Martha's Vineyard, What Hast Thou?

Recently, President Obama's family vacation at Martha's Vineyard made it to the news and once again, drew some tired attention to that little island. According to Wikipedia, "the island is primarily known as a summer colony, and is accessible only by boat and by air. Nevertheless, its year-round population has grown considerably since the 1960s. A study by the Martha's Vineyard Commission found that the cost of living on the island is 60 percent higher than the national average and housing prices are 96 percent higher."

It continued to say that Presidents Ulysses Grant, Bill Clinton and the former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis all had visited or kept houses there.

I cannot entertain a vacation in an isolated island, with nothing but wind, sea, and celebrities whose names or faces I don't care to know. And politicians too.

Personally, I don't care where my president and his family enjoy their vacations but I couldn't escape from knowing it, since the "news" was reported everywhere, including pictures of Obama's book purchases for his daughters, who are admittedly adorable but if I hear their names in the news again, I'd scream.

This country doesn't have royalties; it yearns for one. This country do have aristocrats, with a long family tradition, like the Bushes, or not, like Clintons. Only if people were striving to gain noble education, bearing and manners. Alas, this is a country produces nobles as entertainers.


Swamp © Matthew Felix Sun

Lessons Not Learned

In my previous blog entry, Irrationality Must Be Repudiated, I discussed the debates regarding the planned new mosque near the site of former World Trade Center in New York.

People need to be reminded that it was a group of radicals who flew two passenger jets into the World Trade Center, not being sanctioned by entire Muslim people, therefore the opposition to the plan is misguided. This reminded me of the internment of Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese Air Force. It seems that the historical lessons have yet to be learned.

Mus I, a Chinese American, run to Canada for protection, if a war breaks out between China and the US?

Yesterday, I heard Margaret Atwood on radio and I remembered that when the attack on World Trade Center happened, I was reading her "The Handmaid's Tale" and was chilled by my prediction that the US was poised to become the country she described in that book. In the past decade, I observed the marches or inching over towards that apocalyptic end. It seems that we have become a nation with only one resolve, which is undermining all values we have held dear.

Naïveté, Arrogance, Stupidity

It is reported by New York Times, that "The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, who irritated fellow Democrats recently by saying Republicans might reclaim control of the House in November, is once again in hot water with his own party, after lambasting President Obama’s critics on what he called 'the professional left.'

In an interview with The Hill newspaper, published Tuesday, Mr. Gibbs unloaded his frustration with liberals who are themselves frustrated with the president.

'I hear these people saying he's like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested – I mean, it’s crazy,' Mr. Gibbs was quoted in the newspaper as saying.

He went on to condemn the 'professional left,' saying: 'They will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.'"

The left have many reasons to be upset with Obama's administration. However, to give Obama credit, that he never claimed to be a progressive candidate. His many now disappointed supports, simply read too much between words, and deliberated ignored many warning signs and the obvious that Obama was much less progressive then Clinton and Edwards. Yet, they believe that Obama was a closeted liberal and winked and winked, believing that Obama would should true colors once occupied the White House. Obama did not change. People who are disappointed had no cause.

But this does not excuse Obama of his certain failures. Going to a negotiation with true faith is one thing, while showing all your cards and bottom lines before negotiations started is another. He had conceded so much and in exchange for almost nothing. His firm standing in the middle dose not deter his opponents calling him a liberal. Politics as usual. Nothing changed. He is not a transforming president he believes to be.

Was it naïveté, arrogance, or stupidity? You decide.

Irrationality Must Be Repudiated

The planned new mosque near the site of former World Trade Center in New York has generated a lot debates yet the most controversial aspects of this whole debate is the fact that Anti-Defamation League came out to oppose the project.

CNN reported that Anti-Defamation League's opposition to ground zero mosque sparks debate:

A proposal to build a mosque near the site of Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center's twin towers were destroyed by Islamist hijackers on September 11, 2001, has triggered debates for the past two months.

Critics said building a mosque near Ground Zero would insult the victims of 9/11.

Supporters, like CNN Belief Blog contributor Stephen Prothero, said accepting the mosque would demonstrate religious tolerance and send a message that the U.S. is not at war with Islam.

Here's Anti-Defamation League's rationale:

The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.

At the same time, the ADL condemned those who opposed the proposed mosque out of religious bigotry:

Proponents of the Islamic Center may have every right to build at this site, and may even have chosen the site to send a positive message about Islam. The bigotry some have expressed in attacking them is unfair, and wrong. But ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right. In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain – unnecessarily – and that is not right.

On Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked the ADL to retract its Wednesday statement:

"It is shocking that a group claiming to seek 'justice and fair treatment for all' would side with those engaged in one of the most egregious Islamophobic smear campaigns in recent memory," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "We ask the ADL to reconsider and retract this ill-considered and divisive statement. With its shameful statement, the ADL is exploiting and fueling the rising level of anti-Islam sentiment in our society."

New York Time's article Debate Heats Up About Mosque Near Ground Zero mentioned that when asked why the opposition of the families was so pivotal in the decision, Mr. Abraham Foxman, the national director of Anti-Defamation League and a Holocaust survivor, said they were entitled to their emotions.

“Survivors of the Holocaust are entitled to feelings that are irrational,” he said. Referring to the loved ones of Sept. 11 victims, he said, “Their anguish entitles them to positions that others would categorize as irrational or bigoted.”

This is very upsetting indeed. Irrationality is what has been driven people to mad behaviors in the long history. The fear of Jews in the Christian world in the medieval time which culmulated in the Holocaust was the manifestation of such irrationality.

Irrational behaviors from different corners generated the attack on World Trade Center, created Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, and ensured the miserable conditions in West Bank.

An enlightened era must repudiate irrationality of any kind. For an organization like Anti-Defamation League to make excuse for irrational behavior, it is shameful and hurtful.

To be fair and complete, I also include the Statement On Islamic Community Center Near Ground Zero by Anti-Defamation League, which is not without merit:

We regard freedom of religion as a cornerstone of the American democracy, and that freedom must include the right of all Americans – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths – to build community centers and houses of worship.

We categorically reject appeals to bigotry on the basis of religion, and condemn those whose opposition to this proposed Islamic Center is a manifestation of such bigotry.

However, there are understandably strong passions and keen sensitivities surrounding the World Trade Center site. We are ever mindful of the tragedy which befell our nation there, the pain we all still feel – and especially the anguish of the families and friends of those who were killed on September 11, 2001.

The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.

In recommending that a different location be found for the Islamic Center, we are mindful that some legitimate questions have been raised about who is providing the funding to build it, and what connections, if any, its leaders might have with groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values. These questions deserve a response, and we hope those backing the project will be transparent and forthcoming. But regardless of how they respond, the issue at stake is a broader one.

Proponents of the Islamic Center may have every right to build at this site, and may even have chosen the site to send a positive message about Islam. The bigotry some have expressed in attacking them is unfair, and wrong. But ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right. In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain – unnecessarily – and that is not right.

According the footnotes of this statement on Anti-Defamation League's web site, "The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry."



Century's Greeting © Matthew Felix Sun