Domestic Terrorism Strikes in the Assassination of Dr. George Tiller
The murder of Dr. George Tiller is horrific. It is an act of domestic terrorism at its worst. Gunned down at his peaceful place of worship in Wichita, Kansas, Dr. Tiller was targeted as he served as an usher in church and his wife sang in the choir.
He was an unassuming man who did not choose his destiny. Rather he was drafted to fill the shoes of his father in providing desperately needed health services to the women of Kansas, and those across the nation. As he spoke in a small gathering in San Francisco several years ago, after finishing medical school he was to be off to Beverley Hills where he would work in dermatology. The call came for him to come home and he did. It seemed he was needed to take over the family medicine clinic in Wichita. Not only did he leave the promise of a lucrative practice to return back to Wichita, he was catapulted into one of the most high stake areas of medicine -- reproductive rights and late term abortion services. Many would have retreated, but Dr. Tiller did not. He stepped up to his destiny, embraced it fully, and proudly began providing abortion services in 1973.
His family care practice is one of only three that performs abortions after the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy. He was shot in the past in both arms, his clinic was attacked, and he worked with armed protection throughout the years for himself and his patients. Fox News wrote this afternoon, "he acknowledged abortion was as socially divisive as slavery or prohibition but said the issue was about giving women a choice when dealing with technology that can diagnose severe fetal abnormalities before a baby is born."
Remarkably, the FOX coverage was thorough, factual, and did not exploit the emotions of the polarizing issue of late term abortion. It would have been easy, but they choose the high road and it is to be commended. Eight years of the provocation of the religious right have come home at a great cost to this country. Stirred up and fueled by the hysterical voices of those like Rush Limbaugh, fear and paranoia continue to reign as evidenced in this assassination.
President Obama we pray for you. This is not a kind world and we have lunacy running rampant through the Main Streets of our own country. May others pick up the fallen gauntlet, and heroic work of Dr. George Tiller; may his family find solace in his good works; and may he rest in peace.
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For a truly chilling look at the cold-blooded reality of these religious terrorists, listen to Rachel Maddow's report:
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Then try to believe that the murder of Dr. Tiller was just the random act of one depraved individual acting without provocation or support.
Thank you Yellowcat. Appreciate this.
All you have to do is read the "Christian" comments on various blogs to know that this was not an isolated incident. These people are convinced that God is on their side and that they can, therefore, take any action with impunity. I plan to give churches and fish cars a wide berth from now on (winks)
The religious right LOVES to judge mainstream society as evil, corrupt, and sinful. The fact is, most of these people are "born again" because they are ex-druggies, alcoholics and emotional cripples who NEED to judge the rest of us to make them feel better about themselves.
It will be a very scary day if these holy rollers actually get any power!
They won't get that power if we do not allow this issue to be buried. There are more of us than there are of them.
"Heroic Work"
I laughed.
Over 90% of pro-life women who find out that their baby will have downs syndrome, spina bifida, anencephaly and turner and klinefeltter sydrom, will choice to terminate the baby.
I think you meant "choose" but anyhow, do you have a stat on that?
Good for them! A very unselfish and intelligent act. By Christian logic, God gave us everything. That includes science and medicine!
As horrible as I think George Tiller's death is -- and trust me, I do mean that -- I wouldn't call his death an "assassination" and I wouldn't call this domestic terrorism. That sounds like baseless hyperbole, IMO.
So how do you define "terrorism"? If this isn't it , then nothing is
Talk about hyperbole! Have you read anti-choice posts around the Web in the wake of this fine doctor's appalling murder?
It's unfortunate the author of this piece chose to write: "President Obama we pray for you". Hasn't religion, and acting based on supposed communications with a god, caused enough trouble in terms of abortion? We are not going to have a reasonable and rational discussion on abortion until we get the supernatural out of the equation.
It was purposeful. President Obama will need every bit of support possible. We are in a world of hurt and we need him to stay safe and sound. The last years under the prior administration unfortunately manipulated religion for votes.
If there is no god, would praying to something that does not exist constitute support for President Obama? And have you considered that your call for prayer legitimizes the very framework that enables and drives many of these abortion fanatics, namely the idea that there is a god with which they can communicate, and on who's authority they can act? So you end up down with them in the asylum, having to argue about what the "real god" is wanting. In your call for prayer, you are (however unintentionally) giving these people cover.
At the moment, the whole notion of "prayer" is tainted by the character of its avowed practitioners.
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Here's the quality of care that "Dr." Tiller provided. I find it amazing that the writers on this blog continue to describe him with qualities that almost make him sound like a saint on earth. Yet would they describe the Nazis of WWII who killed innocent people with these same glowing terms? The fact is that every time an abortion is done, a living being is killed. Tiller's murder is reprehensible. Any murder is. But what he did was not "heroic" by any stretch of the imagination.
I don't condone the doctor's murder, however, calling the murder of unborn children "good works" is horrific, in my opinion.
Sadly, a little known fact is that late-term abortions are often done to save the life of the mother. We unfortunately in this country suffer from the lack of information or misinformation. A man who dedicated himself to save lives was doing "good works" and will be missed.
Its bad when you have to worry about Al Qaeda terrorist, Far right-wing extremist with assualt weapons, and now frustrated pro-life fanatics.
consider it a late, late term abortion.
This is the kind of comment that makes it more difficult for we who promote life to maintain our integrity. Please, thetruthmustbetold, at lease modify your comments as "In my personal opinion...
How sad that a factual report from Fox is so rare that someone has to take the time to commend it.
They have been part of the misinformation campaign in this country, and their early reports before the spin doctors was factual and extraordinarily thorough. Alas we know that are good journalists that could do better.
Obama admin redifined terrorism as "man made disaster" so why the headline?
It is horrendous that some mentally disturbed man was able to commit a heinous crime such as this. These kinds of situations are thankfully very rare. However, there is no way around it: late term abortion is infanticide. Making Tiller into some posthumous hero is not helpful, and it actually ends up fanning the flames of fanaticism ON BOTH SIDES.
Nice try. Mentally disturbed? Is that how you're going to spin it? Premeditation and mentally disturbed don't really coincide. This assassin, a Christian fundamentalist terrorist knew exactly what he was doing. I say that making this assassin a hero will only fan the flames for people to be more anti-religion than they already are. I don't know if you've seen the statistics, but there is a record low number of people who admit to being religious. And your statement shows why. Please don't sign on to advocate for anything I believe in. You're not good at it.
You are illustrating what I am talking about. Take a step back, breathe. Then look at what you just typed. If this type of violence was just about religion, then it would happen more often in this country. Don't let your beliefs cloud your ability to reason. If you do this, you are no better than the fanatic who holds beliefs counter to yours. It appears, based on what we know from published reports, that this man was indeed mentally disturbed. If he thought and planned out what he did beforehand, then he is a psychopath, not a domestic terrorist.
It is horrendous and it is an act of domestic terrorism. It must be called what it is and it must be stopped. Dr. George Tiller was a good and thoughtful man shot in his own church. He is dead and we can be respectful to him, his family and his life's work.
I agree that what happened was horrendous and a terrible tragedy, but this isn't an example of domestic terrorism. I understand that people feel strongly on both sides of the issue, but we have to have reality-based discourse here. If the situation was reversed and a prominent pro-life leader was killed, no one would be calling their killer a "domestic terrorist.
These people call themselves pro-life when nothing could be further from the truth. What they are is irredeemably ignorant.
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Save babies . . . be nice to children . . . tell kids how valuable and special they are every day. Then when they grow up, screw them! This is how people are. The anti-abortionists are just an extreme version of the average person.
Christian Fundamentalist Terrorism
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Reconcile this because i cannot.
What would be law enforcement's reaction if this doctor was assassinated by a Muslim extremist? Fundamentalists who are Muslims also hate women choosing anything that leads them away from their oppressive culture.
What if that killer's mullah announced he was less concerned about the murder than he was about Obama's reaction of outrage? As Terry Randall did today. Would that Mullah be in jail tonight? Tomorrow when Fox News winds up? Or Rush Limbaugh. If they were Muslim would we not call them co-conspirators?
Good and long needed question that hits at the heart of the polemic. After eight long years of deceit, distrust and misinformation -- here we are. Now what are we going to do? I don't really know, but what I do know is that terrorism comes in many flavors.
Well said, indeed.
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