Today is the 15th anniversary of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in downtown Oklahoma City. Until 9/11, it was the worst single terrorist act in U.S. history. The bomber, Timothy McVeigh, and his cohort, Terry Nichols, were right-wing extremists who believed the U.S. government was “the enemy.” They retaliated against that “enemy” by blowing up a large federal building, killing 168 people, including 19 children under the age of 6, and wounding more than 680 people, in the process.
This morning, survivors and family members of those who died in the bombing, along with hundreds of other citizens, gathered for a ceremony at what is now the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The bombing is getting extra attention this year because of the 15th anniversary. But people are also being asked to step back and think about the bombing in light of growing concerns about the bitter tone of U.S. politics today. Since Pres. Obama took office, the country has witnessed increasingly harsh or pro-violence rhetoric from the right wing in America, on top of the reckless, increasingly seditious rants of many conservative radio jocks and FoxNews commentators. And don’t forget about the half-assed apocalyptic assertions of some members of Congress like Reps. Steve King and Michelle Bachmann, not to mention one former half-term governor.
Rep. King has expressed understanding of the anti-IRS motivations of Joe Stack, the disgruntled Austin man who crashed his small plane into a federal building; and at the big CPAC conservative conference in February, King unveiled an “enemies list” that included all American liberals and progressives. Not to be outdone, Rep. Bachmann has taken to calling the government, which she spent a lot of energy and money to become a part of, a “gangster government” that has its sights on Americans’ freedoms and money. Late last week, after Bachmann had repeated the “gangster government” accusations, former Pres. Clinton (who was president at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing) bluntly declared that the right needs to watch its rhetoric. Drawing parallels between the Oklahoma City bombing and the present atmosphere of anti-government anger, Clinton said that some militias, and what he called “hatriot” groups, are likely to take the “wrong lessons” from rhetoric such as Bachmann’s. Clinton reminded listeners that “there are people who advocate violence and anticipate violence,” and conservative politicians should be careful not to rile up their more extreme followers. Of course, some of them, like McVeigh and Nichols and God knows what militia-type nuts today, don’t need that big a push.
This article appears in Apr 13-19, 2010.
Grooms wants to ignore that most wackos that kill are on the left. I even read that McVeigh was not even right wing. JFK was assassinated by a communist. Millions of people were killed due to the leftist Nazi’s of Germany and the leftist Communists of China. If Grooms continues to play the game of pin the death on the political party he will lose every time.
Stack was a flaming lib BTW.
Now about the protesting. Again the liberals have done far far worse things in their protest and Grooms is now afraid of soccer moms protesting. When we start to hear about bricks being thrown at the presidents car or movies about the assassination of Obama then we will at least be close to what the left has done just a few years ago for Bush. All of this recent concern is just lame and pathetic leftist drivel.
Not exactly Frank,
While what is considered right and left is debatable, most consider right wing to be anti-government and left wing to be pro-government. Stack was considered right wing and I hold alot of his same views. I draw the line at pre-emptive violence.
That may change depending on which “wing” is power. So its really objective.
Hitler was considered right wing, he believed his cause was just, approved by God & expected unquestioned patriotism from Germans. Those who disagreed with a powerful murderous government in Germany were killed.
But over in the US, if you refused to go take part in WWII that would have been left wing.
It is very similar to today where any question of the US military’s operations overseas is considered treasonous and left-wing, to not pay taxes is considered criminal, or be against Obamacare is rightwing extreminism. Anti-tax guys are usually considered right wing, anti-military are left wing. But then again, the definitions continue to change.
So who’s left and who’s right? Who knows….We do know that both supposed sides use the terms to denigrate the other.
I think its who is a statist and who isnt. Statists believe in taking control of the State and using it to re-distribute wealth, prop up certain ideals and marginalize others. They use the State to take something from someone (taxes) and give to another. Who they give it to is determined by their politics.
Limited government types see the State as the servant of the people. The state is supposed to protect our rights (life, liberty, property), not take them. That is really an anti-State position. While McVeigh, Nichols and Stack believed different versions of the same thing, they resorted to violence to achieve those ends.
I cannot condone blowing up innocents to get one’s point across.