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On the Shooting at the National Holocaust Museum

Posted: 06/10/09 04:13 PM ET

This event is a terrible reminder of the cruelty and injustice that still exists in the hearts of many. A despicable act of violence has occurred at a place dedicated to peace and remembrance, and in a building that is synonymous with respect. My heart and prayers go out to the family of the brave security guard who was wounded and has put his life on the line to protect all those who were inside the Museum.

I was scheduled to attend a play tonight at the Museum about the effects of bigotry and anti-Semitism. The Museum is a living memorial to the victims of crimes against humanity. While this crime occurred in the nation's capital, we are reminded that there are still those who seek to use fear and hate to change the world. Just this weekend, in my hometown of Memphis, a church was vandalized and desecrated by hate speech that made references to the KKK.

As we move forward from today's events, let us commit ourselves to fighting fear with hope and ignorance with education.

 
 
 
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06:27 PM on 06/11/2009
This was a fantastic post, and I hope it gets play outside of just this website. More and more of our leaders need to speak out about what's been happening, because the path we've started to head down is not pretty:

http://www.tremblethedevil.com/my_weblog/2009/06/overtaken-by-events.html
04:12 PM on 06/11/2009
Paradoxically, some liberals in cahoots with neo-fascists and Islamicist will focus on blaming Jews foremost for this terrorist actions Doubt it? Look over the threads on this self described liberal site.
The befuddled branch of middle class liberals is being gradually transformed into Islamic fundamentalist supporting cadre.
Some gullible liberals ( not all) easily fall for pseudo-freedom propaganda slapped together for Western consumption.
Witness Ahmadinejad an ultra right religious fundamentalist if there ever was one. Some liberals support him solely because he includes some nonsense about neo-colonialism.
07:57 AM on 06/11/2009
The simple fact remains.... SOME acts of violence are one day events.

Some acts of violence are ignored altogether [such as IDF killing kids]

Some acts of violence serve larger purposes..... for special special people.
01:18 PM on 06/13/2009
What is even worse is the Palestinian strapping bombs onto their own children and sending them out to be homocide bombers. Also if Hamas or Hezbollah launches mortar rounds or rockets from a school yard and kids die in an Israeli counterstrike--put the blame on the bastards that launched an attack on Isreal from a schoolyard--Isreal has the right to defend itself and besides--the Palestinians have refused their own homeland since 1947--their goal is the elimination of the state of Isreal
06:19 PM on 06/10/2009
Unbelievable, liberals are already downplaying the death of an innocent security guard and comparing it to the plight of Palestinians. Are you people American? Worry about someone dying unjustly in your own country, not on the other side of the world. If you really want to help the Palestinians move to West Bank or Gaza. I'll pay for your ticket. Hope you aren't a woman or gay, however, cause then you will be in some serious trouble.
05:42 PM on 06/10/2009
How horrible - 400 palestinians children murdered in Gaza . Hardly a whisper in the western media concerning that.

Gaza - yesterday and today a ghetto very much like Warsaw was. Hardly a word or whisper in the western media.

Now one lone person goes into a public place and shoots a guard. Within a few hours the news gets more coverage than Gaza has gotten cumulativly in years.

What are the values being displayed by ignoring the horrors of the 1.5 million prisoners in the Gaza Ghetto - the silence concerning the murdering of 400 children with American weapons by a country that has been recieving in excess of 3 billion dollars a year in $US weapons and aid while ethnically cleansing the Palestinian people, yet turns a blind eye to much greater tragedies and crimes when they are committed by the US or our allies. .

The author is right when he states " a terrible reminder of the cruelty and injustice that exists in the heart of many " -- too bad that the cruelty and injustices of the much larger magnitude that are silenced when they are committed by the United States and Israel don't count when it comes to the societies that kill children and destroy other cultures .
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
BowlingForRevenge
~ rabid yellow dog dem tiger mom & proud of it ~
12:49 AM on 06/11/2009
Well then it's painfully obvious we, America, need to get our OWN house in order. isn't it?
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CarlyHope
07:21 PM on 06/11/2009
Don't think everyone here doesn't know what your implying.

Jews are Americans too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12:25 PM on 06/11/2009
Obviously, insulin, you're incapable/unwilling addressing the issue of this murder on its own merits.
Your deflection to an unrelated subject is an implicit support for the beliefs and actions of Mr. Braunn. Shameful.
05:29 PM on 06/10/2009
God I hope they've upped security for Renagade
05:05 PM on 06/10/2009
I don't notice my liberal friends stripping the store shelves of ammo and weapons. As far as I know it's the right wing that has been arming itself to the teeth these last few months. As the density of weaponry and ammunition increase it's a simple fact that more rounds are going to be fired over time and more people are going to die. I once tried to get a conservative at a public event (a WW II memorial no less) to apologize to me for Ann Coulter saying that liberals should be killed. The woman refused to say Coulter was wrong, She simply wouldn't utter the sentence "Ann Coulter is wrong". So don't you dare try to blame the Holocaust on us...The only thing socialist about Hitler was his use of the term "National Socialism". He was a far right loony if ever there was one.
05:21 PM on 06/10/2009
No, Hitler was an actual socialist.

The man who did the shooting today was a 9-11 truther, and a fan of pro-Palestinian activists like Rachel Corrie. He hates both political parties, and he hates Christians as well as Jews. He is a member of CNIF, which is a Hamas supporting group. He's an Aryan conspiracy nut, and those folks work with the left as well as the right. This is an area where the right/left dichotomy doesn't apply, especially since today's right (as in Republicans, neocons, conservatives) tends to be more supportive of Israel than the left.
05:32 PM on 06/10/2009
Don't get on a high horse about being a liberal without a gun. That horse already left the barn.
01:20 PM on 06/13/2009
especially since many gunowners are liberal
05:03 PM on 06/10/2009
I can only hope you have such strong reaction when Palestinian children are murdered by Israel.
05:34 PM on 06/10/2009
They will, but only if they are murdered at the Palestinian Memorial Museum built on the Washington Mall.

Don't hold your breathe.
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RumiSouth
Caerbannog!
05:35 PM on 06/10/2009
And this has what to do with Palestine?

Really, Palestinians would be better off using the Holocaust instead of trying to debunk it.
08:01 AM on 06/11/2009
now ask yourselves.....

Wonder who may have taunted this guy in the last few days?

Who may have said.... HEY -- it's time BRO..... do it - make a difference before you die.

All these orgs are infiltrated .... and organized.
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hardrain77
Ron Paul not Romney
04:45 PM on 06/10/2009
Perfect.

Pin the all too-sensical opposition to the Federal Reserve on crazy racists like this guy. Another cog in the propaganda machine. I'll bet he was a crazy Ron paul tea-bagger homegrown terrorist afraid of the black president.

This is how the machine works: Just like the Muslim shooter in the south and the abortion doctor, this guy was probably under FBI watch, maybe even the ever-so honorable Southern Poverty Law Center or even the ADL trying vigorously to paint all anti-Obama types as Klansman. Then, Fox and the right wing spin machine hype it up to provocate more copy-cats and Olbermann gets to do special comments on the brutality of it all.

Either way, the fight promoter at the top of the food chain laughs and continues to count your money he just stole from your back pocket.
05:07 PM on 06/10/2009
exactly. AIPAC neo-cons know no party. they were with bush/cheney, before they switched to the obama/biden camp.
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CarlyHope
07:19 PM on 06/11/2009
Oh please, like AIPAC and neocon are synonyms
06:24 PM on 06/10/2009
Thanks, I almost think no one can see beyond left-right politics anymore.
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hardrain77
Ron Paul not Romney
08:31 PM on 06/10/2009
It's all a game, like pro-wrestling as Jesse Ventura put. Both sides cash the same check from the same fight promoter.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
dex216
Let Freedom Ring!!
02:25 PM on 06/11/2009
Very few people can, or maybe they just don't want to. It's all about supporting your guys and opposing the other guys no matter what. Sad
04:31 PM on 06/10/2009
All wea.pons should be banned. Only officials of the gover.nment should be allowed to carry them and only for the purpose of keeping the peace.
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PeterLoffredo
04:39 PM on 06/10/2009
As a concerned psychotherapist and clinical social worker for thirty years, I must urge the media to stop identifying people who are psychiatrically disturbed with labels like "white supremacist" or "pro-life extremist" or even "anti-Semites." In their delusional states, encouraging these individuals to feel as if they are part of some kind of viable group or movement fuels their deadly fantasies and grandiosity. People who commit murder in this way don't have a "cause" that they are intensely fighting for. They are suffering from psychotic paranoid delusions, and as such need to be isolated and treated until and if they no longer pose a threat to society. Racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia - these are not "political philosophies," anymore than pedophilia or rape are.
Please, call things what they truly are.
I have written about this subject extensively. You can see my most recent piece here: http://fullpermissionliving.blogspot.com/2009/06/please-folks-call-craziness-what-it-is.html
Peter Loffredo
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BowlingForRevenge
~ rabid yellow dog dem tiger mom & proud of it ~
12:53 AM on 06/11/2009
And you've treated this man? You know he has a psychiatric disorder?
Just because someone acts on a heinous thought doesn't mean they are mentally ill.
If that were the case we all need padded cells.
04:40 PM on 06/10/2009
yeah... that's not extremist thinking at all.......
04:26 PM on 06/10/2009
Fox News "pundits" have been inciting this violence since the election. It was only a matter of time, and there will be more who take this event and the Tiller murder as positive signs. It's time to put an end to the practice of disguising right wing hate mongering as free speech.
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04:17 PM on 06/10/2009
Hate has no reason. Hate has no empathy. Hate feeds on its self and by those who utilize it to gain or maintain power. To stop this we need to recognize those who spew it in the public forum and condenm them and hold them accountable for the actions they helped forge.
DontselltheUS
Keep on...
04:15 PM on 06/10/2009
A lone gunman murdered a security guard at a DC museum. He was a hateful man, by all reports. Now he is receiving all of the attention he wanted to get. Isn't this just encouraging other hateful, crazy people? Is it possible to just report the facts, not interview every tourist or person with an opinion?
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katielady
04:04 PM on 06/10/2009
thank you for letting us have a place to comment on this horrific event.. I am over 65 and have lived thru so many horrible events... so many people are filled with hate.. killing Dr Tillson recently was hate... not life...this is not Christian or conservative... this is evil.
Is there no way to end this???? am so saddened....
thank you again for this forum..
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MichelleB
03:57 PM on 06/10/2009
Shut down FOX TV, a great way to control the spread of hate in this country
03:07 PM on 06/11/2009
Michelle B. This is the United States of America and that is exactly the kind of thing we cannot do, no matter how many Von Brunn's and Becks. You see the beauty of living in a democracy is that we can say what we want and if someone disagree's they have that right. If we shut down Fox there would be no basis for comparing differing ideas and we would all be ditto heads. I have no problem with Beck being as stupid as he is, he keeps me on my toes. Whenever I hear him , Limbaugh, Hannity et. al; I have the strangest urge to want to read, research and Google. It is incumbent on all of us to think for ourselves, we can only do that by staying informed so we can make intelligent decisions that people like Beck cannot fathom. Viva la remote control!