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I have no argument with you. My argument is with the way our knowledge about the word is shaped and how our attention has been directed. Biko? OK. What about Jan Palach? What about those murdered at the same time by the security forces in the countries of Communist Eastern Block so admired by Mandela? Hundreds, thousands, actually. Unnamed, forgotten, missing from all arguments while we repeat endlessly the name Biko. Guess who funded the propaganda campaign in the West that resulted in this blindness to Communist crimes and emphasis on South Africa! eF Biko!

I'm from eastern European bloodlines so the names Jan Palach, Jerzy Popiełuszko, etc. are not lost on me. And yes, the way media presents information and indoctrinates leaves a lot to be desired. That still doesn't change the facts as they are, and I believe they should be viewed in the correct context. One day into this thing, I'm already tired of the media's lionization of Mandela; however, I'm also growing weary of some of the commentary on FR saying how apartheid wasn't really all that bad. I'm tired of some posters repeatedly posting a photo of a bloodied Swedish woman who was raped by Somali muslims in Sweden, on just about every Mandela thread misrepresenting her as a white South African.

It's easy to decry the left's misrepresentation of facts and inflammatory rhetoric, but somehow, there are some on our side who seem to think it's ok to promote our point of view.

Yesterday, Levin interviewed Joel Pollak (editor in chief)of Breitbart.com. Pollak's conservative credentials are well established, and moreover, he spent a good portion of his life living in South Africa, and while I wouldn't call him sympathetic to Mandela, he certainly gave a fair presentation to the complexities involved in evaluating the totality of his life and the milieu in which he lived.

Jump on FR, and Pollak, like Ted Cruz, like Steyn, like Rush and Levin, were being criticized (harshly in some cases) for having said anything less than demonizing about Mandela. I used to think FReepers were more analytical than that. Now, I'm not so sure. Certainly, I don't have many kind things to say about Mandela, but I was particularly struck by the Pollak interview, and am willing to give him (Pollak) some credibility based on his personal experience in South Africa. Furthermore, I can't see how any conservative on a board ostensibly all about personal freedom and the sanctity of individual liberty could offer any defense of apartheid, but, look closely enough on some of these threads, and you'll see some statements downplaying the insidious and evil aspects of it, if only to highlight the evils perpetrated by Mandela and his supporters. As I stated, there is plenty of blame to go around for the mess that South Africa is today, and Mandela was not the only one with blood on his hands.