American
By
There is a remarkable amount of foolishness in America right now regarding whether it’s o.k. to build a mosque and whether it’s o.k. to burn a Koran. Colin Powell got it right in 2008 when he said,
…one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way.
If you think Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan deserves to have his holy book burned and his place of worship discriminated against, then you are part of the problem.
23 Comments
September 8th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
September 9th, 2010 at 4:46 am
The typically off the mark Mr. Reeves finds yet another excuse to cite yet more conspiracy theory. Thanks again Jim.
September 9th, 2010 at 5:29 am
Over the weekend, General Petraeus took the unusual step of commenting on the Koran kurfuffel. The silence from the Republican echo chamber is quite telling. Only John Boehner has said anything, but it was a fail. He drew a false equivalence between the Koran burning and the mosque building.
We do not have Muslim Exclusion Zones in America. And we don’t pride ourselves on torching books, be they holy or otherwise. And we don’t strike deals like, we won’t burn your holy books if you stay out of our Muslim Exclusion Zones. Because two wrongs won’t make it right. And because people like Terry Jones from the Dove World Outreach Center (yes, you read that right) aren’t interested in anybody but themselves.
Rate this comment:
3 
3
September 9th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Steel weakens significantly, turns red, and deforms at much lower than the temperature at which it melts. (As a child, I saw a blacksmith make horseshoes at Dearborn Village, MI. Oh, and I’m a mechanical engineer.)
The melting point of steel is about 2500 F. It’s glowing a dull cherry red at a thousand degrees lower.
Just sayin.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
September 9th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
“The melting point of steel is about 2500 F. It’s glowing a dull cherry red at a thousand degrees lower. “
Ok, translation needed for a non mechanical engineer. Are you saying it was possible for the buildings to collapse onto themselves from the fire of the planes and the fuel that spread upon impact, or not?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
September 9th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Hoo boy. Nothing like 9/11 Conspiracy theories to really bollocks a post about extremism.
September 9th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Well, Gordon, allow me to change the subject to something just as cheery. The Confederate flag!!
So, here’s a short story. There is an event scheduled for Sept. 12th called “Burn the Confederate Flag Day. It was started by blogger Jesus’ General.
I thought I would contact HK Edgerton to see if he had heard of the event and then, sarcastically, asked if he would lend me a flag or help me find a flag to torch. I know, why mess with HK? Well, he’s at the center of local flag debates and I thought he might get a kick out of it.
Instead, he sent my email out over his reenactor mailing list, instead of responding, which is fine. Then those guys sent it out to their friends. So, guess what, now I’m getting lots of hate mail and threats, which is fine. I would expect that from guys that play dress up on the weekends and wish they were living 145 years ago.
I’ve tried to combat the mail by answering each one individually and with the utmost politeness(kill em w/ kindness), but have been overwhelmed with sheer volume.
So, I started a Google Group debate page hoping to create some dialog. HK has been invited, too, but has yet to join, unfortunately.
All are welcome and I would love as many viewpoints as possible. Like I said, I just started it today so its kinda lacking, but I’m hoping that some of my angry rebel correspondents will be there, as well as flag opponents.
+++++++
Rate this comment:
2 
1
September 9th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Dixiegirlz,
Without getting uber-geeky, yes. Knock off the fireproofing, knock out a bunch of surrounding load-bearing columns (increasing the loading of columns holding up several floors of concrete and steel above), add tons of flaming jet fuel, let burn for an hour to significantly lower the yield strength of the steel (the point at which the hot, heavily loaded columns “give”) — and watch what happens.
You did on 9/11.
Rate this comment:
2 
2
September 9th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Just because something is legal and protected by our Constitution doesn’t make it right. Those in NY might have the right to build a mosque near Ground Zero but doesn’t make it right. You have the right to burn our flag, produce porn, say hateful things about others, etc. but that doesn’t make it right. Someone can burn the Quran but doesn’t mean it would be wise to do so.
Our nation was attacked on 9/11 without provocation. After the ’93 WTC bombing, we treated it like a normal criminal case. After the bombing of our Embassy in Africa, the USS Cole, and other terrorist acts supported by Al Qaeda we didn’t do much of anything to respond. I don’t believe most Muslims would support such terrorists acts but this is going to be a long struggle about whether those in the Muslim world focus more on developing their own people than blaming the US and the West for their problems. On 9/11 people of all faiths including no faith were murdered and we should never forget them and their families. I remember that day like it was yesterday, I can’t ever remember a more beautiful morning, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and watching on tv when the second plane hit the WTC. This truly was our generation’s Pearl Harbor.
As Americans, we owe an eternal debt of gratitiude to all our soldiers including Cpl Khan who have sacrificed so much including their own lives so that we have the freedoms that we all enjoy.
Rate this comment:
1 
5
September 9th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Wow, I don’t think you missed any of the standard rightwing talking points, and you did it with concision. Well done.
Rate this comment:
3 
1
September 9th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
“Without getting uber-geeky, yes……………………..”
Ok, thanks Tom….that helps explain how they could implode. You weren’t too geeky…but I love geeks, so no problem.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
September 9th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Hopefully 9/11 reminds us of what unites us, right, left or no wing, and not on what we disagree.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
September 9th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Ignoring our own complacency in the events of 9/11 is only going to open us up to future attacks.
Rate this comment:
2 
1
September 9th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Thanks Gordon this is what it is all about. I wish there were no wars EVER. But we are the minority who feel that war perpetuates war to no end.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
September 9th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Ramsey writes: “Our nation was attacked on 9/11 without provocation.”
Nathan, that is not a true statement. You have not been paying attention for the last 800 years, Christians have been tormenting the Muslims since the Crusades. We are the Elephant in the room.
Rate this comment:
3 
1
September 9th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
The US support of repressive & despotic middle East regimes since the 1930′s is the provocation. We gotta do better…we’re better than our past.
Otherwise the chickens will always come home to roost.
Rate this comment:
1 
1
September 10th, 2010 at 12:18 am
1278 architects and professional engineers say the official story is bullshit, to see their evidence http://www.ae911truth.org/
September 10th, 2010 at 1:32 am
No sir, Goldman Sachs should not be allowed to build a temple to Mammon on the site of the Wall Street Meltdown.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
September 10th, 2010 at 8:37 am
Any geeky explanations as to why Building 7, which was not struck by a plane and was not on fire, collapsed in its own footprint too? That has been one of the most puzzling aspects of that day for me.
Rate this comment:
2 
1
September 10th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Based on Al Qaeda’s and Osama Bin Laden’s statements, the motivation behind the 9/11 attacks along with their other acts of terrorism in Africa, Europe, Asia, Middle East and America over the last 17 years since the first WTC bombing in 1993 is to remove all US and Western soldiers from the Middle East and to abolish the State of Israel.
Certainly many wrongs in the past have been done in the name of Christianity and for various other reasons. But we weren’t attacked because of the Crusades. Al Qaeda would like to overthrow the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, etc. to impose their own version of radical Islam. America has two choices, either turn our backs on the Middle East, remove all of our military presence, and refuse to support Israel and moderate Arab leaders OR we can try to remain engaged, help promote democracy in Iraq, responsibly deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, work with Afgahanistan, Pakistan & India to deal with that volatile part of the world, and work with the Israelis and Palestinians to establish a lasting peace. I choose the latter because the world will be a more dangerous place without constructive US involvement. Although I disagree with our President on many things, he has, I think, responsibly chosen to take this course. Running and hiding never guarantees us safety.
Rate this comment:
0 
1
September 10th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Agreed. Just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. Does this include greasing the wheels with the county commission in order to fast-track the sale of your own land to developers?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
September 10th, 2010 at 11:04 am
I haven’t sold any land to developers and haven’t got one cent from any developer from selling anything that I own. Check buncombe county register of deeds if you don’t believe me. Like most, if the facts don’t suit them, make up some lies.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
September 11th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Interesting reading… http://www.observer.com/2010/politics/untangling-new-intrigue-behind-ground-zero-mosque
Rate this comment:
1 
0