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Cronkite: Terrorism a "Revolution of the Poor Against the Rich"
Media Research Center ^ | Tuesday September 10, 2002 | staff

Posted on 09/10/2002 12:21:51 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay

Blame America First. The 9-11 attacks were our own fault, former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite contended on Monday's Larry King Live on CNN, because we hog so much of the world's wealth while many are destitute.

Cronkite said he believes "very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened," before he asserted that anti-U.S. terrorism is caused by "this great division between the rich and the poor in the world." The people of the world "who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education," Cronkite warned, "are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly." Walter Cronkite attributed terrorism to U.S. policy and world poverty: "We are suffering from a revolution of the...have-nots against the...haves and that's us."

Applying liberal logic which seeks to blame the U.S. for all the world's ills, Cronkite declared: "We are suffering from a revolution of the poor and have-nots against the rich and haves and that's us."

In fact, the al Qaeda terrorists were hardly poor and the vast majority of the world's poor do not support terrorism. The common elements amongst those targeting the U.S. is Islamic extremism and nation's without respect for individual liberty.

Cronkite's liberal ranting came about 45 minutes into the live September 9 interview tied to the 9-11 anniversary.

King prompted Cronkite by wondering about "foreign policy's affect on what might have caused 9-11?"

That set off Cronkite: "Yes, I think very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened." King interjected: "Doesn't excuse it." But Cronkite plowed forward without acknowledging King's caveat, so he presumably did not agree with it: "We have been warned by other terrorist attacks elsewhere of the dislike for us and the intensity of organization to express that dislike in various terrorist acts around the country -- the two embassies that were blown up in Africa, the Destroyer Cole, for instance, episode, and that sort of thing. "It should be apparent to us, it should have been apparent to us a long time ago and it certainly should be apparent now -- it should be, for goodness sakes understood now, but it is not, that the problem is this great division between the rich and the poor in the world. We represent the rich. Each of our citizens is not rich, of course, but as a country we are exceedingly rich. As a country, all of these, most of these other nations of Africa, Asia and South America and Central America are very, very poor. The people in those countries who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education, they are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly in our movies, in our travels around the world, in our airlines, in our shipping. "They're not going to put up with that forever. This is a revolution in effect around the world. A revolution is in place today. We are suffering from a revolution of the poor and have-nots against the rich and haves and that's us."

Yes, it's all our fault and Osama bin Laden is just trying to help the world's downtrodden improve themselves.


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
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To: fight_truth_decay
Hey Walter, how much of your millions are you sending to the non-infidels in the middle east? Why aren't the leaders of the Islamic nations sharing their millions and billions with their own people? Duh, who should the poor people of America go begging to for their share of the wealth of those like you CEOs, Actors, Anchors, and professional ball players? huh?
41 posted on 09/10/2002 12:34:31 PM PDT by ldish
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To: Cultural Jihad
no-force ..... including flying planes into buildings.

Huh?

42 posted on 09/10/2002 12:34:39 PM PDT by narby
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To: fight_truth_decay
Hey Walter --

Did this ever enter your small liberal brain?

The United States is rich because we are free.

Instead of directing their anger towards the freedom-loviong people of the United States, the people who do not enjoy what we enjoy should devote themselves to staging revolutions against those forces that throttle freedom in their own countries.

Arab people do not have to be poor. That they tolerate rulers who deny them basic freedoms is a BIG reason for their poverty.

Don't blame us. Blame them instead.

43 posted on 09/10/2002 12:34:56 PM PDT by chs68
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To: fight_truth_decay
Stupid leftist claptrap fantasy that one person (or nation's) increase in wealth has to come at the expense of someone else's. Utter drivil. Have these idiots never heard of "creation of wealth?"

Besides, Bangladeshis, many Indians, etc live in abject poverty. I don't recall them screaming about destroying America. This generally starts in nations with at least some degree of education and wealth. Truly poor and destitute people are too busy eeking out their meager existence to worry about becoming terrorists.

Go rant into a toy microphone in front of a mirror, Walter.

44 posted on 09/10/2002 12:36:10 PM PDT by mitchbert
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To: fight_truth_decay
If it's a revolution of poor vs. rich, old rich walter better go hide.
45 posted on 09/10/2002 12:36:58 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: madvlad
Well said. Reading Cronkite's statement, it really is highly offensive. Nuttiness about a Worldwide revolution against our riches?? By all those poor people who are fed up with us no less. How much poorer would they be if we didn't exist?? A lot. Plus I am unaware of much Central American, South American, or African terrorism these days. And poverty in the Third World is no excuse for blowing up office buildings here.

Finally, I believe Walter has been enjoying retirement on his expensive yacht for years.

46 posted on 09/10/2002 12:37:01 PM PDT by Williams
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To: Saundra Duffy
He can't be trusted for one minute now.

I actually watched a very few minutes of this interview.

I saw Cronkite was LK's guest and I figured he'd say something like this. I heard it myself.

In addition he echoed a sentiment I read here on FR yesterday expressed by Dan Rather. That is, that the media should always be questioning the administration.

My mind instantly pictured him boating with the clintons.

Disgusting.

47 posted on 09/10/2002 12:37:07 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: fight_truth_decay
Comrade Cronkite's world ended with the demise of the CCCP.
48 posted on 09/10/2002 12:37:10 PM PDT by Semper Paratus
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To: fight_truth_decay
When Cranktite said we must get out of Vietnam the will of the American public collapsed. He was as bad or worse than jane fondle. In those days I drank my jug wine out of water tumblers and the glass punched a hole in the sheetrock when it missed the TV...
49 posted on 09/10/2002 12:37:14 PM PDT by tubebender
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To: Humidston
The simple reason we are wealthy compared to the "third world" is because we have property rights in a republic kind of democracy. What we work for and earn is our own to sell or barter. Elsewhere, individuals don't exist.
50 posted on 09/10/2002 12:37:37 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Tao Yin
I'm still composing my thoughts- and still haven't written the essay- but I think it has something to do with the fact that freedom is terrifying to most people. It has something to do with a childish dependence on a 'state' or an 'authority' to make decisions for you. Thus when someone has the nads to stand up, take a risk, venture some capital and then reap the well-earned reward his success is met with resentment by those who are angry with themselves for not taking the risk. Its not that they didn't have the opportunity, they just didn't have the courage. Nothing makes people crankier than being exposed as cowards. That goes for nations, too.
51 posted on 09/10/2002 12:39:20 PM PDT by Lil'freeper
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To: fight_truth_decay
Walter, "the war is unwinnable", Cronkite makes an ass out of himself yet again. This man's career was one of bias and shoddy reporting. He would have done less harm to the world if he had been a ditch digger (in fact any ditch digger has done more for the world than this nattering old fool.)
52 posted on 09/10/2002 12:40:46 PM PDT by Burkeman1
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To: fight_truth_decay
Typical leftist misunderstanding of basic economics. To them wealth is a finite pie and a zero sum game. never mind the fact that most of the world is poor and backwards because they refuse to be productive.

If it wasn't for the productive people of the world we would still be living in caves but the leftist envy crowd doesn't understand that. Further proof that these degenerates have a low IQ lower than apes.

53 posted on 09/10/2002 12:41:01 PM PDT by Cacique
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To: fight_truth_decay
The liberal politics of shame, racism and stereotyping. Not that the hijackers were ritzy and liberal educated Saudis is bothering him either. Man, when the mind plays tricks on people because they praise it too much, we witness the insanity of Conkrite sh!t. LOL. The demons make me laugh, so much subserviant to sodomizing definitions, yet so proud of squealing out their tune while they proceed on Cokrite sh!t.
54 posted on 09/10/2002 12:41:10 PM PDT by lavaroise
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To: chs68
Agreed. Uncle Wally needs to read the opening chapter of Investor's Business Daily Guide to the Markets.

This explains why we are wealthy and repressed people are poor. It should be much easier for him to understand than Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

55 posted on 09/10/2002 12:41:23 PM PDT by Tao Yin
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To: fight_truth_decay
Poor Walter! He must have forgotten his meds again.

Or maybe he's just been hanging around Bill Clinton too much.

56 posted on 09/10/2002 12:41:43 PM PDT by Gritty
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To: fight_truth_decay
Cronkite: Terrorism a "Revolution of the Poor Against the Rich"

Cronkite is terribly revulsive to the poor as well as the rich.

57 posted on 09/10/2002 12:43:18 PM PDT by Smile-n-Win
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To: cyncooper
the PG version
58 posted on 09/10/2002 12:44:56 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay
Maybe old Walter should invite a few Sudanese slaves to live in his swank upper east side co-op. Whoops, Sudanese slaves aren't a trendy liberal cause. Oh well.
59 posted on 09/10/2002 12:45:16 PM PDT by jjm2111
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To: fight_truth_decay
Revolutions are internal events, Walter. Go back to crying about Vietnam.
60 posted on 09/10/2002 12:46:01 PM PDT by KellyAdmirer
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