Today America came to face with yet another inconceivable tragedy when one
of America’s “finest”, an officer doctor (a mental health professional) went
on a murderous shooting rampage, killing 12 people and wounding another 31
in the worst mass shooting on a U.S. Military base. Amazingly, even though
he was shot four times, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39 year old psychiatrist
lies in a hospital bed under armed guard.
A life-long Muslim, Major Hasan, was born in suburban Washington D.C., graduated
from Virginia Tech with a degree in biochemistry and his medical degree at
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.
He then spent six years at Walter Reed for his internship, residency and a
fellowship. The taxpayers of this country (literally) spent hundreds of thousands
of dollars educating this man, who, as an army officer, took an oath to serve
and protect the land of his birth.
However, despite this oath of fealty and honor, this officer trained in drug
rehab, disaster and preventive psychiatry ran into problems with patients and
army protocol at Walter Reed Hospital and received a poor performance evaluation,
stymieing his potential for further rank advancement and necessitating his
transfer to Fort Hood.
At the same he came to Texas, Husan was also under suspicion by homeland security
and law enforcement due to his frequent outbursts against the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan. He frequently engaged in arguments with others in the military
for supporting the wars, and he had tried hard to prevent his pending deployment
to Iraq.
In addition to his verbal altercations, including quotes from fellow officers
who said Major Hasan had told them Muslims should "rise
up" and attack
Americans in retaliation for the US war in Iraq, he also listed his nationality
as “Palestinian” despite the he was born in the United States.
Further worrying the authorities was the fact that in the last six months Major
Hasan started going to the radical Muslim Internet sites, participating in
postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated
suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives
of their comrades.
According to a retired Colonel who worked with him, Hasan he said he was "happy" when
a US soldier was killed in an attack on a military recruitment centre in Arkansas
in June by an American convert to Islam. Major Hasan had also said "maybe
people should strap bombs on themselves and go to Time Square" in New
York. Regardless of freedom of speech, that type of rhetoric hardly seems
the kind of talk that should be espoused by an officer in the U.S. Army.
As all this information poured out into the television and radio broadcasts
and more information was detailed on the Internet, Hasan’s Aunt and cousin
were contacted and proclaimed Major Hasan was a true American and a deeply
religious man, attending a Mosque daily and saying prayers. They talked about
his education, his brilliance, his gentle nature, and how he made a six figure
income…they could not believe he could ever commit these types of murderous
acts.
His relatives said Hasan’s must has “snapped” due to the high stress of his
treating soldiers returning from war, and the persecution he had received since
9/11. His aunt said he had been the recipient of name calling and harassment
for his faith.
On TV news shows, several of Hasan’s colleagues talked about how disturbed
they were with his perceived sympathies to the Muslim terrorists, and another
associate said he was “not surprised” to learn of Hasan’s actions.
However, as the day became night and the various cable and radio talk shows
heated up, many of the hosts started talking about how unfair it was for this
man to receive poor treatment due to his Muslim faith, and some callers expressed
their concerns that someone who had principles against the war, should not
have been “forced” to be deployed to Iraq. Of course, as they said this, they
seemed to be missing the obvious point, there were talking about MAJOR Hasan,
who was a ranking officer and well compensated, this was not a private who
didn’t know what he was doing or had far less choices.
Later in the evening as I listened to Sirius radio, switching stations as I
drove home, the cacophony of excuses only grew in excuses and recriminations,
especially as I switched to listen to the responses on different left and liberal
leaning talk show stations and their listeners.
One host said it was obvious that Hasan was driven to this act by the way he
was treated for his Muslim beliefs. Another host said it was “sickening” to
have Hasan accused on committing a terrorist act just because he had a Muslim
name. He was angry that it was always Muslims whose religion was in question
when these type of tragedies occur.
Some of the listeners calling in said that these types of actions were actually
originated by the constant fears and accusations of ignorant Americans who
believe Muslims are out to kill us. Other callers said that Muslims were not
terrorists but peace-loving, and another host made fun of and mocked the several
callers who questioned why such a religious man would make such a calculated
attack on his fellow soldiers unless he was a Muslim sympathizer and terrorist
supporter.
In the middle of all of this discussion, another caller called in to say this
type of action was a direct cause and effect of discrimination and racism.
The host readily agreed and then the listener and host talked about the consequences
of not following President Obama’s example to reach out to the Islamic nations.
Another caller said our institutionalized racism had created a series of “slave
camps”, which he called our jail and prison system, because such a high percentage
of blacks were incarcerated in these correctional institutions. The host said
African Americans, who are 12.4 percent of the population, are more than half
of all prison inmates, compared to one-third twenty years ago. According to
the host and caller, both of whom were white, this was due to the discrimination
of “white America” we had to change this situation.
The host said one of the ways to correct it would be to require the next four
generations to inter-marry-black, white and Hispanic and “that
would solve the situation once and for all”. Somehow, one of the statistics the host and
caller neglected to mention is the fact that based on current statistics, 70%
of black children are being raised in single parent households and the lack
of fathers has created severe problems in black society.
Frankly, listening to all of this imbecilic, finger-pointing drivel made me
ask myself, “what the heck is going on in America?” It seems obvious we are
being overwhelmed by apologists and pseudo intellectual insincerity. We are
drowning in political correctness and playing the “it’s not my fault” game.
Many of our politicians are contributing to this same attitude, with a do as
I say, don’t do as I do attitude on taxes, health care and conservation.
In regards to Nidal Malik Hasan fortunately, or unfortunately, he is going
to live and be able to answer questions and hopefully take responsibility for
his actions. We will be able to learn if he was influenced by radical Islam
and with any luck we will be able to find out if he had connections with terrorist
influences. Regardless of any real or imagined slights or suspicions he might
have felt for his Muslim faith we will be able to find out why a religious
man would feel it is acceptable at any time and for any reason to kill the
very men and women he was called to serve, lead and protect.
Finally, as part of a military tribunal, we should also see full accountability
demanded for Hasan’s actions. Since he was the only “shooter”, he should also
be found guilty of multiple murders and scores of attempted murders and since
he also irreparably destroyed so many family relationships, Hasan will make
restitution in front of an army firing squad.
When I was very young, my Dad told me that President Harry Truman had a sign
on his desk which said: "the buck stops here". In
other words, someone has to make the decision and accept the responsibility
for that decision.
This saying came from the slang expression "pass the buck" which
means passing the responsibility on to someone else.
The latter expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in
which a marker or counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn
handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player
did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buck," as
the counter came to be called, to the next player.
In January 1953, the same month and year that I was born, President Truman
gave his farewell speech to the American people saying, "The
President--whoever he is--has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody.
No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job”.
What a refreshing and ethical notion. Wouldn’t it be great if that were the
case today? Unfortunately, we have become a society that is obsessed with
“passing the buck” and blaming others for anything that does not go our way.
This attitude of it’s “not my fault” and always blaming others for our actions,
has become so pervasive that it permeates every aspect of our society; extending
throughout our schools and universities, in the every level of the workplace
and throughout our entertainment and media industries.
Unfortunately, unlike the example that President Truman set for the nation,
it is also happening from the very top down. As recently as this week, more
than a year past his election date, President Obama continues to blame former
President Bush for anything that goes wrong in the economy or in the world.
In these times of extreme challenge what we really need more than ever before
is a nation, with our leaders setting the leaders accepting the responsibility
of setting the example of living, the buck stops here.
