[quote]Of Terrorism, Bastards And Their Fellow Travelers

Analysis

By Ed Howard

June 11, 2009

The front page of the San Francisco Examiner on 9/12/01 was widely praised, and in a few places it was criticized.

I was in the praising group. Wished I'd thought of it.

For the foreign terrorists then, and domestic terrorists today, the headline remains appropriate, as is the sentiment:

Bastards!

Every damnable one of them.

Maniacs over there praised al-Qaeda terrorists and believed they were heroes, doing the work of their god. They continue to praise them.

Maniacs over here praised Scott Roeder, the domestic terrorist who assassinated Dr. George Tiller. They continue to praise him, and others who assassinated abortion providers before him.

Approximately as despicable are those taking the coward's stance in both cases:

"I'm not saying it was justified, but still, you can't be surprised ..."

They were right, no one should have been surprised. Zealots are often malleable, mental defectives.

In Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East, there are plenty of hate mongers who condemn America as a nation of infidels who don’t see the Almighty according to the Koran.

In America, there are hate mongers who condemn people like Teller – those who provide legal abortion services – as sinners in the eyes of Christianity and its interpretation of the Almighty’s will according to the Bible.

In the Middle East, those who stir others to violence directly are often found in mosques.

In America, those whose rhetoric directly or indirectly endorses or encourages violence against abortion providers are usually found on the Internet, and on talk radio.

Those who suggest that hateful anti-choice talk-radio rhetoric and websites don’t fuel the volatile atmosphere that led to Tiller’s murder are either stupid or disingenuous or both.

And for a couple of days this week it appeared that murder had trumped the law of the land.

After Tiller’s murder, his family said his abortion clinic in Wichita, Kan., would be permanently closed. A big win, it seemed, for anti-choice elements across the ideological board. Despite federal and state law, it looked as though legal late-term abortions would no longer be available.

Then Dr. LeRoy Carhart stepped up and said he would make certain those services remained available in Wichita, because he would provide them. Carhart operates an abortion clinic in Bellevue. He has been involved in some of the nation’s most important court cases on reproductive rights and states’ authority to regulate them.

In taking his stance, Carhart virtually pinned a bull’s eye on his back; hopefully, over a flak jacket.

You can bet the worst elements of the anti-choice movement will demonize Carhart as they did Tiller. The worst of the talk-radio scum will likely do the same.

Then, there are the cowards in both houses of Congress. Taking one with another, they don’t qualify as terrorist bastards when it comes to violence aimed at abortion providers. Too many of them, however, have proved themselves to be cowards who fear the wrath of the anti-choice movement.

In April, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning of potential violence reflecting right-wing extremism, especially the kind involving hatred of certain religious, racial or ethnic groups.

“It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.â€