Cronkite: Terrorism a "Revolution of the Poor Against the Rich"

Media Research Center ^ | Tuesday September 10, 2002 | staff

[fight_truth_decay]

Blame America First. The 9-11 attacks were our own fault, former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite contended on Monday's Larry King Live on CNN, because we hog so much of the world's wealth while many are destitute.

Cronkite said he believes "very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened," before he asserted that anti-U.S. terrorism is caused by "this great division between the rich and the poor in the world." The people of the world "who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education," Cronkite warned, "are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly." Walter Cronkite attributed terrorism to U.S. policy and world poverty: "We are suffering from a revolution of the...have-nots against the...haves and that's us."

Applying liberal logic which seeks to blame the U.S. for all the world's ills, Cronkite declared: "We are suffering from a revolution of the poor and have-nots against the rich and haves and that's us."

In fact, the al Qaeda terrorists were hardly poor and the vast majority of the world's poor do not support terrorism. The common elements amongst those targeting the U.S. is Islamic extremism and nation's without respect for individual liberty.

Cronkite's liberal ranting came about 45 minutes into the live September 9 interview tied to the 9-11 anniversary.

King prompted Cronkite by wondering about "foreign policy's affect on what might have caused 9-11?"

That set off Cronkite: "Yes, I think very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened." King interjected: "Doesn't excuse it." But Cronkite plowed forward without acknowledging King's caveat, so he presumably did not agree with it: "We have been warned by other terrorist attacks elsewhere of the dislike for us and the intensity of organization to express that dislike in various terrorist acts around the country -- the two embassies that were blown up in Africa, the Destroyer Cole, for instance, episode, and that sort of thing. "It should be apparent to us, it should have been apparent to us a long time ago and it certainly should be apparent now -- it should be, for goodness sakes understood now, but it is not, that the problem is this great division between the rich and the poor in the world. We represent the rich. Each of our citizens is not rich, of course, but as a country we are exceedingly rich. As a country, all of these, most of these other nations of Africa, Asia and South America and Central America are very, very poor. The people in those countries who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education, they are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly in our movies, in our travels around the world, in our airlines, in our shipping. "They're not going to put up with that forever. This is a revolution in effect around the world. A revolution is in place today. We are suffering from a revolution of the poor and have-nots against the rich and haves and that's us."

Yes, it's all our fault and Osama bin Laden is just trying to help the world's downtrodden improve themselves.

[fight_truth_decay]

For most recent interviews by Ron Allen, Charlie Gibson,Bob Simon and Reuters.. visit http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20020910.asp

[Humidston]

Pound sand, Walter.

[bandlength]

is this guy STILL ALIVE, even?

archie bunker was right!

[Southack]

Billionaire Osama Bin Laden declares Jihad on all poor salaried American workers...

Walter Kyptonite seems to have met his superman.

[LibWhacker]

Cronkite: . . . because we hog so much of the world's wealth . . .

We created that wealth out of NOTHING but our own hard work. We didn't steal it. Senile old POS.

[Saundra Duffy]

One of Bill Clinton's major butt kissers. LOL!!

[mhking]

Sounds like ol' Uncle Walter's finally gone senile...

[1bigdictator]

Cronkite is a liberal pattsy. Moreover, he appears to be senile. Arab-terror does not result from poverty. The Saudi terrorists were fabulously wealthy; it results from nhilism.

[madvlad]

Walter Kronkite is an asshole and
a moron!

And that's the way it was on Sept 10, 2002.

Mad Vlad

[SerpentDove]

Somebody needs to post that pic of Walter Concrete in that boat with Klinton.

[Desdemona]

And this was once the most trusted man in America?

He has the communist party line memorized.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Cronkite is dead. BRAINDEAD (Which is a direct result of LIBERAL brainwashing)

"F" you Conkite!

[lafroste]

We are suffering from a revolution of the...have-nots against the...haves

Wait a minute, I thought that was the communist revolution... hmmm....OK I get it, the have-not monies against the Have-monies was communism. So this must be the Have-not-a-souls Vs. the have-a-Souls. Who'd a thunk Walter was so religious?

[Tao Yin]

How about the oppressed and brain-washed against the free?

And ditto, Pound sand!

[Lil'freeper]

Walter Cronkite contended on Monday's Larry King Live on CNN, because we hog so much of the world's wealth while many are destitute.

Correction- we MAKE the world's wealth.

[VaBthang4]

"The people of the world "who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education," Cronkite warned, "are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly."

....Cronkite continued....

Instead they will work hard so that they and their children's children can join us in our success and enjoy the fruits of righteous hard work.

Wait a minute...

...He didnt say that, nevermind.

[cmak9]

Just goes to show, there ain't no fool, like an old fool!

[LRS]

I just lost my lunch...

[My2Cents]

Talk to me about our concentration of wealth, Walter, as you sail around on your yacht.

[narby]

Our "loss" in Vietnam, and the resulting millions in Cambodia who died, and hundreds of thousands in Vietnam sent to re-education camps, are the direct result of Cronkite's on-air editorializing after the Tet offensive.

Cronkite belongs right up with Hanoi Jane - giving aid and comfort to Hanoi.

Cronkite has blood on his hands.

[Tao Yin]

No shit!

[Salvey]

Cronkite said he believes "very definitely that foreign policy could have caused what has happened,"

It's time for Walter to re-read "Final Exit" and follow the instructions therein.

[Saundra Duffy]

He can't be trusted for one minute now.

[JackRyanCIA]

Walter Cronkite always was a liberal bastard!

[scooter2]

Cronkite is a liberal pattsy.

In reality, Cronkite is a liberal pussy.

[steve-b]

What an idiot. The terrorists are wealthy (by local standards, and in some cases by any standards) Arabs, not destitute Fourth Worlders.

[fight_truth_decay]

"The people in those countries who don't have adequate housing, don't have adequate hospitalization, don't have adequate medical care, don't have adequate education, they are not going to live forever in the shadow of the riches that we display constantly in our movies.."...No they don't..they need only to look at their so-called leaders and all the wealth have stolen for themselves..Sadam..Ara_fart, Laden..

[subterfuge]

Words fail me bump...

[Tao Yin]

Again... No shit!

Why can't people understand this? Or more importantly, why don't people want to understand this?

[Cultural Jihad]

Well, one could apply the 'libertarian principles' of no-force and no-fraud and come up with a rationalization for anything, including flying planes into buildings. There may be some Libertarian-Communists who claim that wage-slavery is a form of force and fraud.

[smiley]

Stick a sock in it Walt! Shouldn't YOU be on your YACHT cruising with Bill Clinton?

[GunRunner]

This kind of traitorous tripe doesn't really deserve a response. But I would like to point out Cronkite's basic stupidity of world history and revolution. Any student of Crane Brinton's theory knows that people who are poor and destitute almost never revolt; they are too busy trying to come up with the next meal. They don't have time to pick up a gun (or hijack a plane) and fight, because their mind is on surviving day to day, not self-determination, independence, or freedom.

On the contrary, many countries experience revolution while the economy is recovering or even booming.

I can't believe my parents' generation depended on this boob for news. But then, they didn't have Laurie Dhue back then :')

[fight_truth_decay]

laughs..am not doing that one!!!

[aruanan]

Cronkite should be tested for Alzheimers because something sure is addling his thought processes.

[sheik yerbouty]

The old bugger really is senile!

[Willie Green]

Pound sand, Walter.

Gotta admit, Walter remembers firsthand what happened to the czar and his family.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

America "hogs the world's wealth" and Cronkite is wealthier than 99.8% of Americans. Perhaps the old fool wants to give the terrorists his address.

(Although I'm sure he feels that he earned his wealth, whereas every other American came by it dishonestly.

[Let's Roll]

Uncle Walter, you are so out of touch.

[Corporate Law]

Walter, if you have a problem being wealthy, I would be more than happy to take that problem off your hands.

[D. Brian Carter]

Not only did we create such wealth, how much of it do we, as a country, distribute across the globe, for the express purpose of building hospitals, providing food, assisting in educating the poor, etc. etc.? Can anyone even quantify the trillions of dollars we have provided to all nations and peoples, whether in direct aid for the aforementioned items, or in military assistance (saving Europe's ass in WWI & WWII, for example), or in the rebuilding of ruined cities, or to prop up broken economies??? When will our nation be recognized for any of the GOOD that we do, any of the POSITIVE things we bestow upon all humanity? Maybe it's time to withdraw into an isolationist corner again, and let the rest of the world devise solutions to all their problems without ANY of our aid and assistance.

[ldish]

Hey Walter, how much of your millions are you sending to the non-infidels in the middle east? Why aren't the leaders of the Islamic nations sharing their millions and billions with their own people? Duh, who should the poor people of America go begging to for their share of the wealth of those like you CEOs, Actors, Anchors, and professional ball players? huh?

[narby]

no-force ..... including flying planes into buildings.

Huh?

[chs68]

Hey Walter --

Did this ever enter your small liberal brain?

The United States is rich because we are free.

Instead of directing their anger towards the freedom-loviong people of the United States, the people who do not enjoy what we enjoy should devote themselves to staging revolutions against those forces that throttle freedom in their own countries.

Arab people do not have to be poor. That they tolerate rulers who deny them basic freedoms is a BIG reason for their poverty.

Don't blame us. Blame them instead.

[mitchbert]

Stupid leftist claptrap fantasy that one person (or nation's) increase in wealth has to come at the expense of someone else's. Utter drivil. Have these idiots never heard of "creation of wealth?"

Besides, Bangladeshis, many Indians, etc live in abject poverty. I don't recall them screaming about destroying America. This generally starts in nations with at least some degree of education and wealth. Truly poor and destitute people are too busy eeking out their meager existence to worry about becoming terrorists.

Go rant into a toy microphone in front of a mirror, Walter.

[1Old Pro]

If it's a revolution of poor vs. rich, old rich walter better go hide.

[Williams]

Well said. Reading Cronkite's statement, it really is highly offensive. Nuttiness about a Worldwide revolution against our riches?? By all those poor people who are fed up with us no less. How much poorer would they be if we didn't exist?? A lot. Plus I am unaware of much Central American, South American, or African terrorism these days. And poverty in the Third World is no excuse for blowing up office buildings here.

Finally, I believe Walter has been enjoying retirement on his expensive yacht for years.

[cyncooper]

He can't be trusted for one minute now.

I actually watched a very few minutes of this interview.

I saw Cronkite was LK's guest and I figured he'd say something like this. I heard it myself.

In addition he echoed a sentiment I read here on FR yesterday expressed by Dan Rather. That is, that the media should always be questioning the administration.

My mind instantly pictured him boating with the clintons.

Disgusting.

[Semper Paratus]

Comrade Cronkite's world ended with the demise of the CCCP.

[tubebender]

When Cranktite said we must get out of Vietnam the will of the American public collapsed. He was as bad or worse than jane fondle. In those days I drank my jug wine out of water tumblers and the glass punched a hole in the sheetrock when it missed the TV...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The simple reason we are wealthy compared to the "third world" is because we have property rights in a republic kind of democracy. What we work for and earn is our own to sell or barter. Elsewhere, individuals don't exist.