This was a racist propaganda questionarre that my mother sent me and my responses to it. I rely heavily on a 1984 interview with Noam Chomsky titled "The Media as a Mirror of Society."
This was a racist propaganda questionarre that my mother sent me and my responses to it (which have my name in front of them for clarity):
Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test. The events are actual events from history. They actually happened! Do you remember?
1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by
a. Superman
b. Jay Leno
c. Harry Potter
d. a Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40
Nathan: There are still many today that believe, and it is rational people who assert that they have credible evidence, that Bobby Kennedy's death was by rogue elements in the CIA who feared he would be like his brother and end the reign of terror of the CIA in the Defense sector. This is actually quite plausible, as the black ops apparatus in the Defense sector is specifically designed for things like politically-motivated assassinations of those who are opposed to the interests of the elite. And this is just one possible reason. There are alot of facts about this affair that were not disclosed so I would be careful about what context in which I use this information if I were you.
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
Nathan: In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by independent nationalists who wanted to depose the brutal authoritarian regime of the Shah that was put in place by the US. That does not characterize all who took part in this as "Muslim male extremists."
4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
Nathan: In 1982, Israel launched an illegal attack against Lebanon to depose the PLO; this attack was condemned by the UN. The US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to call for a ceasefire to buy more time for Israel to carry out their invasion, which is similar to the strategy used in 2006. Israel's problem with the PLO was not that they were increasing their hostile operations, it was that they were becoming more moderate and politically legitimate in alignment with the international consensus. Israel needed the international and domestic community to think of these independent nationalists as terrorist thugs and not politicians who wanted a fair settlement.
5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
Nathan: The perception of the Lebanese population in 1983 was that the U.S. Marines were there to "consumate the Israeli invasion." Recall that the US is an ally of Israel that has close ties. And if Syria were to invade Israel and Iran were to send troops for "peacekeeping operations," would we consider Israelis who bombed the Iranians terrorist or heros? Remember that in order to establish and maintain true justice we must apply the principle of universality.
6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old
American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Davey Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7 In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens , and a US Navy diver
trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:
a Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy and The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill's women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to
take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed
into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the
passengers. Thousands of people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonnie and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
Nope, .I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you? So,
to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent
on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to
profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old
women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret
agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old
Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning and former
Governor Joe Foss, BUT leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 and 40 alone
lest they be guilty of profiling. Let's send this to as many people as we
can so that the Gloria Aldreds and other dunder-headed attorneys along
with Federal Justices that want to thwart common sense, feel doubly
ashamed of themselves -- if they have any such sense. As the writer of the
award winning story "Forrest Gump" so aptly put it, "Stupid is as stupid
does."
Nathan: All of this is racist. It works under the framework of racist presuppositions. It is all implicit and takes a critical mind to realize, but this accepts the assumption that the lives of Israelis and Americans are more valuable than the lives of Muslims.
For example, on 7 October 1984 Thomas Friedman wrote an article in the New York Times that referred to the dangers of Islamic extremists. He considered the extremists to be the Khomeinis, the Shiites (independent nationalists and not Islamo-fascist Salafists) who bombed the Marine barracks, the Kahane and the PLO in Israel. Meanwhile, he considered the Israeli Labor Party and the Reagan administration to be the moderates.
So, under this ideological framework, the PLO, who just wanted a solution that involved very reasonable national determination (perhaps a bi-national state which is the most reasonable solution to the whole affair) were extremists and the Israeli Labor Party, who did not want to negotiate but wanted to use violence to expand their nation to be the moderates.
This is absolutely ridiculous if one were to look at this objectively and apply the principle of universality. I mean, think of how this would all look to hypothetical extraterrestrial observers, they would be absolutely baffled that the American people were so naive and misinformed by their willingness to accept this unilateral, racist, and nationalist ideological framework (even though many Americans profess to be compassionate Christians and so forth).
My advice to you would be to avoid disseminating this kind of information until you are well-informed. Your intentions may be good, but the results of your actions (forwarding ultra-conservative propaganda) forward the ideological positions of a racist, violent, oppressive and exploitative elitist power structure. The lives of Muslims are just as valuable as the lives of Americans and Israelis. If you don't believe so, then I fear for you if you meet your maker and he is a fair judge of the world.