds and media out of their hair.Of course they are back for now!

[Catspaw]

I'd suggest you watch CNN's "The Hunt for Eric Rudolph." Deborah Rudolph not quoted by CNN saying this, but said it to the camera. A story this morning on CNN used the clip of Deborah Rudolph from that documentary. The transcript from that story is not up on CNN's website. When it is, I'll post it for you.

[Catspaw]

I note that they only address the abortion clinic bombings and not the bombing of the gay bar and certainly not the Olympic Park bombing. Rudolph has been indicted for all four bombings, not just the bombings of the abortion clinics.

I wonder how they address the murders of the police officer in Birmingham and the woman at the Olympic Park bombing.

[MEG33]

Denial.I realize he has been charged and not convicted.I think the last bombing where the policeman was killed is their best case.That's when they got his license #.

[Catspaw]

I'm wondering where they're going to try him first, and I do think the first jurisdiction may well be Birmingham because they do have a witness, at least one who got his license number. It'd be a single incident trial, rather than the three incidents in Georgia, and less complicated. He's also not been charged with state murder charges in Georgia and Alabama, but I'm sure they're coming. There isn't any statute of limitations for murder, so the states have time.

In any event, for the next few years, Rudolph is going to be spending his days in court, or in jail waiting for his next court appearance.

[Alberta's Child]

For anyone who hasn't read "The Last American Hero," Tom Wolfe's essay from the early 1960s about NASCAR legend Junior Johnson, I would strongly recommend it. Johnson hails from these same hills of western North Carolina, and Wolfe did an outstanding job of tracing NASCAR's roots back to the rural areas of the south where running moonshine was a long-standing tradition.

It wasn't too long after the American Revolution before the people who lived in the mountainous western areas of every state on the eastern seaboard began to see the city-dwellers on the coast who dominated the legislatures as no different than the British government that had just been overthrown. There has been an inherent distrust of outsiders in almost every one of these little towns that has carried on to this day.

[highpockets]

Everyone seems to have a view on what this guy did.

I seemed to have missed the part where he was found guilty in a court of law.

[Fishrrman]

To add to Alberta's Child's posting above, you might also rent the movie "The Last American Hero" -- "Hard Driver" is the _same_ movie, retitled. It starred Jeff Bridges as the young Junior "Jackson", a fictionalized account of the early days of stock car hero Junior Johnson. Directed by Lamont Johnston with what was perhaps Jim Croce's finest tune (although he didn't write it), "I've Got A Name". A beautifully-crafted film from the early 70's that doesn't mock the rural South of the time.

Cheers!
- John

[harpseal]

The most important fact about the capture of Eric Rudolph is that it was accoplished by a small town deputy in North Carolina. This indicates that despite all the high tech gear deployed by the FBI it was possible for him to be on the run for years before being captured. This was once the biggest manhunt for an identified suspect ever. Yet a small town deputy apprehended him at a dumpster.

this makes a very clear statement about the competence of the FBI and the state of the art in hunting down an individual who probably had some community support.

Now, it is clear that sme in the hills of Western North Carolina would provide aid and assistance to anyone who looked hungry. this is not necessarily a bad thing and when this happens in the Ghettos of our nations urban areas people who do that are considered to be pillars of the community. Now as to what Eric Rudolph's agenda or ideas were I really can not say as I have not heard or seen reports on them. I am merely stating that his ability to escape and evade is awe inspiring.