Posted on 06/04/2003 9:36:32 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
I don't know if Eric Rudolph did all the terrible things they say he did, but I have my doubts.
Apparently, all those people who wore tee shirts bearing the message "Run, Rudy, Run" have had their doubts as well. Short of a confession by the man, I'll continue to hold on to those doubts.
Like many people, I followed his story closely, from his 1998 disappearance after an abortuary was bombed, to news that a massive manhunt by hundreds of law enforcement officials had failed to turn up one of "America's Most Wanted."
Five years later, they have their man. Or do they?
Rudolph's name was first linked to bombings after a shrapnel and nail device went off at The New Woman All Women abortuary in Birmingham. That blast seriously injured a woman and killed an off-duty cop. Someone said they saw Rudolph's truck nearby and a man fitting his description walking away from the scene. Weeks later his truck was found abandoned near the rugged hills of the Appalachian Trail. Rudy had run and was nowhere to be found, despite the high-tech search that ensued.
Two years, plus a million dollar bounty later, Rudy was like a ghost in those hills. The cops were feeling silly. What happened next doesn't pass the smell test. Not only was Rudolph charged with the Birmingham bombing but with a few other unsolved bombings as well. After all, why not dump all the other cases law enforcement wasn't able to solve on Rudy?
Remember how poor Richard Jewell was demonized and falsely-accused of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing? That quiet, gentle man had his life turned upside down by Keystone Cops desperate to find a culprit. Could it be that what they couldn't pin on Richard they decided to add to Eric Rudolph's list of sins? That list had grown over the years he was presumably hiding out in the mountains of western North Carolina to include additional bombings-another abortuary and a gay nightclub in Atlanta. The evidence against Rudolph? Nails. They say nails in the bombs were like nails found amongst his belongings.(Other than this, prosecutors are mum on the evidence they say they have linking Rudolph to all four bombings.)
Is this just a case of law enforcement feeling like fools because a simple country boy had eluded them all these years?
What should be cause for concern for all Americans is the way they've described this man: "…he studied the Bible, believed the United Nations was usurping U.S. sovereignty, held anti-government sentiment…was an anti-abortion crusader…questioned the Holocaust…was anti-gay, anti-foreigner" to name just a few of the phrases labeling him in the press. Here we go again- paint the man with those colors and he's…guilty! Such tagging is what most Americans accepted to excuse what happened to Randy Weaver and his family when they were the victims of an all-out blitzkrieg by the federal government in Ruby Ridge, Idaho some years back. Anymore, all you have to do is co-opt a willing media to go along with these categorizations and you can garner widespread approval for considering someone a dangerous criminal.
Now, maybe Eric Rudolph really was behind the crimes for which he stands accused. But, as I see it, there are some glaring inconsistencies in the whole thing.
First off, by all accounts, the man was not obsessed by the abortion issue. He didn't talk about it, rail against it or display any sentiment whatsoever about the gruesome practice. Most anti-aborts are well-known for their position. Certainly those who find the wholesale murder of babies abhorrent- talk about it. Rudy didn't. That may or may not be a clue as to whether he'd have a motive to blow up an abortuary.
Secondly, one of Eric Rudolph's brothers is gay. Again, not likely he'd be rearranging the floor plan of a gay nightclub.
Third, what possible vendetta could be behind the bomb left at Centennial Olympic Park?
Attorney General John Ashcroft wasted no time announcing the fine police work that netted this dangerous criminal 5 years after he went missing. Like most mothers whose sons are suspected of committing violent crimes, Patricia Rudolph doesn't think Eric's guilty. The Christian mother of six said "I pray the Holy Spirit will intervene and Eric will be exonerated, but once you're in the hands of the people who have power, it'll take a miracle."
Start praying all you "Bible-studying, anti-government, U.N.-bashing" zealots- those descriptions could mean you're the main suspects in unsolved crimes.
So, what you seem to be saying is that a racist murderer is better than just a plain old "murderer" (since abortion is still legal, I will use quotation marks for the latter).
I love these threads. These are the ones where you find out where people really stand. Not pretty, but very informative.
That kind of thinking is so 1960 though. I've lived in intergrated neighborhoods in the South for 15 years and I have yet to hear anyone complain about a black neighbor.
Ah, I see--it doesn't fit into the "kill gays and abortionists" so you try to blame it on someone else.
And it's Mrs. Hawthorne. She was married, with two children.
After 15 years, I can't imagine you would. How would you feel if the black boys started hittin' on and datin' the white girls...possibly your daughter?
Isn't it, though? I live in an integrated neighborhood, have for 20 odd years, and it's no big deal. I didn't see anyone putting up "for sale" signs, either, except for those who were moving for job reasons, a bigger house, a smaller house (or into a condo), stuff like that.
Then it is no big deal for you. It is a big deal for others. Just because you live next store, or in an entire neighborhood that is mixed, does not mean everybody has/does. There is a whole big ol' piece a land out there with many, many neighborhoods. A lot of them are not integrated. Anf there are a lot of folks who are not ready to except it. My original point... Which is rejected commonly by those who do accept integration...maybe because you don't have a choice?
But given your screed against race-mixing, I won't be inviting you here anytime soon.
...The price of abortion will be ALL freedoms. After they take your guns, I don't own any, then they will take the rest of our freedoms, all because God is removing His blessings from our nation. Abortion is expensive. The children are murdered because of quality of life? Well then won't it cost us our quality of life? And what would be so strange about that. After all, if the Constitution doesn't protect the weakest how could we expect it to protect us?
Ahhhhhh abortion, with each click of a switch that turns on the vaccuum weapon, a new statute goes onto the books that takes away another inch of our freedom in every town and state. Guns are American's identity in relationship to the huddled masses of the world who huddle hiding from their dictators, as they yearn to be free.
Satan calls it freedom of choice, but since he is a liar it is easy to understand how this freedom of choice is really a removal of all freedoms, eventually, and who could deny that without your guns you will be left to the monsters.
Posted by Heater Heater, Lucianne.com 2/9/00
This all started with a statement about where some folks heads are, and these folks live in the south...
That's cause we all know, Jesus really likes white babies better. < /sarcasm>
You aren't one of those hideous jerks that likes to shout nasties at interracial couples in public, are you?
Aaron Brown forgot the murderous Mexican bandit and terrorist Pancho Villa, who is the namesake of a chain of Mexican food places in NorCal and in the UK.
Look, I am not in here promoting, advertising, whatever, interracial upset. I am merely stating that not all folks are into this culturally diverse society that some on this board have absolutely no problem accepting. On the other side of this coin, including yourself obviously, accept it on certain levels, for certain reasons. One reason maybe they truly have no problem with cultural diversity. Another maybe the emporer has beautiful clothes syndrome. I think most of it is the latter.
Now I will be scorned publicly, or silently for this post as I have been for previous posts. But that does not make me wrong. I am not saying ALL folks believe this way. But, you ask in private, the average white guy, how they would feel if their daughter came home with a black boy friend, I do not think you would get the same answer from him that you would get if he was asked in front of an audiance. Same thing here Bella Bru. Same thing here. Some folks don't like it, and won't for a long time.
If you asked my 61 year old father whom he'd like to see brought home, he'd answer simply with: someone who works hard and likes the Cleveland Browns. And he has adored every non-lily white skinned man I have brought to him to meet.
One reason maybe they truly have no problem with cultural diversity. Another maybe the emporer has beautiful clothes syndrome. I think most of it is the latter.
And many people make judgements based on other things. As in: is daughter's potential boyfriend hard working? Educated? Has a future?
FReepers are supposed to be oh-so concerned with "real" values. I guess for some on FR, those "real" values begin and end with race, no questions of any other values asked.
Merely looking around one can see the devistation "abortion on demand" has caused.
"Mom" has a fifteen year old kid who is looking her and thinking....."I wonder how many children she has killed"?
It's no wonder "little Johnny" sees no value in human life.
We both are old enough to realize that the "wheel turns".
There is hope, but not in our lifetime.
Just a tad!
With the risk of sounding paranoid......are these people real, or a figment of the reporters imagination? [Only kidding, I think.]
The term "thin the herds" comes to mind.
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