Posted on 06/04/2003 9:36:32 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
I don't know if Eric Rudolph did all the terrible things they say he did, but I have my doubts.
Apparently, all those people who wore tee shirts bearing the message "Run, Rudy, Run" have had their doubts as well. Short of a confession by the man, I'll continue to hold on to those doubts.
Like many people, I followed his story closely, from his 1998 disappearance after an abortuary was bombed, to news that a massive manhunt by hundreds of law enforcement officials had failed to turn up one of "America's Most Wanted."
Five years later, they have their man. Or do they?
Rudolph's name was first linked to bombings after a shrapnel and nail device went off at The New Woman All Women abortuary in Birmingham. That blast seriously injured a woman and killed an off-duty cop. Someone said they saw Rudolph's truck nearby and a man fitting his description walking away from the scene. Weeks later his truck was found abandoned near the rugged hills of the Appalachian Trail. Rudy had run and was nowhere to be found, despite the high-tech search that ensued.
Two years, plus a million dollar bounty later, Rudy was like a ghost in those hills. The cops were feeling silly. What happened next doesn't pass the smell test. Not only was Rudolph charged with the Birmingham bombing but with a few other unsolved bombings as well. After all, why not dump all the other cases law enforcement wasn't able to solve on Rudy?
Remember how poor Richard Jewell was demonized and falsely-accused of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing? That quiet, gentle man had his life turned upside down by Keystone Cops desperate to find a culprit. Could it be that what they couldn't pin on Richard they decided to add to Eric Rudolph's list of sins? That list had grown over the years he was presumably hiding out in the mountains of western North Carolina to include additional bombings-another abortuary and a gay nightclub in Atlanta. The evidence against Rudolph? Nails. They say nails in the bombs were like nails found amongst his belongings.(Other than this, prosecutors are mum on the evidence they say they have linking Rudolph to all four bombings.)
Is this just a case of law enforcement feeling like fools because a simple country boy had eluded them all these years?
What should be cause for concern for all Americans is the way they've described this man: "…he studied the Bible, believed the United Nations was usurping U.S. sovereignty, held anti-government sentiment…was an anti-abortion crusader…questioned the Holocaust…was anti-gay, anti-foreigner" to name just a few of the phrases labeling him in the press. Here we go again- paint the man with those colors and he's…guilty! Such tagging is what most Americans accepted to excuse what happened to Randy Weaver and his family when they were the victims of an all-out blitzkrieg by the federal government in Ruby Ridge, Idaho some years back. Anymore, all you have to do is co-opt a willing media to go along with these categorizations and you can garner widespread approval for considering someone a dangerous criminal.
Now, maybe Eric Rudolph really was behind the crimes for which he stands accused. But, as I see it, there are some glaring inconsistencies in the whole thing.
First off, by all accounts, the man was not obsessed by the abortion issue. He didn't talk about it, rail against it or display any sentiment whatsoever about the gruesome practice. Most anti-aborts are well-known for their position. Certainly those who find the wholesale murder of babies abhorrent- talk about it. Rudy didn't. That may or may not be a clue as to whether he'd have a motive to blow up an abortuary.
Secondly, one of Eric Rudolph's brothers is gay. Again, not likely he'd be rearranging the floor plan of a gay nightclub.
Third, what possible vendetta could be behind the bomb left at Centennial Olympic Park?
Attorney General John Ashcroft wasted no time announcing the fine police work that netted this dangerous criminal 5 years after he went missing. Like most mothers whose sons are suspected of committing violent crimes, Patricia Rudolph doesn't think Eric's guilty. The Christian mother of six said "I pray the Holy Spirit will intervene and Eric will be exonerated, but once you're in the hands of the people who have power, it'll take a miracle."
Start praying all you "Bible-studying, anti-government, U.N.-bashing" zealots- those descriptions could mean you're the main suspects in unsolved crimes.
Why not? Is it not true?
Our Father is surely weeping for the hundred million babies ...
This is also true.
Taken on its own merit, taking another's life in such a manner is NOT right. I don't claim to speak for God, but I cannot imagine Him condoning that. We have free will for a reason - and one of them is to exercise it in a manner that will not cover us with sin. Murdering someone in cold blood is a sin, IMO.
I don't believe I'm going to change your mind, and I already don't believe in taking someone's life in such a manner. Getting to the smaller issues of changing the minds of the public who think that abortion is just dandy, what possible way can a clinic bombing change their minds? Because it won't stop until you can reach their hearts and minds. I don't believe this is the way to do it. And I defy anyone to come up with a convincing argument that targeted murder is going to do that.
The bombings and killings have an adverse effect by pushing the person on the edge of the issue to the wrong side. Lionizing bombers and killers will not help ever turn the tide toward saving the unborn.
This is so good I wanted to post it again...
Significant inroads have been made. That's no reason to stop praying, is it? God moves in His time, not ours. God has seldom if ever chosen to do for man, what he can do for himself. Perhaps we need to ask God in prayer, just what we should do to stop the slaughter?
I think that's a great idea. I've heard many times about prayer, all you need to do is ask. And then LISTEN. What if the slaughter through bombing, and every other violent targeting, stopped? And people need to work through this insane system that government has become. If this is a nation of laws, that's how it's done. We all love peaceful solutions, but peaceful solutions are sometimes impossible to attain.
I was thinking about it. I did not have enough activity to warrant keeping it going. I received a lot of mail when it shut down, had I known I had the lurkers, I may have kept it going. I may put it back up in a month or so.
OOPS! I meant to quote and comment on this. I don't believe that in this case that a peaceful solution is impossible - I really don't. And I don't think it's up to any one person to determine that it isn't, and to in essence "go nuclear" in trying to solve it.
Where can I get one of these tee-shirts? I'd love to wear it on campus where a bunch of ignorant and dumb liberals are wearing their Free Mumia ones.
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