I got really choked up watching that speech. Obama hit just the right notes, and carried himself just right: serious and a little subdued, yet resilient and strong.
I broke my rule against watching profiles of the victims, because that can send me spiraling down to the dark place, because I just wanted to hear what he had to say. How striking that so many were immigrants and minorities. It made me gasp, again, at the blissfully few voices calling for retribution or cleansing of various sorts against Muslims.
We are a strong country and we have a strong military because it includes Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, atheists, blacks, whites, Koreans, Pakistanis, gays (in hiding), straights, men, women . . .
I was so happy to see Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey speak so strongly on all the Sunday news shows about the danger of backlashes and persecution of Muslims.
“It would be a shame — as great a tragedy as this was — it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well,”he said.
That was a gutsy statement. I'm proud he's running our army.
And I'm proud of our commander in chief, who did a great job today. Just by giving us a snapshot of each victim, he made the same point--as well as honoring them, and bringing some small relief or perhaps moment of pride to their families.
It's so hard on the families. Ten years later, the kids at Columbine are generally doing really well, but it's a different story for the families of the ones killed. Many are still struggling badly.
The tone, for them, was set Day 1, and for these victims at Ft. Hood, hopefully their president made that terrible load just a little bit lighter. I hope.
You can read the full speech here. Here's how he closed:
We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes. . . .
Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to thirteen men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home. Later today, at Fort Lewis, one community will gather to remember so many in one Stryker Brigade who have fallen in Afghanistan.
Long after they are laid to rest – when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today's servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown – it will be said of this generation that they believed under the most trying of tests; that they persevered not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; and that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.
So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those we lost. And may God bless the United States of America.---
* Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times
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kfujioka
Nick Leshi
Judy Berman
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Comments
He was right; it was a great tragedy. Sadly, so is his definition of "diversity".
Sorry I didn't make it down to Austin to meet you. Hopefully you'll get back to Texas - Dallas maybe? And continued congrats on your success.
Thanks for thinking of me.
Nothing if you aren't queer or if you want equality within the next decade! To me, diversity means "everybody, regardless of their differences." Based upon his rhetoric and track record, Obama believes certain people's "diversity" is more important than others. You mean you don't see that????
BUT, I found it almost funny how for the first two days after this attack, nearly EVERY news source bent over backwards to NOT mention that the shooter was Muslim - despite his name and even the video of him at 7-11 in Arab garb.
Then some reports started creeping out - I read one on CNN that said he yelled "Allah Akbar" before shooting and another today that mentioned that in the past he had voiced his opinion on several occasions (in public, military speaking forums, no less) that our war on terror is in fact a war on Islam.
All of this again is not to condemn ALL Muslims, but rather to suggest that if his religion IS even possibly relevant to the story, we shouldn't bury that fact for the purposes of political correctness. And in fact, early reports on his statements in the hospital suggest that he felt like perhaps Muslims should be able to opt out of combat duty as "conscientious" objectors, based on their desire to not want to be put in a position where they would have to kill other Muslims (I find this untenable, because surely Christians and atheists and Wiccans in the military aren't allowed to choose whom they will have to kill in the course of their service). But if this statement of his is true, then it shows that his religious beliefs probably had at least some bearing on his motives.
And I'm guessing that despite Obama's words, Muslims in the military will get a 2nd look going forward. And rightly so in my opinion - let's face it, when "W" and the Cheney cabal waded us into this mess they sometimes invoked religious imagery and helped created the impression among many of the world's Muslims that our motives were at least party religious. And so, if blowback from that MIGHT be a contributing factor here, we owe it to ourselves to not bow to political correctness while investigating this.
...and again - just for clarity - I readily acknowledge that the vast majority of Muslims in this country harbor no ill will toward the U.S.
Keep us posted when you'll be back to Texas. I couldn't make it to Austin either. I'm sorry I missed meeting you. I heard you were great!
When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?
Also note that the suspect's rights are not being protected. A Washington Post story today has all the details of what is in his apartment. Reporters were allowed into his apartment and to paw through everything of his. That's the way we treat an Arab Muslim in this country. Disgraceful.
As he said, Justice, will be served in this nation of Rule of Law, and it will be served after all the facts are in, not in 24 hours after the fact, not in the press, and not in the hearts and minds of our people. I particularly appreciated this particular passage in his speech and thought he worded it most correctly.
There are, apparently, groups of militant Muslims gathered in cities across this nation, who freely speak against this country, vowing to implement distorted and angry interpretations of what they believe their Quoran is teaching. It is ugly to see and to hear. However, the fine line between Free Speech in this country and abuse of this Right is the same line that exists for some political opponents who have sounded as ugly and have created as threatening an environment as these militant Muslims. As painful as it is to listen to both, it is up to others to determine when the line is crossed and up to the rest of us to trust and to not inflame the rhetoric, one way or another. We live in a country where all kinds of extremists have the freedom to say what they will and one of our strengths, tolerance, can prove to be a weakness when "something" finally happens. We also share the "right to bear arms" and even carry them into Town Hall Meetings where thoughtful discourse and right to Free Speech is intended. This is not the time to point fingers at anyone else, but, rather, to take a good hard look at ourselves and what we are doing to our own country, especially in the last 10 months.
In that respect, we are all "soldiers" because we must fight this not with arms and weaponry but with intellect and rejection of all manner of false naysayers and those who condemn this country, this government, and desire it's failure.
It is clear to me that this President does not like war --- with anyone---and prefers other means to settle differences.
Additionally, going through the apartment, personal effects, background, communications, of someone who has perpetrated a monstrous crime is not reserved for Muslims, it is part of what is called "an investigation". We do not know that reporters have been allowed to do this. They may have been and are doing their own investigation with interviews, etc, but, I seriously doubt they have been allowed into what is, in effect, a part of a crime scene with which to gather their stories.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/us/13hood.html?hp
I also agree with Safe_Bet on the comment threat here that if one is to truly commit to diversity, the end of 'don't ask don't tell' needs to happen in an orderly fashion.
I don't agree with many things the President does, but in this particular instance he did excatly what needed to be done.
I also agree with Fins in the comments here that sacraficing truth for the sake of PC is absurd.
Thank you for posting this, and thank you for starting the discussion that you did. Sorry I'm late to the party.
Rated.