Will terrorists try to disrupt election?
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Will terrorists try to disrupt election?
| Wed, 08-11-2004 - 2:51am |
There have been rumours that Al-Qaeda or some other group of Muslim terrorists will attempt to disrupt U.S. elections by doing a terrorist act in the U.S. right before the election.
It would be easy enough for them to do if they really wanted to, there are several million Muslims living in the U.S., the terrorists could easily hide in U.S. Muslim communities, much as they did before 9/11. And we have very poorly controlled borders and coasts, terrorists could sneak into the U.S. as well.
Do you believe that Muslim terrorists will, for whatever absurd reason, attempt to disrupt our U.S. elections?
It would be easy enough for them to do if they really wanted to, there are several million Muslims living in the U.S., the terrorists could easily hide in U.S. Muslim communities, much as they did before 9/11. And we have very poorly controlled borders and coasts, terrorists could sneak into the U.S. as well.
Do you believe that Muslim terrorists will, for whatever absurd reason, attempt to disrupt our U.S. elections?

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Anyone that knows even a little bit about American history knows that the southern Democrats that included Klansmen were known as the "Dixiecrats", very conservative and sometimes racist Democrats that were different than the national Democratic Party.
When the National Democratic Party started pushing the civil rights agenda and the voting rights act in the south in the 1960s, these Dixiecrats converted, almost overnight, to the Republicans. That was part of Nixon's "southern stradegy", part of Reagan's "southern stradegy" as well. Strom Thurmond and many other southern Dixiecrats became Republicans.
The Republicans played on the race issue and a few other social issues to gain southern White votes,(and some votes of conservative Whites in certain other parts of the country as well). And it worked. Today the vast majority of southern Whites who were formerly Dixiecrats or the children of Dixicrats, vote Republican. That's why the south is now solidly in the "Red States", the Republican states.
As far as Iraq and the Middle East goes, it is by no means certain that the Arabs can convert to being modern Democratic countries with democracy and a seperation of religion and state. Islamic countries are not culturally or religiously like Christian Germany or Buddhist Japan. No Muslim country has stayed truly democratic and secular for long, other than Turkey, and even in Turkey, unfortunately, Muslim fundamentalism is growing.
The jury is still out on Iraq and the rest of the Muslim world.
And of course I know that there are many racist people and places around the world.
But my parents, who are honest, hardworking, decent middle class people, told me that racism against Asian-Americans grew during the Vietnam War years. They experienced it. Other older Asians have told me the same. Chinese and Japanese Americans who were not even Vietnamese, were associated with the "Gooks" who were killing American young men in "Nam". The Vietnam war era was not a good time to be Asian in America. If you were an Asian-American you would know that.
Thank God for the civil rights movement that counteracted racism against racial minorities in the 1960s and 1970s. It helped more than just Black people.
And yes, many college professors are liberal. Everyone, unless you they are an idiot, knows that. Most college kids, contrary to the myth, take that into consideration. Most American young people do have the capacity to think for ourselves. We take what college professors say with a grain of salt. We also take what conservative ideologs like yourself say with a grain of salt.
Edited 8/14/2004 1:25 am ET ET by bridgettao
Edited 8/14/2004 1:30 am ET ET by bridgettao
Edited 8/14/2004 1:44 am ET ET by bridgettao
I am not talking down to you. However it appears you do not understand the distinction between periods of civil unrest and civil war. The US has had but a single civil war. The situation in the 60's was of civil unrest, not civil war as you claimed.
Johnson pushed the great society programs in the 60's, and they were passed only because Republicans supported them. If only Democrats in congress voted, civil rights per the 60's wouldn't have been made law.
Republicans accepted democrats from the south, provided they accepted Republican beliefs. This has generally been true throughout time :-)
Racist Democrats are still part of the Democratic party, KKK Byrd sits currently today as a part of the leadership. Racist to the core. Today racism in the Democratic party is manifested by affirmative action program support, which seeks not to cease racism, but to change the parties roles. It's still racism, just with different groups targeted.
It was a Republican President who fought a Democratic Wallace to force the Supreme Court orders in Brown v Bd of Ed. The Democrats had guard harassing blacks and intimidating with weapons those who would seek to integrate the school district. Only because a Republican President forced Wallace to back down was the order enforced.
You seem to have a very slanted view of the race situation in the south (and appear to have absolute ignorance to the more complex situation in the north during the 60's) and as you have expressed concern that I may be talking down to you... I really have no way of imparting more information to you in this area ... other than to suggest that you spend some time reviewing from alternative sources your current beliefs.
Many believed the Japaneese weren't culturally capable of having democracy after WW II ... similarly many felt the Koreans couldn't handle it ... much depends on luck, and tenacity. The US has a wonderful record of helping cultures adapt. The democracy which exists in Germany, Japan, South Korea today may not be exactly the vision America would desire... but certainly it is a much superior situation than most of humanity finds itself :-) The improvement was the result of losing a war with the US, Iraq is the next experiment in cultural evolution :-o
It wasn't my experience during the time in question that Japaneese and other asians were confused with North Vietnameese with respect to the slur gook... Japan has been on good terms with the USA for quite some time, and was certainly well regarded by everyone I knew during the 60's and 70's.
Moderate Northern Republicans like myself are not running the national Republican Party.
If I was in the south I would vote Democrat.
And even though I am voting Republican for congress and in local elections here in New York, I'm voting for Kerry for president, because George W. Bush represents the reactionary branch of the southern Republicans. Bush is a Texan who goes along with people like Delay, Lott, the southern branch of the Republicans, Strom Thurmond school of Republicans. Some of the other Republicans like Cheney also are of that ilk.
Byrd is an abberation in the Democrats. If the Democrats were racist, 85% of Black Americans wouldn't be voting for them. Obviously.
Once again, you insult our intelligence. Don't assume that we are stupid enough to believe that.
At any rate.
We have gotten far off of the topic of this thread, which was terrorism and lack of border control and poor immigration policies.
Edited 8/14/2004 12:22 pm ET ET by bridgettao
Edited 8/14/2004 12:23 pm ET ET by bridgettao
Edited 8/14/2004 12:24 pm ET ET by bridgettao
Edited 8/14/2004 12:45 pm ET ET by bridgettao
From Unfounded Loyalty: An In-Depth Look into the Love Affair Between Blacks and Democrats
by Wayne Perryman
Rev. Perryman is black, religious and makes his living as an investigator in discrimination cases. He researched the period of 1832 to 2002 to answer a question posed to him by some black inner-city young people; "Why are most blacks in America Democrats?"
Among his findings:
- The Democrat Party was solidly pro-slavery prior to the Civil War, seeking to expand slavery to all of the States.
- The Republican Party was founded just prior to the Civil War and was anti-slavery.
- President Lincoln was the first Republican president. President Lincoln changed Vice Presidents for his second term, selecting Andrew Johnson, a pro-slavery Democrat, to broaden his base and appeal to borderline Democrats.
- After the end of the Civil War, Southern Democrats passed Black Codes in the South to suppress, restrict and deny blacks the same privileges that were available to whites.
- Republicans enacted the Freedman Bureau to assist the newly freed slaves.
- Upon being sworn in to replace the assassinated Lincoln, President Johnson stated: "This is a country for white men and long as I am president it will be a government for white men."
- The Ku Klux Klan was formed as the terrorist arm of the Democrat Party.
- Initially in the South after the Civil War, many blacks were Republicans, including many elected officials. The only black US Senator from the South was a Republican until Barbara Jordan, a Democrat, was elected from Texas in 1972.
- Federal troops were stationed in the South to protect blacks until removed by President Hayes in 1877, but they did not prevail against the terrorist acts of the Klan, which continued to intimidate blacks, causing many to not vote or to vote Democrat.
- The terror situation prevailed until well after 1900. In 1900, three white persons founded the NAACP to publicize and stop the lynchings. There were 94 known lynchings in 1900.
- Rich Republican whites funded and supported many of the black colleges, including Morehouse where Martin Luther King Jr. studied. Many southern Democrats opposed the colleges and tried to diminish their effectiveness.
- The many Civil Rights Acts of the 1960's and 70's were supported by more Republicans than Democrats, and in many cases passed over the objections of Southern Democrats.
A thread throughout the book is that in turning to the government for support rather than the traditional black church, the black community has lost a lot of its resiliency.
Finally, the author claims that the Democratic Party has never officially apologized for slavery or their terrorist war against black Americans.
Black people, contrary to what racists believe, are not stupid. If the Democrats were racists or anti-Black, 85% of Black Americans wouldn't be voting for them.
I'm a moderate Republican. If my type of Republican was running for president I would vote Republican for president. I would vote for McCain, or Christie Whitman, or Olympia Snow.
I'm a racial minority, an Asian, and I am also pro-choice on abortion, and believe in a strict seperation of religion and state. I believe science and evolution should be taught in the schools in science class, not religious "creationism", which is not scientific. And who's creationism, Judea-Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist?
There is no place for religious mythology , Christian or otherwise, in science class. Too many of the southern Republicans, these ex-Dixiecrats, are racial bigoted and also in some cases part of the "religious right", which is not my type of Republican.
We have gotten way off the original topic which was terrorism and immigration control.
Let's get back to the original topic.
I still believe that a terrorist attack is possible before the election.
Edited 8/14/2004 1:02 pm ET ET by bridgettao
Edited 8/14/2004 1:03 pm ET ET by bridgettao
Edited 8/14/2004 1:05 pm ET ET by bridgettao
So, anyway, on terrorism. I'm voting for Bush. Looking at the whole picture of both men, Kerry has me deeply concerned about his ability to keep us safe. He is weaker on terrorism. As a New Yorker, I can imagine the choice of which man would handle the terrorism & immigration problem the best makes it that much more important to you. My brother has expressed concern living close to where the RNC will be held.
This is a very long article, so I'll just post the link.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5636197/site/newsweek/
Al Qaeda's Pre-Election Plot
Exclusive: With an eye on striking America, bin Laden's network is hard at work. On the trail of its targets and tactics
The Democrat Party itself, not some regional faction of it,
Renee ~~~
<<The Dixiecrat racist Democrats are now Southern Republicans, everyone knows that. >>
If you moved here like so many have from the north & west &
Renee ~~~
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