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When Rabin was assassinated in 1995, a lot of people blamed a “climate of hatred,” fostered by Likud. This burned me. I thought it was a bald defamation.
Earlier in the year, after the Oklahoma City bombing, President Clinton made insinuations about conservative talk radio — that burned me, too.
Individuals are responsible for their actions. And yet . . .
No man is an island. We are all subject to influences, good and bad. People who fan hatred, and tell lies? They have a lot to answer for.
I know of a man — a professor at a prestigious university — who, after 9/11, had this opinion: There was nothing to be done, because all 19 of the perpetrators were dead. That was the end of the story.
Oh, no — far from it.
Oscar Hammerstein had a lyric, which I have frequent cause to quote: “You’ve got to be carefully taught.” No one comes out of the womb wanting to kill Jews, Hispanics, or anyone else. You’ve got to be carefully taught, and teachers play roles, for good or ill.
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See Also:
(1) The online sewer where hate festers and other commentary
(4) Dayton suspect compiled ‘hit list’ and ‘rape list’ in high school: reports
(5) Texas Seeks Death for El Paso Shooter, Feds Treating as ‘Domestic Terrorism’
(6) Watch: Dayton Police Officers Run Toward the Fire, Take out Shooter