RUN, RUDY, RUN (ERIC RUDOLPH)

NewsWithViews.com ^ | June 4, 2003 | Mary Starrett

[fight_truth_decay]

Over footage of the Peach Tree Restaurant marquee in Murphy, North Carolina, which read, "Pray for Eric Rudolph," CNN's Aaron Brown Monday's NewsNight, claimed that the Eric Rudolph case shows that even in America, just as in the Middle East, bombers who kill the innocent can become heroes.

Brown continues: "It is a little hard to understand how anyone can hold Eric Rudolph, charged with four bombings in which two people died and dozens were hurt, in high regard. A little hard to understand, that is, unless you think back. We have done this all before, more than once. "Pretty Boy Floyd was a violent bank robber, became a hero in a wonderful Woody Guthrie song. Bonnie and Clyde were psychotic killers transformed in Arthur Penn's famous movie into American icons. Butch Cassidy and Sundance, Thelma and Louise, Billy the Kid. Folklore transformed them all, and many others. "Still, Eric Rudolph is different. Those other outlaws were after money. They stole from the rich, and even if they didn't give all their loot away as Robin Hood did, at least they set something aside for the poor. But if there is anything at all to the charges against Eric Rudolph, he is an outlaw motivated not by greed -- we all understand greed -- but by hatred. And it is hard to make a hero out of a hate monger."

Excerpt of MRC June 4, 2003 "Thelma and Louise" Real Heroic Villains to CNN's Aaron Brown?

[Guillermo]

The immediate CNN coverage seemed to be fair.

The reporter (I forget his name, he is a bald fellow), who has been following this case closely since day one, who knows the area Rudolph was hiding in made it clear that it is a very small percentage of the locals who supported ERR. He made it clear that the vast majority of them wanted him captured and tried.

It was no surprise to me that the NY Times reporter (who had likely been in the area just a matter of hours, if that) made it seem as though everyone in W. NC was a supporter of ERR.

[Guillermo]

And FR has its share of ERR supporters, eg Vista500 and MSCASEY.

[billbears]

Run, Rudy, Run

Bump.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I don't know what evidence exists but I don't think nails alone will convict him.

[Catspaw]

The CNN reporter who's been following this case since the beginning is Art Harris, I do believe.

[Guillermo]

Yes, that's who it is. He couldn't stress enough, while he was being interviewed the morning of the capture that the vast majority of locals were not "for" ERR.

The disgusint NYT article a day or 2 back made it seem like almost everyone in the area was pro-ERR.

[Howlin]

They have an eye witness who saw him getting into a truck ...and got the license tag number.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I thought that too but the article said nails was all they have. I won't pronounce him innocent or guilty that will be up to the jury. If he is guilty I hope we toast him in yellow mamma. Bombers are the lowest and most vile of creatures. If I kill someone it will be someone I know enough to hate personally, or in defense of my home, my family, or my country.

[george wythe]

MURPHY, N.C., June 3 -- Franklin and Linda Holloway say they are churchgoing, law-abiding folks who normally do not condone violence. But when it comes to serial bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph, the retired couple is quick to make an exception.

"To tell you the truth, I wish they hadn't caught him," Franklin Holloway said, pausing before voting this morning in a town referendum to allow restaurants to serve beer and hard liquor. "Look at those abortion doctors. They kill innocent babies."

"If he did that Olympic bombing he should be punished," Linda Holloway added. "But as far as those abortion clinics and the gay club is concerned, he shouldn't be punished for that. You see, those things are not right in the sight of God."

WashPost

[Catspaw]

Harris has been on this case since the Olympic Park bombing, I do believe, and has spent considerable time in the Murphy NC area and has come to know the people and the area. I've found his reporting to be straightforward. The NYT reporter "interviewed" one media gladfly who circulated through the reporters asking them to interview her. Although he did report that fact, the reporter could've gotten off his duff and interviewed others who have opposing views.

[Aquamarine]

It was no surprise to me that the NY Times reporter (who had likely been in the area just a matter of hours, if that) made it seem as though everyone in W. NC was a supporter of ERR.

I live in the area and yes there are some ignorant people up here just like there is in EVERY community. It is disturbing that the NYT wants to portray everyone up here as being ignorant.

[Catspaw]

The brother theorizes that Rudolph's ideology was influenced when their mother hauled him off to a Missouri commune run by the Christian Identity Movement, which espouses white power. The antiabortion focus is said to result from the notion that "they are murdering white babies. If they were murdering black babies, they'd be all for it," Rudolph's brother said.

Insight

[lugsoul]

Well, if that's what the article says, it must be so. [sarcasm]

The sentiments expressed in this article reflect a view of ERR that continues to amaze me. If the issue was the bombing of gun shows or tent revivals, most folks here would have the culprit convicted SOLELY on the basis that the accused took off running and was in hiding for five years. But, in this case, everyone is more than eager to conclude that a completely innocent man took to the hills simply because he was under suspicion. Hmmmm.....

[george wythe]

Accused serial bomber Eric Rudolph told his jailers that he survived five years in the wild on a diet that only the hardiest of souls could stomach.

Acorns, lizards and salamanders, sometimes raw. Deer, turkey and bear that he shot with a hunting rifle. Corn and soybeans stolen from a storage silo. Scraps of food scrounged from a grocery store trash bin and the back of a Taco Bell restaurant.

"I asked him if he ate the salamanders raw. He said he did for the first four months or so. He swallowed them whole. He said it was like sushi."

usatoday

[Poohbah]

Thank God the Holloways are on the opposite coast from me.

I'd hate for them to decide that I wasn't "right in the sight of God" for any reason.

[Poohbah]

No WAY did he survive 5 winters on lizards and acorns, and look that healthy.

Someone was feeding him.

[G.Mason]

"If he did that Olympic bombing he should be punished," Linda Holloway added. "But as far as those abortion clinics and the gay club is concerned, he shouldn't be punished for that. You see, those things are not right in the sight of God."

Fathom that one!

Yes sir. Onward Christian soldiers.

What the hell happened to that bit about "Vengance is mine, sayeth the Lord"?

[Howlin]

They definitely have an eye witness in Alabama.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Not quite, I am trying to be a better person.. I think he's guilty. I wish I'd get called to serve on the jury but I am a resident of Jefferson County not Birmingham so I won't get the chance. But the jury will decide. Unless they have no evidence a jury here will convict the crap out of him.