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America, you are at war!

Posted on 05/14/2004 2:03:54 PM PDT by MarDav

I apologize for the length of this, but I've been moved to respond to the hypocrisy represented in the recent media coverage of 2 recent events...

Have you seen the latest photos from Abu Ghraib prison? I’ll bet you have, or I’ll bet you can find them. Now, have you seen the beheading of Nick Berg? No? Well, how about the video of the planes flying in to the World Trade towers, when was the last time you saw that? Or here’s another one, when was the last time that you heard anything at all about the first American soldier to commit atrocities against fellow human beings? I’m talking about the GI who fragged his own comrades while they slept in their tents way back at the beginning of the war. Why haven’t we heard anything about him? Why haven’t we heard that he was executed for his treason?

I’ll tell you why (though you may already know). It’s because swirling all around us is an ever-broadening movement to take down the America that you and I know and love. The Left, the media, our “allies” in Europe and elsewhere, secularists, radical extremists in all our institutions are busy, busy, busy at work filtering the reality that you and I see and hear. They are busy shaping our view of things (or trying very hard to do so). I believe that the Nick Berg slaughter by Islamo-fascist animals needs to be the focal point right now. That despicable act serves as a microcosmic metaphor for the war we find ourselves in. We see an American civilian, Nick Berg, attempting to live and work decently, trying to reach out and help those in need suddenly snatched off the streets by a band of thugs. We see the brutality of the enemy as they offer Berg as a sacrifice to their false god and vain cause. We see how briefly this atrocity plays out in the media, while a case for moral equivalency is made between the Berg murder and the prison abuses. We hear the world’s silence over the savage butchering of Nick Berg (we even hear a hint of justification for this heinous act). We see how quickly the Berg story disappears from the forefront of all media coverage. Didn’t all this happen once or twice or a dozen times before, most notably on September 11, 2001?

Nick Berg’s beheading graphically depicts for us the future of America should She continue to proceed on Her present course. Surely our freedom and liberty have come under attack. Surely we are threatened on every side by a brutal and savage enemy just waiting to get hold of us so he can kill us. Surely there is a silent world that, I daresay, secretly longs for this to happen (a portion of that world currently residing in America, busy working the mechanisms of information in media and education). Surely America’s overthrow can happen in our lifetimes should we sit idly by and let the present state of affairs continue.

I was driving to the airport on Wednesday to pick up my wife and I heard on a radio program an audio of the butchering of Nick Berg. What I heard was a stomach turning, horrific scream that went on for some 30-40 seconds (I didn’t time it, so I don’t know for sure). I listened with disgust as his cries went out, his agonizing screams curdling the air and I imagined his last moments on earth as this savage monster gripped Berg by the hair and sawed into his neck with a knife. I imagined how, as the blood shot out through his torn-open jugular vein, his life pouring out with it, how he suffered, the shrieks giving testimony to this fact. Nick Berg was butchered. He was ritualistically sacrificed by these inhuman beings. His body was desecrated as it was hung from a bridge (like the 4 contractors in Fallujah), with his head lying on the ground beneath his swinging corpse. And America never saw these pictures. America was not treated to what evil really is. America was spared the shock (that some feel She cannot stomach) of watching what militant Islam is all about—what your enemy is ready to do to you, if given the chance. But we have not been spared the photos of the prison abuses, have we? We have been treated to daily doses of virtual porn as we have been told again and again of the “ghastly treatment”, the “grotesque abuses”, the “abominable atrocities” that took place in Abu Ghraib. Think for a minute, if you will. Are those photos ghastly, or grotesque or abominable? No, they are not. They are sad. They are immoral, they are offensive. They disappoint. If those words don’t conjure up enough indignation, I’m sorry. But if I were to use those words to describe the prison photos, what words would be left to describe the death of Nick Berg? Hyperbole diminishes the effectiveness of words, and the current discourse on the prison abuses is hyperbolic. Worse, though, is the lack of discourse on the Nick Berg murder. Perhaps words fail the media at this point. Maybe they’ve run out of ways to express their outrage and indignation. So, then just show us the pictures and let them speak for themselves! You won’t have to worry about mustering up the proper indignation, the pictures will reach right down into the human soul and do the work for you. I believe it was Ted Koppel (maybe it was Tom Jarrell, at this point all the media elite are the same person to me) who pointed out when asked about whether or not it was appropriate for the media to display the prison photos, how it was indeed necessary because photographs, frozen moments in time captured on film could do so much more to depict and relate a scene, while words would limit things. This notion can indeed be seen at work in the hysteria over Mel Gibson’s movie (isn't it ironic how we need to see the real-life photos from the prison, but how Gibson shouldn't have gone so overboard to depict the sufferings of Christ). In The Passion of the Christ, Gibson takes the verse from the Gospel of John, “he (Pilate) had Him (Jesus) scourged” and turns it into a 25 minute depiction of brutality over which the secular world became offended—too much blood. The brief Gospel text (read in a few seconds) conveys an act of violence that the mere words do not begin to explore (I won’t go into a theological discussion of why this is so at this time). Gibson, the film maker, though, sought (and succeeded, I believe) in conveying via film all the brutality, all the horrific blood-letting that the verse, “he had Him scourged,” means Film is powerful. So, where are the photographic depictions, the videos of Nick Berg’s murder? You’ll never see them. That is not what people want you to see and not what [some] people want to look at (they want to look at the prison photos instead). You see, the images of Nick Berg's murder would simply be too powerful and would work to get America back on message when it comes to the present war. The images of Berg's death would also serve another purpose. They would lend proper perspective to the hysteria going on in jail cells in Iraq. I believe there has been a conscious decision by a rather large group to shield America from the images of Nick Berg’s brutal death, a death which ought to outrage every American.

There can be only one answer to this atrocity and the filtering of it from the eyes of America. America must wake up and steel itself for war. I’m not talking about the war we’ve been waging up till now. I’m talking about what we need to be doing from here on. There are enemies of this nation (enemies without and within) who must not be allowed to continue their war against America without a proper response. For the Islamic terrorist, America must rain down death. There is no winning the heart and mind of this foe. His mind is darkened, he imagines evil continuously, he is a brute beast, going around seeking whom he may devour. Death is the only answer for this enemy. For the Leftist, for the haters of America the answer is to wrest control of all that he owns and operates that props itself up in opposition to this land. The hand-wringing politician must be exposed for the coward he is. The inflammatory politician must be silenced through the ballot box; remove his platform and his message will diminish. For the educational propagandists, they must be countered at every turn. Our education system has been surrendered to the haters of traditional American values. I am a former teacher, and I can tell you that upwards of 95% (perhaps more) of my colleagues in the 10 years I taught were atheistic liberals who did not know and did not care to know anything about the founding of this nation, of original intent of the Fathers of this nation, or of the will and desire of the majority of this nation. They are agenda-driven ideologues whose days must be numbered if we are to have future generations who appreciate and love what America needs to be in order to continue to be America. For the media propagandist, they must be “outted” as the biased, deceptive, half-truth tellers that they are. They must be exposed for their distortions. They must be exposed for their shadings of truth. They must be exposed and countered at every turn. I groan when I see those from the Right delicately tip-toe through the minefield of political correctness to respond to wild claims and accusations (doing so only legitimizes these positions in the minds of an undecided audience). Enough! Political Correctness has strangled thought, silenced whole positions, cowed a people. Americans have to reclaim the platform and properly marginalize those on the Left who have re-written our history, who have re-defined our foundation, who have destroyed our Constitution.

I am well aware of how severe all this sounds. In today’s climate, many Americans, no doubt, will lump me in with the Islamic jihadists I purport to reject. I sound too extreme. I agree. Given today’s climate this is roughly a 180 degree turn from what we’ve become…but not from what we set out to be. This is merely a return to who and what the Founders hoped America would be: a people of faith, a people of unity, a people of liberty, a people of character and strength and wisdom able to see danger coming from a great distance and willing to take all necessary steps to defend that liberty. It is my belief that without these measures taken, we will not survive for very long. It may even be that our day will see the end of America, should she decide to slouch and cower. It is also my belief that, should America choose to stir to wakefulness, should she take a moment and repent of her sins (so to speak), should she desire to re-visit her great heritage and charter, her potential for greatness and goodness, she can rise again and become what she was intended to be, a nation of liberty and freedom dwelling securely underneath the wings of an all-endowing Creator.

In the play Julius Caesar, after the Roman leader’s assassination there is the scene where Brutus and Marc Antony give funeral orations. Brutus, in an attempt to persuade the crowd of his cause justifies his actions by using logic. Brutus is a stoic and, as such, believes that reason and not emotions is the basis for sound living and will always win the day. After his speech, Antony ascends the pulpit (bringing with him the sheet-covered body of the slain leader) and without words of wisdom or learning delivers an impassioned, stirring reminder to the people of Rome who Caesar was. In refuting Brutus’ reasons for killing Caesar (Brutus claims it was because of Caesar’s growing ambition), Antony recounts for the mob the assassination and says of it, “And, so, great Caesar fell. And what a fall there was! Then you and I and all of Rome fell.” At the high point of his eulogy he throws back the sheet and bids the citizenry to look upon the face and mutilated body of Caesar. As repulsive a thought as this sounds, America needs to see the butchering of Nick Berg. We must be brought face to face with the savagery of our enemy. We must be reminded of the affront to us all that took place in that, what was for Nick Berg, lonely room where his screams still echo. And as we view the images we must envision ourselves kneeling before a group of hooded executioners reading our death sentence overhead, readying the gleaming blade about to be drawn across our necks. We must ask ourselves, “Is this the fate I want for my son or daughter?” Will that lonely Iraqi room, the altar where Nick Berg was sacrificed to the jihadi god be the place where you and I and all of America fell? As I have vowed to do, I say in closing,

Remember Nick Berg!


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iraqipow; nickberg
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1 posted on 05/14/2004 2:03:55 PM PDT by MarDav
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To: MarDav
"We see an American civilian, Nick Berg, attempting to live and work decently"

Not to belittle his death, but he was already dead when they beheaded him. And, why did he insist on staying in a war-zone after he was repeatedly offered flights out of Hell? It is akin to an american wanting to "visit" Nazi Germany in 1944 and refusing to take a paid excape route.

2 posted on 05/14/2004 2:10:21 PM PDT by Windsong (FighterPilot)
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To: Windsong
Not to belittle his death, but he was already dead when they beheaded him

Really? Didn't know the dead could scream that loud!

3 posted on 05/14/2004 2:14:15 PM PDT by Bommer (John Kerry = "You mean I can get a Purple Heart for cutting myself shaving?")
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To: Bommer

Who is the idiot on FOX dissing Rummy? He needs exposing.


4 posted on 05/14/2004 2:18:02 PM PDT by WVNan (Be faithful in little things, for in them our strength lies. (Mother Teresa))
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To: MarDav
Islam war against the west is real. They fear or (some say)they do not want their culture absorbed into the western culture. And yes they mean war if necessary to stop it. This country is so politically correct they cannot see forest through the trees.
5 posted on 05/14/2004 2:20:48 PM PDT by just me
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To: MarDav

Excellent essay! Thank you for posting this!


6 posted on 05/14/2004 2:26:22 PM PDT by neutrino (Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences. Robert Louis Stevenson.)
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To: MarDav

Awesome! Bravo! Five Stars.


7 posted on 05/14/2004 2:37:48 PM PDT by Jack Black
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To: MarDav
Well done, Mar.

I feel that the silver lining in this cloud is the further exposing of the mainstream media's agenda. Their credibility has been teetering, and this one issue could constitute a catharsis, not certainly for the hardcore Bush haters, but those who are still trying to decide about right and wrong, and whether or not to feel fear or anger, or both.

A lot more people will begin to "consider the source" over the way these two issues have been presented, IMHO.

8 posted on 05/14/2004 2:45:07 PM PDT by wayoverontheright (Hidetheweeniespeak-the native tongue of liberals.)
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To: MarDav
America must wake up and steel itself for war. I’m not talking about the war we’ve been waging up till now. I’m talking about what we need to be doing from here on.....There is no winning the heart and mind of this foe.

From your keyboard...to God's ears.---May America awake to the reality of the enemy it faces.

Good essay, friend. Thank you for posting.

9 posted on 05/14/2004 2:50:46 PM PDT by Right_in_Virginia
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To: just me

Agreed. And this will be our undoing unless people (you and me) start to take back control of the parameters for having a discussion about important subjects. If all the terrorists in the world are currently Islamsists, then it is safe to conclude that the practitioners of Islam have a serious public relations problem. If the slave-traders of the contemporary world are all found in the Sudan then the Sudanese have some explaining to do. Those who do not hold these groups to account (and I would daresay to serious account), those individuals and groups who remain silent while these atrocities go on could be construed as supporting and even encouraging this kind of behavior and are, thus, the enemies of freedom.


10 posted on 05/14/2004 2:51:12 PM PDT by MarDav
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To: wayoverontheright

I'm actually the Dav (Mar is the Mrs.)...

I agree about people waking up to the lack of credibility of the press. I do hope that the tide turns, but it must be that those on the Right ramp up their efforts in countering the leftist view that is continuously put before the American people (beginning in Kindergarten).


11 posted on 05/14/2004 2:56:51 PM PDT by MarDav
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To: Windsong

Thank you for the post! I would like to be corrected by anyone here on this forum, if I am wrong in any of the views below.
There are two major parties in the USA today: Democratic and Republican.
The base of the former consists of: fiscal liberals, religious liberals and atheists, academia, government employees, gay and lesbian communities, black Americans (95%+ vote democratic), other minorities, minority immigrants, Jewish Americans, some big business (Macdonalds, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, etc.); lots of women across the board, people of non-Christian faith, etc.
The base of the latter is: fiscal and religios conservatives, entrepreneurs, educated non-academic types and professionals, white males, some big business (HMOs, Tobacco, medical companies), millitary personnel, lots of Christians, smaller percentage of women, European immigrants of Christian faith.

What they want:
1) Democratic base:
fiscal liberals: more taxes for more social programs;
religious liberals and atheists: abortion rights, less interference of religion with state and politics;
academia: these think they are exceptionally smart and wise and want higher sallaries; more money for educational programs, hence more money for them; they are unwilling to undertake risks in life (e.g. starting a new business and applying their knowledge there), but prefer cushy jobs with no risks and higher sallaries;
government employees: Democrats=higher taxes=more salaries for bigger and bloated bureaucratic aparats;
gay and lesbian communities: more freedoms such as: free manifestation of their sexuality (so that they can recruit more people like themselves), marriages (so that they can have estate planning and tax deduction for living with their "significant others");
black Americans (95%+ vote democratic) and other minorities: these want higher taxes "for the rich" so that there will be more money for social programs, which will be used for their benefit;
some minority immigrants: coming here without language and education, these depend desperately on social programs for them (i.e. higher taxation of the rich);
Jewish Americans: these I simply do not understand why they vite democratic, may be because a democratic president fought against Nazis during WWII, I do not know;
some big businesses: (Macdonalds, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, etc.): please tell me why;
lots of women across the board: these want more education and healthcare for their kids;
people of non-Christian faith: these feel threatened by the right-wing Christian base, which is mostly associated with the "evil white male"

2) Republican base:
fiscal and religios (Christian) conservatives: no abortion, more (Christian) religion in schools;
entrepreneurs: less taxes, less governmental bureaucracy, educated non-academic types and professionals: same as the entrepreneurs;
white males: same as above, as they are mostly well-educated, self-sufficient and depend less on social programs;
some big business (HMOs, Tobacco, medical companies): less taxes (less subsidizing of social programs), less law suits, more government orders (mostly weaponry, machinery manufacturers), Tobacco companies - less harassing lawsuits, etc.)
millitary personnel: disciplined well-meaning people, who get paid more and get equipped better by Republican administrations;
lots of Christians: mostly whites, educated, self-sufficient people;
smaller percentage of women: strong, well-educated women, who can take care of their kids without dependency on social programs;
European immigrants of Christian faith: same as other Christians;

The above lists are far from complete and probably far from being accurate, but this establishes a starting point for my analysis of the kind of society I live in. I want to be corrected in my analysis, please do that!

But my big question is: why is the media so predominantly leftist? It has tremendous power in shaping public oppinion and can affect the direction this country is being shaped.
Once we understand why is media so leftist, the next question will be: Is this good ot bad? I guess the answer is: for some, it's good, for some, it's bad.
Then the last question will be: for those, for whom the leftist media is bad, what should they do?
My answer: contact the Republican base, raise money and create a counter-part for the leftist TV stations with enough number of conservative TV stations. FOX and consrvative radio stations are not enough to balance the leftist TV stations.
I am sure that society will benefit from balance in the extremely unbalanced, leftist, media field.
















12 posted on 05/14/2004 3:14:06 PM PDT by AIBC (Bring in the tanks!)
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To: MarDav
A really excellent piece. The only thing I'd like to add is that even people who are not "of faith" hold similar concerns as yours about where we are heading as a nation. I am conservative, love my country, and know right from wrong, good from bad. I'm just not religious. I've seen way too much hypocrisy in my lifetime to believe that the answers lie only with theists. Good folks of every variation account for the moral backbone of this great nation, and together, we must fight to regain control of our country's destiny from those who are selfishly leading us into the abyss.
13 posted on 05/14/2004 3:27:41 PM PDT by IAMNO1
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To: MarDav

AMEN!

thanks.


14 posted on 05/14/2004 3:32:20 PM PDT by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: IAMNO1

My intention in this post was not to engage in a "religious" discussion. However, I must say that the correct historical view of America's founding finds that it was people of deep, abiding faith in the God of the Bible who laid the foundation. That being said, they were not for a theocracy. But, that, too, being said, they were not for the silencing or marginalizing of the role of faith when it comes to the health of a nation. I would go so far as to say that the America that you and so many others long for is the one that had respect for God and the Bible (and, yes, I would say that begins with those that profess to be His).


15 posted on 05/14/2004 4:37:39 PM PDT by MarDav
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To: Windsong

Your interpretation of what you perceived is in error.


16 posted on 05/14/2004 4:40:49 PM PDT by RightWhale (Destroy the dark; restore the light)
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To: AIBC

You asked, " my big question is: why is the media so predominantly leftist?"

I would say that the reasons for that are many, not the least of which is those who seek careers in the media at this point in time must subscribe to the doctrines that the media elite subscribe to, that the professors at schools of journalism subscribe to. I honestly believe that the Leftist media honestly believe they are doing the work of God in their excessive distrust of government, traditional American values, people of faith, etc. And the doctrines they hold to are all socialist in nature. I briefly attempted to study Communications at Hunter College in New York City and one of the texts for the class was a tome written by a man named Gramsci. Gramsci was an Italian (I believe) communist whose belief was that the way to gain power and control of a nation was to take control of the key institutions (over time). Moral absolutes (religion), current laws, current attitudes need to be overthrown in order for the world Gramsci envisioned to come into being. We have seen this taking shape in America with a take over of the schools beginning with Dewey, the decline of religious institutions with the liberalization of schools of theology, the shift in the media from journalism and reporting to commentary. Most or all of our institutions are no longer adhering to the first principles (the rule of law, the rule of the Constitution, fairness, etc.) Our election process is fast becoming among the most mistrusted or our institutions. The fiasco of the 2000 election (and there have been many other local and national elections), to me has resulted in Americans (and international) doubts about our ability to stand for what we have always stood for--the rule of law, free and open elections, government of the people, by the people, for the people. Once doubts are introduced about the ability for our constitutional republic to maintain its footing, alternatives will manifest themselves. The left, having developed a strong base of utterly dependent constituency groups (that you've correctly identified) will be there to swoop down and pick over the carcass of this once great nation and take it in the direction of communism/socialism and, ultimately despotism (from Leninism to Stalinism).
Hey, maybe I'm getting overly zealous here, but I see the seeds of this all around me, don't you?

Remember Nick Berg!


17 posted on 05/14/2004 4:55:25 PM PDT by MarDav
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To: Windsong

Dead people don't scream like that.


18 posted on 05/14/2004 5:02:42 PM PDT by ladyinred (Torture is what happened to Nick Berg!)
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To: RightWhale

No, it is you. Do the research.


19 posted on 05/14/2004 8:10:25 PM PDT by Windsong (FighterPilot)
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To: AIBC
Nice cut and paste.

Instead of posting it here at FR, why not post it on a liberal forum, where you will be challenged? *Everyone* here knows we are at war. It is not us you have to convince. The only ones here who might not agree with you are few (Trolls, Libertarians, Libbies). You will not be able to save those who are already saved. Fish on the other side of the boat.

20 posted on 05/14/2004 8:12:55 PM PDT by Windsong (FighterPilot)
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