Careful Diamond, we cannot blame religion even if he were publicly saying things that indicate he had a religious motive.
See, it is not his fault. He potentially had been teased and bullied. When you are teased and bullied it trumps the fact that he may have, based on all other facts, been motivated to act by his religion.
If you continue down this road you will be labeled a racist my friend. Your thread will be closed, despite the fact that there is evidence the man's religion may have been a factor. And you will face the scourge of an angry FYM crowd.
There are extremists everywhere - that is a fact - and they cause more problems than they solve in this world.
Everything I read, indicates this man was motivated by his religious beliefs. Shame on the military for not catching up to him before this happened.
And yes, shame on our President for not making this his opening remark.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt: Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday the Japanese government also launched as attack against Malaya.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Wake Island.
And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As commander in chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. . .
Let's rewrite FDR into what we saw the other night....
"Thank you very much! Thank you Very Much! Thanks Joe for the wonderful introduction. I am so totally excited to be here at this gathering with you. My goodness this is great. While we are at it, thank you so much to all of the congressional people gathered here and the members of my cabinet who showed up to participate in this event. Thanks for being here. You all are doing such a great job. Thanks for your efforts. This is just the beginning. We are going to follow up and this is our TOP prioirity for us. We are not going to give lip service to this. I plan to make some much broader comments about the challenges that lay ahead. Oh, and by the way, Japan attacked us. We do not know the details. A number of Americans have been killed. More were wounded. My prayers are with the wounded and the families of the fallen for those who serve at Pearl Harbor. It is difficult to lose these men and women. It is terrible that they were attacked on American soil. I am getting information from everyone to check into this. Let's not rush to judgement so we can get some answers. There is no greater responsibility to make sure our men and women in uniform are safe when they are home. Let's keep them in our prayers. But let's get back to this top priority and our work at this conference."
Yep...FDR...what the hell was he thinking? LOL
You are damn right I find this offensive. I wore this countries uniform, and the fact that this man did not see fit to address this as his "TOP" priority at that moment sickens me. These men and women should have been the first thing he spoke about.
I have cut this president slack, because like poker, sometimes you get dealt a shite hand. Well this is not Bush's fault. This happened on his watch and anyone wearing the uniform of this country deserves to be the "TOP" priority. PERIOD. You cannot fix everything Mr. President. What has happened to the native people cannot be fixed today or tomorrow.
Those soldiers and families at Fort Hood should have been the TOP priority at that moment. That should have been your opening remark, and by now you or your vice-president should have been to Fort Hood to be with them.
