Eric Rudolph Captured

CNN | May 31,2003 | Vinnie

[Catspaw]

I don't admire cop killers or the killer of a woman taking in a concert at Olympic Park in 1996. That woman, Alice Hawthorne, was killed in front of her daughter. However, if you want to glorify Rudolph because he bombed abortion clinics, go right ahead.

[Godebert]

I'm sorry...but I don't recall addressing you directly on this thread. I understand you have negative "feelings" toward me after I highlighted your anti-2nd Amendment views on another thread. If you "feel" the need to stalk me that doesn't bother me. I recall in our last encounter you basically threw in the towel and cried uncle.

[habs4ever]

Rudolph is a cop killer and ought to fry.Do you support cop killers, or was he just another lackey and jackbooted thug working to oppress the rights of all Americans?

You're not from Massillon, Ohio, are you?

[Delphinium]

Are you saying that our American soldiers are no better than those they bombed in Iraq?

[southernnorthcarolina]

A disclaimer: I am aware that Mr. Rudolph is only a suspect. The evidence against him is circumstantial. As it happens, I am personally 99.9999% convinced of his guilt in all of the crimes for which he has been sought, and for which he will be formally accused. Nonetheless, any reference I make to his crimes should be assumed to incorporate the word "alleged." Oh, and one more thing: I hope they fry the bastard.

Like most folks, I am glad to see this sorry spectacle finally move on to the next page, that of prosecution and punishment. The good people of the far western corner of my state have suffered in many ways. In addition to the obvious trauma of living with the possibility that there's a mentally unbalanced armed terrorist with nothing to lose in their vicinity, their lives have been disrupted by law enforcement officers at all levels (Federal, State, and local), and far worse, their reputations have been impugned by allegations that Rudolph was "one of them," and was being supplied and protected by the locals.

And there's this, from (surprise) The Washington Post: "Pockets of western North Carolina have had a reputation as a haven for right-wing extremists."

It is crap like this that should enrage fair-minded people everywhere. The paper's implication is quite clear, and certainly not accidental.

There is nothing "right-wing" about terrorism.

There is nothing "right-wing" about murder.

There is nothing "right-wing" about religious fanaticism.

And there is nothing "right-wing" about militant anti-government zealotry.

While we rejoice (most of us, anyway) that this skuzzball is off the streets (or, more literally, out of the forest), we as conservatives need to continue to defend our reputations from attacks such as this.

[Catspaw]

I'm no fan of Eric Rudolph, but after looking over the charges from this FBI announcement, there is no way in hell this ever should have been a Federal case. Except to capture a fugitive who crossed state lines, that is.

He did cross state lines--from North Carolina to Georgia and to Alabama. That's the basis for the federal prosecution. He could still face and probably will face state murder charges in Georgia and Alabama, plus numerous charges based on the injuries suffered by the bombings in both states. He'll face the death penalty in both states and probably at the federal level as well. Right now, it's just a matter of sorting out who goes first in trying him. For a number of years hence, Rudolph's life will be spent in a jail cell, going to court, meeting with his lawyers and being moved from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in shackles.

[TommyDale]

Well, before you repeat what you hear on TV as gospel truth, check out some other sources that report that the "embedded nail" bomb is also used by extremists in the Middle East. There were references right here in this thread. Again, the TV analysts will convict Rudolph whether he is guilty or not. It would be to CNN's advantage to make sure the white, gun-loving hateful extremist is made to fit their agenda.

[Delphinium]

I'm not there yet.

I am not there yet either, but many long years will we wait while so many have been murdered? I just don't want to condemn those who feel that such actions are historically precedented and entirely warranted.

[Kevin Curry]

You are correct. In America it is unlawful to maliciously and intentionally injure a baby-killing ghoul engaged in a ghoulish--but lawful--business. She should be in prison for her dastardly acts--not suffering the lingering and horrific effects of a criminal bombing. Thanks to an outrageous, illogical, state-power usurping, and unjustifiable SCOTUS decision, she was free to help destroy innocent lives without due process and without fear of legal consequences.

She is no heroine; she is no martyr. There is no just "greater cause"she was engaged in at the time. Abortion is the absolute gutter practice of medicine. She was the unfortunate victim of a criminal act. For that, her assailant should be promptly and vigorously prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

[honeygrl]

"However, if you want to glorify Rudolph because he bombed abortion clinics, go right ahead. "

I can't even fathom admiring him for bombing abortion clinics because stooping to their level by killing them is the wrong message to send and the wrong way to work on the issue. It hurts the pro-life movement by giving the pro-choicers ammunition to condemn the ones who actually do wonderful things that help like standing outside to talk to these women before they go in for the abortion and working to get laws passed against it. He could've very easily killed someone outside trying to help women understand what they were doing before they went in or killed a woman on her way in along with her baby. He's nothing more than a terrorist and a murderer. The homocide bombers think their cause is just too but I don't think he is any better than they are. He may even be worse since he apparently KNEW murder was wrong since he wanted to stop it, yet murdered people to get his way.

[WarSlut]

Was his life more important than the other 4000 children killed that day?

Honestly, the answer is no, it wasn't. If I could trade one life for 4,000, I'd do the deal every time.

The thing is, 4,000 abortions still happened that day. And unless you've got a battle plan and the force in place to actually fight that war, you're just acting like you're fighting it. And ultimately, you accomplish nothing.

Rudolph didn't inspire a wave of abortion mill attacks that severely impacted the abortionists' ability to murder American children. He didn't accomplish anything but a symbolic gesture that will be used against the movement as a whole for years to come.

If we're going to go to war over this, it'd be wise to give ourselves a chance to win the thing. Rudolph didn't do that. Thus, it backfired on him and the movement.

I agree with your overall point, though. Ending this holocaust is worth dying and killing for. But a civilized society must adhere to the boundaries of war and peace times, or we're just terrorists. I will not dishonor the victims of this slaughter by advocating terrorism.

[billbears]

What if, what if, what if. Considering that didn't happen, it's not an issue

[Delphinium]

the ones who actually do wonderful things that help like standing outside to talk to these women.

I do all of those things and have actually saved babies by pleading with mothers to not kill another child. But after 30 years, 4000 are still being killed each day. Doesn't this bother you at all?

[honeygrl]

That was a war declared by our country against theirs. This is not a war declared by our country and he is not a military man trained to kill the enemy. If a civilian goes over there to Iraq and starts bombing people then they are wrong too. The military is trained well in where to target and how to prevent or minimize civilian casualities. If the President declares the abortion clinics illegal then it's the policemen's jobs to handle it. Not joe smoe who wants to bombs the people he doen't like. I don't like my neighbor upstairs who buys coke from someone's trunk 15 feet from my front door but I'm not going to bomb his home or the dealers car over it. I'm going to call the police and let them handle it properly. You don't have to kill your fellow Americans because they don't agree with your moral issues. When you do illegal things in your fight against them, you are no better than any other terrorist.

[Catspaw]

I can't even fathom admiring him for bombing abortion clinics because stooping to their level by killing them is the wrong message to send and the wrong way to work on the issue. It hurts the pro-life movement by giving the pro-choicers ammunition to condemn the ones who actually do wonderful things that help like standing outside to talk to these women before they go in for the abortion and working to get laws passed against it. He could've very easily killed someone outside trying to help women understand what they were doing before they went in or killed a woman on her way in along with her baby. He's nothing more than a terrorist and a murderer. The homocide bombers think their cause is just too but I don't think he is any better than they are. He may even be worse since he apparently KNEW murder was wrong since he wanted to stop it, yet murdered people to get his way.

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly, but yet there are people on this thread who think that bombings and shootings at abortion clinics and abortion doctors will advance the pro-life cause. In actuality, these methods backfire (no pun intended) on the extremists in the pro-life movement and set the movement back years, if not decades. It allows the pro-abortion people to have a forum, be treated and portrayed sympathetically by the press and allow people to say, "see, those pro-lifers are all alike. They say they're pro-life but all they do is kill."

Yes, the bomber could well have killed a member or members of a pro-life intervention group at or near the abortion clinics. That a police officer was killed at the Birmingham AL bombing is not going to endear him to the majority of the people in Birmingham. The bomber certainly killed an innocent woman at the Olympic Park bombing. He also injured many more at the sites of his bombings. I can't understand how anyone can justify these actions.

[honeygrl]

"For a number of years hence, Rudolph's life will be spent in a jail cell, going to court, meeting with his lawyers and being moved from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in shackles."

And I hope they make those shackles as tight as they possibly can and uncomfortable as possible.

[Delphinium]

You're not from Massillon, Ohio, are you?

Never been there.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Like all fanatics they think that killing innocent people is justified because of their almighty cause.This statement is worth pondering a little bit longer.

[MHGinTN]

I will not dishonor the victims of this slaughter by advocating terrorism. posted by WarSlut The most salient comment so far on this thread. Thank you for stating it so well.

[Kevin Curry]

"Like all fanatics they think that killing innocent people is justified because of their almighty cause."

This statement is worth pondering a little bit longer.

Indeed.