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Harry's off to war.
Prince Harry is going to war. Not just any war, but the big one in Iraq. Third in line to the English throne and the Prince insisted that he be treated like any other member of the British military and be deployed along with the rest of his unit, most likely to a combat assignment. For obvious reasons the exact location and nature of his deployment is not being released, but the Prince insisted that he wouldn’t “sit on his arse while his mates were serving overseas.” His father Prince Charles, next in line to the throne is worried sick, but the Queen mum is said to be “pleased as punch” at Harry’s stepping up.
Senator McCain’s son, the marine, will honor the family tradition and his “obligation” to his country and will not seek preferential treatment and will be deployed with the rest of his unit to the Middle East. Pat Tillman, was also lauded as a great patriot when he gave up a successful NFL career to serve his country and he paid the ultimate price “in the line of duty.” However, now that his family is questioning the circumstances under which he died, his patriotism is being called into question. His conduct was questionable? He was killed by friendly fire and undeserving of all the praise heaped upon him!?! Does it really matter who shot him? Is he any less heroic because the bullet came from an American weapon?
Funny, how when you do what “they” want you to do it all praise and parades, but question the conflict…It’s well after the fact, but go back and read the attacks on John Kerry by the Swift Boat Captains for Trash, I mean Truth. What the hell? The attacks on Kerry were all saying that his stint of service didn’t measure up to that of JFK’s. No mention of our current Commander in Chief, his actual opponent. John Kerry served his country in Vietnam and in combat, but he spoke out against the war upon his return home. That makes him unpatriotic, just like questioning the current administration in anything they do is un-patriotic.
Any citizen that serves in a country’s military forces is a patriot of that country, period! End of discussion! (Leaving early to work on a Senatorial campaign aside.) When our soldiers come home and question the validity of the orders they followed, we should listen, not punish them. Every American has the right to question the actions of the government especially those who have served and seen and experienced the results of our policies first hand. It’s called Democracy. It’s the reason we invaded Iraq in the first place.
We as citizens have a responsibility. From the protesters chanting “not in our name,” to the blasé commuter, we are responsible for the actions of our government, and through them the actions of our military. It is our duty as citizens to both question the policies of our elected officials, while at the same time supporting the people that put themselves in harms way to carry them out. You don’t have to agree with a single decision that led up to the deployment of our best and brightest in the Middle East to still support the men and women who are serving over there. But to blindly follow those who sent them there just because they tell not to do so is un-American, well that’s un-patriotic.
When the Senator’s son and the Prince return home they will receive a hero’s welcome, as should every other service member returning from a combat zone. Let us honor them, let us listen to them.
Kyle Pesonen - Staff Writer
Censorship, Fascism, Race Relations and American Journalism
For those of you who have been under a rock or have not turned on the news in the last week. There was an article written by Kenneth Eng for Asian Week Magazine entitled "Why I Hate Blacks" detailing why he hates African Americans and thinks that they should be discriminated against. This article has caused quite a stir including condemnations of the magazine by the NAACP and other social organizations and a public apology by the publisher for the article being released.
Let me start by saying that in my opinion the article is an utter piece of trash that no self-respecting journalist would write. I would therefore conclude that Mr. Eng is not a journalist and his pieces should be considered opinion only and only given that much merit. That being said, I also have to say that as a nation, it’s important for us to see the ideas in Mr. Eng’s article in order to remind us that the racial tensions that exist in our wonderful melting-pot of a nation are still alive and flourishing with some and still need to be confronted. Further, we need to read and deeply examine these articles to understand the minds that foster racism if we are to ever have racism exist solely in the past tense as a society.
When you look at the arguments Mr. Eng makes, you can also see that he put a good amount of thought into his position which means that it is of some meaning to him. This is also not the first article he has written with this tone. Previous articles included titles such as “Why I Hate Asians” and “Proof That White People Hate Us.” There is clearly a pervasive hatred in his writing that reflects a deep underlying anger at society in general and the state of race relations in our society more specifically. By his own description, Mr. Eng is an Asian-supremacist which makes it clear that he is contemptuous of other cultures and races. Likely, not everyone that read these pieces disagreed with them, meaning that there is a segment of the population that feels the same way Mr. Eng feels. Given that the articles referenced in this piece span a period of two years in a weekly publication, there is obviously an audience for them.
So how do we confront these issues if we censor the people that are willing to voice them? If you never know the thoughts of the people aligned against you, you can never open a dialog and alter their perception of you. Some people see Larry Flynt as a smut peddler, and while there is no question that he likes to push the envelope of decency, he also once said a very wise thing. While arguing to defend the publication of Hustler magazine, he stated basically that if the First Amendment doesn’t protect the most offensive of speech, it is useless. He was right. We can’t just allow the speech we like, we have to allow the speech we hate or it is not freedom for all. We are supposed to be a democracy and that requires that we allow all voices to be heard.
One of the core elements of fascism is censorship. By keeping the populace ignorant you keep them under control. Another element of fascism is distraction from the activities of the leaders. If we are busy fighting amongst ourselves due to ignorance of the issues driving our opponents, we have no time to see what our leaders are doing. If we don’t understand the mindset of the people that hate us, how can we try to change it? It is not enough to simply know they hate us. We must know why if we are to change their perception, which is the only way to get them to stop hating us. Who benefits from the silence of the haters? They will continue to hate but they will keep it just beneath the surface until it comes out as rage and “shocks” everyone when they kill a bus full of people because they lived in a certain neighborhood or were part of a certain religious group.
While I wholeheartedly disagree with Mr. Eng’s articles, I would fight to the death to defend his right to say the things he said in them. Without free speech America will be lost. This columnist is not shouting “fire” in a crowded theater. This columnist is expressing the mindset driving hatred which is valuable knowledge to have if we are to combat the hatred. Only through knowledge and examination comes understanding and Mr. Eng’s article is vital knowledge in the battle to combat racism in America.
Troy Wilson-Ripsom - Staff Writer
