IS POLITICALLY CORRECT ALSO UN-AMERICAN…..YES
November 16, 2009
Exclusive: Is the Term ‘Politically Correct’ More Accurately ‘Un-American’?
Peter Gadiel
At Fort Hood, political correctness claimed 13 more lives (14 when the unborn child of one of the victims is included). It appears certain that fear of being called “racist†or “nativist†or “anti-Muslim†caused dozens of otherwise sensible people, including many psychiatrists and high ranking military officers, to keep quiet about activity on Maj. Hasan’s part that clearly indicated his terrorist sympathies.
Apparently his behavior both in public and in private was such that long before more Americans were killed and wounded in the name of Allah, this man could have, should have, been stopped.
Having been a participant with other 9/11 family member for most of the eight years since the mass murder of 2001, I’m not in the least surprised by what happened at Fort Hood. Sad to say, I, like many, many others expect such events to be facilitated, just as 9/11 was, by incompetence on the part of bureaucrats,
The political correctness which facilitated, or to be more accurate, was a cause of the Fort Hood murders is an attitude that has been fostered by many extremely well funded organizations and individuals. Most prominent in this regard being the Ford Foundation George Soros, acting through their many surrogate legal and lobbying groups such as the ACLU, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, LaRaza, and literally dozens upon dozens of such groups that infect America.
These innumerable legal activist, political lobbying and propaganda groups have succeeded in undermining faith in America’s history, institutions, society. The college professors of the Ward Churchill type, those who create public controversies by calling the victims of 9/11 “little Eichmanns†are really the least dangerous of the type because they are so open about their extremism. The far more dangerous are those in the legal profession, education, business, government, and now evidently in the military who, burrowing away at the foundations of our faith in ourselves, destroy the self-confidence of a nation, destroy its belief that it has a right to aggressively speak out against its enemies.
Ironically this destructive influence, known as political correctness, has caused two of its most prominent agents, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, to restore to our vocabulary the very same labels long in disrepute that formerly were applied to the extreme left. Those who still respect our country’s history and recognize that the good done by the United States of America renders its mistakes almost inconsequential, are in debt to Pelosi and Reid for this service. More on that in a moment.
The same political correctness that facilitated Maj. Hasan’s crimes has caused a dispute between me and the town of Kent, Connecticut, where my son, a 9/11 victim, was born and raised.
Recently, the First and Second Selectmen (equivalent of a mayor and a member of a board of supervisors) of the Town of Kent approached me about erecting a plaque memorializing my son, James, who lived his entire life in that town. I proposed wording as follows: “James Gadiel; Born February 3, 1978; Lifelong Resident of Kent; A gentleman and a gentle man; Murdered by Muslim extremists with 2973 others; September 11, 2001.â€
First Selectman Ruth Epstein and Second Selectman Bruce Adams (equivalent of mayor and member of town council) said they would not permit use of the word “terrorists†or “Muslim.†They did not dispute the facts, but objected this might be offensive to Muslims who happen to see it because not all Muslims were responsible.
Adams claimed that Holocaust memorials and the Pearl Harbor memorial make no mention of Germany or Japan, and that it would be “inappropriate†to make reference to Muslims now.
A brief check on the internet contradicted his statement. Innumerable memorials to such crimes around the world do name the perpetrators. At the Holocaust Museum in Washington, and the Pearl Harbor Museum the crimes of the Germans and Japanese are central themes of the exhibits. This accurate portrayal of history precludes whitewashing of history.
Incidentally, Adams is a retired public school teacher. . .of history. When the controversy reached local newspapers he stated that James had “passed away,†thus revealing how he will obscure the history of 9/11. The politically correct re-interpretation of history expressed by these two Kent politicians is typical of the nationwide effort to downplay or ignore the religious and ethnic motivations of the killers.
For example, the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum’s website has a suggested high school curriculum which never once mentions the words “terrorism†“Islam†or the cause for which the murders were committed. Instead, the curriculum suggests lessons on “what are artifacts?†and “what is the significance of memorials?†The remainder of the site has not a single mention of “Muslim,†zero about the Arab ethnicity of the perpetrators; zero about Saudi Arabia or the other countries of which they murderers were natives.
9/11 families from around the United States have contacted me to say they have been blocked in their local memorials from stating that which, though true, is politically incorrect. E.g.: The 9/11 memorial in Manhattan Beach California has two beams from the Trade Center and the accompanying plaque states that the towers “collapsed†on September 11, 2001.
In sharp contrast is the development process of the Oklahoma City Memorial and museum where the victims’ families had a major voice in the design (apparently because the terrorist there was American, and political correctness was not at odds with the families’ wishes).
In ordinary circumstances, I would not want the murderers of my son referred to near my son’s name; certainly not on any memorial. However, the circumstances are not ordinary because this is a nation suffering from denial of the basic facts of 9/11. It is a denial forced on it by the likes of Obama, Pelosi, et al, down to officials on the local level. At some point, someone has to insist that at least one 9/11 memorial will not cover up the facts. This is the reason for my position.
And this brings us back to the debt that I mentioned we owe Sen. Reid and Rep. Pelosi. Recall how they viciously denounced as “evil mongers†and “un-American†the folks who attended town halls and dared express opposition to nationalization of health care.
The phrase “un-American†was regularly used in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s to describe Nazis, Communists and their supporters. The phrase came into disrepute in the late 1950s because it had been overused; for years it has been considered unacceptable in polite company. But Nancy Pelosi has now revived it, and I think the rest of us ought to jump on the opportunity she has given us.
Let the rest of us drop the term “politically correct†(it was originated by Leon Trotsky) and go back to the more descriptive and accurate phrase Ms. Pelosi has reintroduced. From now on, thanks to the license granted by Reid and Pelosi let us now describe as “un-American†the attitude which wants to cover the truth about 9/11 and keep quiet about the radicalism of a man like Maj. Hasan and that denigrates the United States, its history, heroes, and contributions.
Speaker Pelosi has given us permission to again use the phrase “un-American.†Let’s thank her and use it.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Peter Gadiel is the president of 9/11 Families for a Secure America.
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