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Posted on 09/10/2003 4:34:26 PM PDT by FreedomCalls
Two Years On, A Weary Nation Takes Stock
Sunday, December 5, 1943
NEW YORK (Routers) Concerned about inflaming passions that might further widen the war unnecessarily and result in more hate crimes against Asians, both here and abroad, most papers and radio stations will maintain regular formats and programming this coming Tuesday, the second anniversary of that unfortunate incident at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
"We may do some special reports on the victims, and how they feel today," said one CBS radio broadcast executive. "We'll be interviewing survivors, and the families of those killed. How has this affected the women, and the children, and the minorities? Is the government providing enough support to them, and grief counseling? After two years, are they finally ready to forgive the people who did this?"
NBC, however, doesn't plan to focus on the direct victims of Pearl Harbor, so much as the current and future victims, with hard-hitting exposés of the civil-liberties violations in which the Roosevelt administration has indulged itself since the alleged attack by Japanese militants. They'll be taking radio listeners into the concentration camp at Manzanar, California, to hear the stories of those interned for the past year and a half.
The network's plans have been lauded by human rights organizations. In a release, the Committee on Shinto-American Relations (CSAR) noted that: "Since December 7, 1941, the country has witnessed a persistent, deliberate, and unwarranted erosion of basic rights against abusive governmental power that are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and international human rights law. Shinto is a religion of peace, and we urge all Americans to remember that most Japanese in this country had nothing to do with what happened on that date."
They point out that on this second anniversary, it's time to reflect and ask ourselves why the Japanese, and much of the rest of the world, hate us.
The New York Times will reportedly be focusing on an untold story of that day--the unparalleled environmental disaster. The fires in the harbor and at the airfields burned for days, filling Honolulu's air and water with a mixture of toxic substances that included mercury, benzene, lead, chlorinated hydrocarbons, dioxins, PCBs and asbestos--quite possibly the largest urban environmental disaster in U.S. history. Yet authorities downplayed the risks, failed to warn rescue workers to take basic health precautions, and encouraged people to return to contaminated neighborhoods. Many rescue workers and residents now suffer from serious respiratory problems.
Amazingly, mainstream media have aggressively ignored the story, giving politicians and public health officials a free pass to keep quiet about it as well. The full extent of the environmental damage and its long-term health impact remain uncertain.
Many in Washington, particularly among the opposition on Capitol Hill, believe that we should be using this anniversary to ask tough questions of the administration.
One Senate staffer said, in apparent frustration, "...the administration doesn't seem to have a focused plan and, as many of us feared at the time, it continues to divert valuable resources from the war on Shinto bombers. We were attacked by the Japanese in Hawaii. What in the world were we doing landing in Italy three months ago? And we still don't know what happened to Yamamoto. The Japanese claim that he was killed in battle, but how can we be sure without his body?"
Even for those few who believe that the invasion of southern Europe was justified, and that General Patton did a good job of quickly taking Sicily, there are fears that we are losing the peace there. "It's been almost six months since Messina fell, and much of the island remains without electricity," said one Republican congressman, off the record, at a peace rally on the Mall.
As we talked, protestors marched past with signs saying "NO BLOOD FOR OLIVE OIL," "AT LEAST MUSSOLINI MADE THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME," and, in response to the meeting in Tehran a few days ago, "BREAK UP THE AXIS OF EVIL," with a picture of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.
"How much is this going to ultimately cost us?," he asked. "On this second anniversary of the beginning of this misbegotten war, the president has to be straight with the American people."
(Copyright 2003 by Rand Simberg)
Read the article closely, There'll be a pop test in the morning on irony.
Good grief, Prince. Read the FICTIONAL date of the title! Read the SUBJECT of the article!!! Grasp desperately at the irony, then post again in the morning.
Maybe you are a little worn out after all! Either that or you're trying to beat Laz for the world champion of posting without reading the article!
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