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Posted on 09/29/2001 9:45:48 AM PDT by mykdsmom

Internet brings spate of criticism for responses to terrorist attacks

Over the past two weeks Town Hall and campus offices have been besieged at Internet speed with an assault of adjectives describing Chapel Hill and its attitudes: "You lily- livered liberals," "politically correct, mush-brained morons" and "cowardly limp-wristed pantywaists," among the few fit for print. With its many free thinkers and voracious readers, this is a liberal-leaning college town that has long been a lightning rod for controversy.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and the subsequent response in Chapel Hill, the battery of criticism about Chapel Hill -- both oral and written -- has been voluminous and venomous.

"I do think it's different with the Internet now," Town Manager Cal Horton said.

Others agree. Pete MacDowell, an organizer of several peace rallies in Chapel Hill and executive director of Democracy South, said a description of one of his events on the Internet described him and others as "leftist radicals spewing hate."

"Here I thought I was an American all this time," he said.

The first lightning bolt of criticism was hurled after Chapel Hill officials ordered a downtown restaurateur and Persian Gulf war veteran to remove an oversize banner that read: "God Bless America; Woe To Our Enemies."

Town Council member Bill Strom, who led the effort for the banner's removal, said he was concerned about the "Woe To Our Enemies" message and how his elementary school-age son would perceive it.

But town officials cited the Chapel Hill sign ordinance to explain their stance, saying the banner was larger than rules permit.

Conservative webzine writers posted blistering anti-American spins on their accounts of the incident for all the Internet world to see. Radio talk-show hosts Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy had a field day over the conservative airways bashing Chapel Hill officials.

Then professors at the University of North Carolina held a teach-in at which some panelists and participants advocated peace and nonviolence. Again an article was posted on the Internet.

In each case, e-mail links to town and university officials were just a key-punch away.

UNC-CH Chancellor James Moeser received at least 300 messages from all over the country and responded with stalwart support for freedom of expression and assembly.

The town manager's office received at least 1,500 messages. Most were from outside Chapel Hill, many from outside North Carolina.

"Morons like you abound in our society," said one message. " ... I didn't think they grew boys like you down south."

Others told Town Council members, or the "pinkos" and "commies" in Chapel Hill, to move to Afghanistan, Cuba, Russia, North Korea or some place far away.

"You politically correct mush-brained morons of America's left wing just cannot make a value judgment, even as simple as one about protecting our country," another electronic message read.

To council member Strom one man wrote, "I work in the Berkeley, California area ... you know ... 'Land of fruits and nuts.' Would you happen to be a UC Berkeley grad? Just curious."

Chapel Hill officials once considered making the town a safe haven for conscientious objectors of the Gulf war. They adopted the state's strictest gun control laws over vocal objections from the National Rifle Association. They were the first in the state to pass laws banning discrimination against gays, and they have spoken out against the death penalty.

Each action has elicited disparaging commentary from across the country.

Berkeley, Calif., often considered Chapel Hill's kindred spirit on the West Coast, has received similar attention. There was a recoiling when the fire department ordered the removal of large American flags that its trucks had been flying before a large peace rally.

It was safety concerns -- not opposition to the flag-waving fervor -- that prompted the decision, fire officials said. Conservative talk-show hosts and webzine writers made no distinction.

"Berkeley is sort of like the national whipping boy for conservative right-wing causes," said Reg Garcia, Berkeley's fire chief. "I think Chapel Hill is a university community and maybe a little out of step with the mainstream, too."

Since the death and destruction on Sept. 11, many Americans have pondered just what it means to be patriotic.

"This is a time of rarefied emotions," said Flicka Bateman, a Chapel Hill Town Council member. "People are in raw mode right now."

Some express their love of country by flying the flag, donating blood, pinning red, white and blue ribbons to clothing or buying American stocks. Others hallow the hard-fought-for rights, including the right to voice dissent.

Fuquay-Varina resident Debbie Biesack zapped off a letter of disbelief to The News & Observer after an item in the paper described an incident in which Republican state Rep. Bobby H. Barbee failed to act when he witnessed a peace demonstator being physically assaulted.

For her effort, she said she received a couple of phone calls questioning her protest of war. But nothing like the verbal assaults leveled at Chapel Hill and its residents.

"I think they ought to have a fence put around it and call them what they are," Sue Eaton of Raleigh said. "They're a bunch of socialists."

Sally Massengale has been in Chapel Hill for 20 years. She recently discovered what it's like to see the world through the town's political filter. She has been awakened by the many different voices she has heard since the violence two and a half weeks ago, she said.

"How precious it is to have so many different points of views," she said. "I'm hearing some things I agree with, some things that surprise me, even from my friends. But I listen."

(l-r) Constitution Day, Scott Maitland, mykdsmom at
Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery, Chapel Hill, NC
Saturday, September 22, 2001

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