Bad Political Leadership

For John, BLUF:  This is about British politicianJeremy Corbyn, but also about how anti-semitism is popular on the left.  Our political leaders on the Progressive side have forgotten the liberal attribues of free speech and tolerance.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How many Palestinians should die for Israel’s self-defense, asks UK’s Jeremy Corbyn

Here is the sub-headline:

The speech Corbyn read at the pro-Palestine demonstration mourned those murdered in the Negev desert, but did not mention the party responsible for the brutal attack.

From Jerusalem Post, by Danielle Greyman Kennard, 16 October 2023, 01:51.

Here is the lede plus one:

Former leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has become increasingly vocal about Israel’s actions against the Hamas terrorist organization, and the casualties stemming from those actions.

Corbyn, who has refused to condemn Hamas, wrote on X on October 12 that “We should condemn the of all civilian life, no matter who does it. Why can't our politicians uphold this basic moral principle, and defend international law universally and equally? How many innocent Palestinian lives should be erased in the name of self-defence?”

My wife and I were just discussing the amount of anti-semitism that has been on display for the last week.  The idea that The Jews are responsible for everything is both old and wrong.  In the case of the Hamas attack that killed hundreds of civilian men, women and children, the cries of the deranged (or undereducated) notwithstanding, it is not Israel's fault.  Ffurther, their cries of "the river to the sea" has a strong whiff of genocide in it.

In Gaza we have a population that has no concept of a lemon aide stand.  Yes, they have been given lemons.  Why have they not been making lemon aide?  Because after making war on the new State of Israel in 1948 they decamped and now want their old property back.  They are still living in 1948, when they tried to smother the new Israel in the crib and failed.  What they could not achieve by more conventional armed conflict they are now trying to achieve by guerrilla warfare, using terror.

Professor Glenn Reynolds concludes:  "The distinction between Corby and Oswald Mosleyd is pretty much gone.  If it ever existed."♠ 

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Mr Mosely was a notorious Fascist in England in the 1920s and 1930s.  He passed on in 1980.

Show Tolerance, It is Our Best Side

For John, BLUF:  This is a call for tolerance, but with a certain degree of historic misapprehension.  But, the important point is a call for tolerance.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A 9/11 widower refuses to succumb to hate.  Can the country do the same?

From The Boston Globe, by Correspondent Mitchell Zuckoff, 4 September 2021, 4:04 pm.

Here is the lede plus:

The 20th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor came and went with little fanfare.

. . .

Editorial writers reflected on how much had changed — for the better — since the cataclysmic event that launched the United States into World War II.

“[A]s the first shock waves spread over America, it would have been hard for us to believe in the future that is now the present.  It would have been hard for us to believe that those who were our enemies … are now our friends.  But so it is,” The New York Times editorialized on Dec. 7, 1961.

“The old hates are dead,” it continued.  “We gain little by new hates.  On this day of memories there is no value in resentments against whole peoples.”

. . .

Yet something profound had changed over the previous 20 years:  Although Pearl Harbor remained a deep wound in the national psyche, it had been allowed to heal.

What a difference from today, as we approach the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 — day one of a war on terror that would not pause, much less end.

I’ve been living with 9/11 since the day itself, when I wrote the lead story about the attacks for this newspaper with help from numerous colleagues.  Later, for a book, I spent years listening to, and sometimes crying with, hundreds of survivors, victims’ family members, heroic responders, military and government officials, witnesses, and others, many still scarred physically and emotionally.

The theme is in the Headline.  Let us refuse to succumb to hate.  I am in full agreement.  Nothing good will come from hating, including hating the Taliban or other groups in the Middle East or South Asia.  Thank you Reporter Zuckoff and Mr Jack Grandcolas, who lost his Wife and unborn child on Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 9/11.

There are very real differences between Pearl Harbor and 9/11.  For one thing, we defeated Japan, and Germany and Italy.  Those three nations changed and adopted values such as democracy.  They became our allies.  Nothing like that has happened with the groups of Muslim intent upon spreading their faith across the face of the earth.

When we think about the conflict between aggressive Islam, such as al Qaeda and ISIS, and non-Islamic nations, we should consider that this conflict has been going on for over a thousand years.  That conflict has seen successes for the West, such as 732 (Battle of Tours), 1492 (Expulsion of Moors from Spain) and 1683 (Siege of Vienna).  On the other hand, aggressive Islamic forces, in the early days, swept through Egypt and across the Maghreb.  And, Constantinople fell in 1453, becoming Istanbul.

While some in the West wave the flag of Islamophobia, the fact remains that there is a strain of Islam that would convert the world by the sword.  An example I would think Reporter Zuckoff would be familiar with would be the attack on the offices of the publication Charlie Hebdo.

Does there have to be emnity between the West and Islam?  Absolutely not.  We have good relations with many nations from the Islamic world.  For example, we have good relations with Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.♠  On the other hand, we are fighting Islamic groups in a number of areas, from Africa♥ to Asia.  And, at home.

It is a difficult path we have to tread.  We must resist efforts of Islamists to impose Shira Law on the rest of us.  At the same time, we owe it to our fellow Americans, our fellow Westerners, to be open to them as fellow believers in Democracy, regardless of their religious faith.

As for our current imbroglio, withdrawing American Citizens and our friends and supporters from Afghanistan, we are in a pickle.  The Taliban holds the good cards.  We must work with them.  And I would like to think they see an advantage in working with us.  However, if it goes South,♦ then we must be ready to act decisively to save lives.  But, we should do it without hate for our enemy, nor for Americans who share the same faith as those who are our enemy.  Those Americans share a faith in this nation and in their fellow Americans.  As Boston Globe Columnist Jeff Jacoby put it in today's Opinion Piece, "Since 9/11, Americans have embraced their Muslim neighbors", we have good relations in these United States.  We should keep them.

Another thing we need to do, as Americans, is seek the truth and avoid overheated political rhetoric.  I thought Mr Zuckoff's swipe at those who went to our nation's Capitol on 6 January, wrong as they were in their actions, was such an overheated piece of political rhetoric.  The line "That gulf remains deep even after red hatters achieved what the thwarted hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 couldn’t on 9/11: visiting death and destruction on the US capital." left a lot to be desired, especially given that the only deliberate death was of an unarmed protestor by an armed Capitol Police Lieutenant.  He is lucky it wasn't in Kansas.  The line probably looked good at the time, but it flows against the theme.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  In the case of Saudi Arabia the leadership is working to liberalize its approach to government, without allowing extremists on either side to take down the Government, resulting in pushback from Progressive groups in the United States.

♥  For example, we support African nations resisting the predations of Boko Haram, including kidnapping young girls and disrupting schools.

♦  For example, if the Taliban, or some group operating in the shelter of their wing, elects to begin mass executions.

Corbynization of the Left

For John, BLUF:  Lack of tolerance for other ideas is atomizing the political parties, more on the "left" than on the "right", not just in the US, but elsewhere, like the UK.  We can see it in the Labour loss in the last election, and in the Corbynization of the US Democratic Party.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Why the Left Is Losing

From Law and Liberty, by Eric Kaufmann, 13 February 2020.

Here are the three paragraphs extracted by InstaPundit Blogger Stephen Green this yesterday morning:

Identity politics and multiculturalism are central motivating forces for the highly-educated activists who have dominated left-wing parties since the ’68 generation rose to prominence.  These ideas tend to be considerably less popular than the Left’s economic offer, hence the bind the Left finds itself in.

Yet this alone cannot explain the inflexibility of left-wing parties.  To do so requires an additional ingredient: the rise of political correctness.  Political correctness functions as an emergent system that can push new ideas even when few people actually believe in them.  Like the emperor’s new clothes, no one dares violate a taboo which may cost them dearly.

To be blunt, left-wing political correctness is more powerful than the right-wing variant.  For instance, many social conservatives may dislike environmentalist candidates in their ranks, but dissidents on the left of a conservative party won’t have their character questioned and reputation trashed.  By contrast, a left-wing politician who moves right on culture—calling for lower immigration or abolishing female-only shortlists, for instance—is likely to be accused of racism or sexism by radical online activists.  This causes them intense embarrassment and, by triggering a social taboo, may lead others to pile on them to signal virtue.  This can damage a person’s reputation well beyond politics.  Something of this fate has befallen the patriotic leftists of Blue Labour in the UK, who are no longer welcome in Labour circles.  Brexit-supporting Paul Embery, for instance, was kicked out of the Fire Brigades Union for criticizing the union’s position on Brexit.  This, they alleged, made him an accomplice of the “nationalist Right” and thus a “disgrace to the traditions of the Labour movement.”  No wonder few on the Left are willing to move right on culture.

If we squeeze out people who think different on this or that, we squeeze out thinkers.  As the late General George S. Patton said:  "If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Attack On First Amendment

For John, BLUF:  One of the things that has made America great has been the willingness to tolerate divergent, even stupid, ideas.  We seem to be moving away from that.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Democrats Are Going to Regret Beto’s Stance on Conservative Churches

Here is the sub-headline:

The candidate seems not to realize that eliminating tax exemptions for certain religious institutions would be catastrophic.

From The Atlantic, by Professor John Inazu (Professor of law and religion at Washington University in St. Louis), 12 October 2019.

Here is the lede plus five:

The issue of gay rights and recognition and acceptance of the LGBTQ community has moved at warp speed—in political terms anyway—this past decade.

“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman.  I am not in favor of gay marriage,” said the candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

At Thursday night’s nationally televised forum on LGBTQ rights, candidate Beto O’Rourke showed how far, and how quickly, the Democratic Party has moved.  The former Texas congressman caused quite a stir when he said he would support revoking the tax-exempt status of religious institutions—colleges, churches, and charities—if they opposed same-sex marriage.

Though his swift “yes” in response to the CNN moderator Don Lemon’s question received an enthusiastic response from the Los Angeles audience, much of America—including those blue-hued states—might see troubling ramifications of this that go well beyond O’Rourke’s applause line.

The candidate’s view isn’t entirely new to Democrats.  It echoes, for example, then–Solicitor General Donald Verrilli’s concession during his oral argument in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 that the tax-exempt status of Christian colleges and universities who hold traditional views of marriage was “going to be an issue.”  And it aligns with the Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet’s policy recommendation to take a “hard line” with religious conservatives because, after all, “trying to be nice to the losers didn’t work well after the Civil War,” and “taking a hard line seemed to work reasonably well in Germany and Japan after 1945.”

. . .

But more troubling than the rhetoric is where it leads. And for that, let me offer three suggestions to people with skill sets I lack: one for pollsters, one for journalists, and one for policy analysts.

First, I would like to mention the aftermath of the American Civil War.  Harvard Professor Tushnet may think that the people of the South could be easily cowed, and cheaply, but that is not obvious to me, Germany and Japan notwithstanding.  There are examples of where repression did not garner obedience, including several Latin American nations, a chunk of Africa, the Middle East, Burma, Tibet and modern day Spain, where the rebellion goes on.  Guerrilla Warfare across the South, and into the Great Plains, would have been very ugly.  Professor Tushnet gave us a flip comment on a subject outside his area of expertise.

With regard to the three issues raised by Professor Inazu, the second stands out to me.  Here is what he writes:

Second, journalists should ask O’Rourke and every other Democratic candidate how this policy position would affect conservative black churches, mosques and other Islamic organizations, and orthodox Jewish communities, among others.  It is difficult to understand how Democratic candidates can be “for” these communities—advocating tolerance along the way—if they are actively lobbying to put them out of business.

Here is the nub of the problem.  There are various minority groups, with various minority opinions.  How do we make them all part of America.  We have accommodated the Amish and the Mormons.  We have learned to live with Catholics and Jews.  Today we are making space for Muslims and Buddhists.  But, it won't work out well if we are intolerant of all ideas with which we don't agree.  How do Democrats rationalize this.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Today's Kulturkampf

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Kavanaugh Battle Is The Culmination Of Unanswered Leftist Kulturkampf

Here is the sub-headline:

There’s no greater sin than condemning an innocent man without evidence. There’s no greater cowardice than caving in to mob pressure.

Kulturkampf is a "culture struggle", or struggle for cultural survival.

From The Federalist, by Doctoral Researcher Sumantra Maitra, 26 September 2018.

Here is a key paragraph:

The Kavanaugh nomination battle of course is the culmination of this leftist Kulturkampf.  The soft coup didn’t happen in one day.  The Obama era metastasized a massive bloating of public bureaucracy with liberal extremists and ideologues, the spread of campus kangaroo courts, activism, and aggressive public movements and marches, the replacement of news with social media controlled by amoral technocrats and shadowy edited algorithms, and the cultural battlefield totally ceded to the neo-Marxist left.

If you think this isn't the case wait for the next nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.  She is, after all, a member of the People of Praise Community at Norte Dame.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Keep Your Thoughts To Yourself

For John, BLUF:  We have to do a good job of opening up space for alternative ideas, because that is how we grow.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Penn Trustee Emeritus resigns over University 'treatment of Amy Wax'

This is about Penn State Law Professor Amy Wax, who has published, with University of San Diego Law Professor Larry Alexander, an Opinion Piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer (9 August 2017), "Paying the price for breakdown of the country's bourgeois culture".  This was summed up by The Daily Pennsylvanian here.

So, Professor Wax was sent to Coventry by the Penn Law School leadership.

From The Daily Pennsylvanian, by Ms Sarah Fortinsky, 9 April 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

Penn Trustee Emeritus and Penn Law School Overseer Paul Levy sent a letter of resignation to Penn President Amy Gutmann on April 6 over recent actions taken against Penn Law School professor Amy Wax.  A copy of the letter was also sent to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

As of April 9, Levy is no longer listed as a member of Penn's Board of Trustees or a member of the Penn Law Board of Overseers.

"Preventing Wax from teaching first-year students doesn't right academic or social wrongs," Levy wrote in the letter.  "Rather, you are suppressing what is crucial to the liberal educational project:  open, robust and critical debate over differing views of important social issues."

I am glad to see Mr Paul Levy stand up for free speech and free thought.  Maybe it will be a trend.

Or not.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Approved Before Disapproved

For John, BLUF:  Our belief in majority rule and minority rights seems to be going away.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Hardening of Leftist Contempt

The Word of the Day is "defenestration" — "the action of throwing someone or something out of a window:  death by defenestration has a venerable history."

From American Greatness, by Ms Charlotte Allen, 10 April 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

ast week, as former National Review writer Kevin D. Williamson was defenestrated abruptly from his brand-new post as token “conservative” columnist for the Atlantic over his hardline stance on abortion, I was going through a bit of an abrupt left-wing defenestration of my own. So, Kevin: #MeToo.

I was curtly and unexpectedly barred from covering the 19th annual White Privilege Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the Weekly Standard, even though:  1) I had signed up for a press badge at least a month in advance, carefully and honestly identifying my conservative-press affiliation (the conference has been afflicted by right-wing reporters passing themselves off as participants, but I don’t do undercover); 2) I agreed in writing to an elaborate set of restrictions on my reporting, including no recording (fine—I’d just take notes); no reproduction of conference “content” such as handouts; no interviews without organizers’ permission, and so forth; and 3) I was actually given a press badge at the conference, a silky lavender piece of ribbon to wear around my neck bearing the word “Press” in prominent gold letters.  I (or actually the Standard) had to pay for my attendance, instead of getting in free as is often the case for media. But as I already knew, there are hardly any freebies when it comes to bashing white privilege.

We are going with "safe spaces" to the exclusion of any whose thinking is even marginally different.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Fan Photo

For John, BLUF:  Not everyone can love the President.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Sassy Teacher of the Year Photo

Here is the link to the NPR Article, with the photo of the Sassy Teacher, the fan, the President and the First Lady.

The comment from Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds:

To realize that the “gay rights” crowd is really just a bunch of Democrat shock troops, all you have to do is look at how badly they’ve treated the most pro-gay president ever elected.

The other thing to think about is that in other cultures Teacher Nikos Giannopoulos would not be meeting with the President, but would be facing being hurled from the top of some building.  Lucky for Mr Giannopoulos that he lives in the United States of America.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Veganism BadEvil?

For John, BLUF:  If you open your trap you are going to offend someone out there.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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SJW Blog:  Modern Veganism ‘Completely Erases’ Trans People

It is National Review being snarky, but there is a grain of truth in it.  The Writer is Ms Katherine Timpf and the dateline is 30 May 2017.

So maybe this is the punchline:

Referring to the female reproductive system is problematic.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Apostates

For John, BLUF:  Remember, Eugenics was an approved scientific theory a hundred years ago, and look where that ended up—the Holocaust.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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AGW: when a scientific theory becomes a religion…

…then those with an opposing view become apostates.

Over at Neo-NeoCon the Blogger, who hides behind an apple, takes on the Controversy over at The Old Gray Lady over having a new columnist who looks at the other side of things like Global Warming.

The Times has been excoriated by thousands of readers. Here is the Blog lede plus two:

That’s especially true if the topic is one with very high stakes, such as AGW (anthropogenic global warming).  Think about it this way: if a person is—(a) convinced that AGW has been proven beyond any doubt (b) threatens life as we know it all over the globe; and (c) can be halted and/or decreased by measures we understand and can control if only we had the will to implement them—then if follow that anyone who disagrees is a person who is endangering life on earth.

Science, of course, is not a religion, and the history of science is littered with theories that have been considered proven and then are disproven. So scientists must remain skeptical and open to any evidence that would challenge their theories and their findin gs.  That’s difficult enough to do when the topic is an abstract one with few practical applications.  But when a topic is highly highly politicized (as with AGW), the difficulty increases exponentially and the public also becomes very much involved.

Which brings us to an article Bret Stephens wrote in his new venue, the NY Times.  It was really a rather modest suggestion that people listen to both sides of the issue—not so much on AGW (which he himself seems to believe is true) as on whether we know enough to accurately predict the future of AGW and/or to fix the problems it may cause.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit, where Author Sarah Hoyt blogged about this.

Regards  —  Cliff

Turning to God

For John, BLUF:  Tolerance should be the word of the day.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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We have been going through Passover and now we come up to Good Friday.

It is the same God, but different understandings of how he is acting in this world.

We need to realize that all Christians, and all Jews, are our brothers and sisters. As a Christian I believe that Jesus Christ died for all of us.  As someone who is ethnically Jewish, per my DNA test,♠ I appreciate that not everyone believes the Messiah has come.  Some are still awaiting His arrival.  That is OK.  We each see God through our own eyes and here in the United States there is freedom to do that, or even to claim not to see anything.

So, let us all celebrate each other's understanding and not be dismissive of their journey.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Enough to get reported on my list of ancestors.

Bad Choices

For John, BLUF:  CNN strikes again.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the Ace of Spades. On 23 February 2017.

Chris Cuomo:  If a 12-Year-Old Girl Doesn't Want to See a Penis In the Locker Room, That's Either Because of Her "Overprotective Dad" or Her Own Lack of "Tolerance"

Over the top, Chris.

Not to say we don't need tolerance for those transitioning, but we also need a little respect for those,who aren't.  A two way street, so to speak.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Thought Control Coming

For John, BLUF:  Free speech for me but not for thee.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From the Instapundit this morning we had "ANOTHER DEAD BLASPHEMER — IN SCOTLAND"

"Man from Bradford admits killing Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah".

Reporter Auslan Cramb, Scottish correspondent for The Telegraph gave us this report on 6 April:

The man accused of murdering a Muslim shopkeeper who posted a “Happy Easter” message on Facebook said it was because he “disrespected” Islam.

Tanveer Ahmed, 32, said in a statement that he killed Asad Shah, 40, claiming: "if I had not done this others would".

Mr Shah, 40, was found injured outside Shah’s Newsagents and Convenience Store in Shawlands, Glasgow, last month.

Mr Shah had posted a Facebook message earlier that day wishing all Christians a happy Easter. The message said: “Good Friday and a very happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation.”

Here is an opinion piece on the issue:  The stench of Islamic extremism has become all too common among the religious and community leaders of the U.K.

After speech is controlled, then it will be thought.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Not Much Tolerance Out There

For John, BLUF:  Tolerance for me, but not for thee.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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This kind of reminds one of the Cracker Barrel incident.  Home and Garden Network (HGTV) has pulled a show because of the social/political views of the two stars.  The headline at Breitbart is "Christian Hosts Lose HGTV Show for Opposing Homosexuality, Abortion".  The lede:

Deadline reports that HGTV has pulled a home-flipping reality series after receiving pressure from the leftist Right Wing Watch. The Benham brothers were set to star in "Flip It Forward" until Right Wing Watch reported Tuesday that the Christian brothers opposed homosexuality and abortion:

So, it isn't the overall record of HGTV that counted (Deadline reports "HGTV also announced it had greenlighted a design competition show from Ellen DeGeneres."), but each individual act.  Diversity, it appears, does not exist in any large measure on the Progressive portion of the social/political spectrum, at least with Right Wing Watch.♠

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Associated with People for the American War.

Buddhist-Muslim Violence in Burma

For John, BLUF:  Riven—"split or tear apart violently".  Nothing to see here; just move along.

A colleague of mine wrote in an EMail this morning:

While we tend to think of religious violence as being associated with the Middle East, it is useful to recognize that there are Muslim-Buddhist tensions, not only in Burma, but also an active insurgency underway in southern Thailand. This is in addition to the ongoing insurgency involving Abu Sayyaf (commonly associated with al-Qaeda) in the Philippines.

Southeast Asia, and Asia in general, remains riven by a variety of tensions, religious, territorial, etc. As the recent Malaysia-Philippines fracas shows, these tensions often express themselves in use of force--perhaps not high intensity (at least initially), but with the potential for escalation.

This was in response to an article in The Washington Post on violence in Burma (Myanmar), where Buddhist mobs attacked Muslims in the City of Meikhila.  The article is here—"UN envoy to Myanmar visits ruined city after Buddhist-Muslim violence kills dozens".  Not a major event, but 32 human beings were killed, some burned beyond recognition.

The lede for an article on Muslim-Buddist violence reads:

MEIKHTILA, Myanmar — The top UN envoy to Myanmar on Sunday toured a central city destroyed in the country’s worst explosion of Buddhist-Muslim violence this year, calling on the government to punish those responsible for a tragedy that left dozens of corpses piled in the streets, some of them charred beyond recognition.

We, as the United States, either alone or as part of some international agency or authority, are not going to be able to end this sort of thing, except by the example we provide in the way we conduct our own affairs.  That said, we need to be prepared to stamp out such sectarian violence if it should ever appear on our shores.  At the same time, we need to recognize that such sectarian violence is often not so much about religion as it is about economics or job opportunities or oppression of minorities or the imposition of minority rule on the majority.  Sometimes things are not what they appear to be.

Regards  —  Cliff

Alas Babylon (The Restaurant)

Last night I joined Jack Mitchell at the Babylon Restaurant, down on Merrimack Street, just beyond the light (heading Westbound), just beyond the bridge just beyond the Middlesex campus.

We were there to make a point and the point was that all of our residents here in Lowell are human beings to be treated with respect and dignity and that incidents of vandalism, no matter the root cause, are to be condemned.

In the case of the Babylon Restaurant, Wednesday morning last week, at about 3 AM, someone threw a 20 pound stone through a front window.  There was an article about this in yesterday's edition of The [Lowell] Sun.♠  In that article the question was raised as to if this was a "hate crime":

Patrick Scanlon, coordinator of Veterans for Peace, said that until police can prove otherwise, evidence suggests the restaurant was targeted based on who the owners are.

"I find it hard to believe that somebody is going to pull up at 3 a.m., with a 20-pound stone and randomly pick the Middle Eastern store out of all the other businesses on the street," Scanlon said. "In my opinion, this was a hate crime."

Perhaps, but the fact is, hate crime or not, such an incident will be more traumatic to recent immigrants than to a long established family running a family business.  Support from the rest of the community is well in order.  And, such support sends a message to all who are new to Lowell that we have some standards and it sends a message to those who think in terms of intimidation of others that the rest of us don't approve of such actions.

However, we don't really know the motivation for the attack.  I speculated last night that it was entirely possible that this was the act of a drunk Lowellian with a car registered in New Hampshire.  Thus, when the police track him or her down, they can charge both vandalism and improper registration of a motor vehicle.  It turns out that this really was someone from New Hampshire, as reported in today's edition of The [Lowell] Sun.  Per the paper, Lowell police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee reports that this was not a hate crime.

Actually, I am a little unhappy about the term "hate crime" in that it seems to flow against the freedom of the First Amendment.  Actual crime should be punished by the law.  "Thought" crimes should be dealt with by society in its attitudes toward people who think outside acceptable boundaries.  We learned about that in grade school.  And we acted on that last night, as Veterans for Peace and others filled the Babylon Restaurant two times over (100 patrons for 50 seats).

While there I took a couple of pictures.  For example, I have a picture of our Mayor, Patrick Murphy.  Also present was Colonel Sam Poulten, himself a Veteran of the war in Iraq, who is the owner of WCAP.♥  Next is a picture of one of the Veterans for Peace, the Reverend Lara Hoke, of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Andover, MA.

It turns out that the Reverend and I were stationed in Naples, Italy, albeit at different periods.  She was in the Navy and an agent for NIS.

For me, it was comforting to see a lot of different people, different in race, religion and military service, come together to send a message of acceptance.

And, not everyone at the restaurant was there because of the incident.  Lily Faulkner and her Father were there for the food.  It was obvious to me that they are regulars.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Remember, articles in The Sun go away after a while, to a different place.  I will not be updating their links unless I am bedridden and have read every book in the house.  And, besides, the Editor tells me the links cost money after a few weeks.  It is the new business model.
♥  In checking on the spelling of Sam Poulten's name I read the Wikipedia article on WCAP and found out that Ray Goulding was an early minority partner and that Ray, and his on air partner, Bob (Bob and Ray) were on the air for the first day of WCAP operations.  Bob and Ray were favorites in my home when I was growing.  I still remember some of the characters, like Kindly Doctor Bob.