A sarcastic response to an email sent to Zmag...

Topic: response to %27You Worry Me..%27 From: (none, to protect this person from spam)
Date: Monday, August 05, 2002 01:06 PM

Many of you have likely received the "You Worry Me..." email (purportedly) sent by Capt. Maniscalco, which you'll find at the end. I offer the following reply.

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A WHITE MAN'S EDITORIAL -- "YOU DON'T WORRY ME."

To be quite honest, you don't really worry me. I find it pretty difficult these days to worry about much. But I find that prejudice still exists and it still rests on the same thin reasoning that has supported it for the last 10,000 years of human history. Fear can be useful, when channeled to useful ends, but not when it rules over your life.

If I were going to worry about some race or religion, it sure wouldn't be the Muslims, or Arabs, or Tajiks, or Central Asians. It would be nice if my worry group didn't blend in so well, but they are everywhere. They are on TV and radio. They rule the movie houses. They write ads and carry guns and knives. In this country, so many of them have an odd cult of Jesus that justifies all their actions as "good" in the fight against "evil" that I really should be worried. I have read some of their stories about their poverty, poor education and just a failure to talk to others that leads them to commit horrendous acts of violence and brutality. Of course I am talking about white men.

I could write for a very long time before finishing the chronology of the violence of white men. It would have to include Timothy McVeigh who saw the world as either with him or against him, and like others of the same ilk, killed men, women and children. It would include Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, even though he only killed three and injured 23. It would also include the white men who brought Africans to this continent to make them Americans by force. And force they used. Even after slavery ended, white men raped and murdered blacks with the justification of their curious Jesus cult.

I could worry about the endless stream of white cops who beat, bully, maim and harass their employers, the citizens of this country, because they look funny, they smell funny, or because that special cop sixth sense tells them that this one needs a little more force and he'll tell the truth. Oh, but now we know that all cops, or at least New York cops are good, by definition I suppose. Even when they ram a plunger up a man's ass because... Why? What possible reason could any healthy and normal human have for doing something so cruel, or just watching it? It seems very odd behavior indeed and, yes, I could be worried.

I could really be worried about white men like Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, or John D. Rockefeller. Why? Because they each managed to murder and destroy "for" that same cult of Jesus. They just had to do "good" so badly. And so we have a destroyed pharmaceuticals factory in Sudan, Pol Pot as our ally against the "evil" Vietnamese, and the Ludlow Massacre.

I would hate to leave out such white male luminaries such as Andrew Jackson, who helped the Cherokee people move to the western deserts, so that white farmers could have their rich Georgian lands. Or that laudable white man, FDR, who, with the sagacity that seems to reside only in men of such rank and privilege, saw that Japanese-Americans had to be forced to sell their land, stores, and goods at a horrible loss and be confined to concentration camps, because they, unlike the white German- and Italian-Americans, posed a serious threat to National Security. And how about Harry Truman, who justified the killing of two hundred thousand civilians with two nuclear weapons because it would mean soldiers wouldn't have to risk their lives. The same logic is used today by "terrorists".

And even our white youth have joined in the fray. Who can forget Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and the Columbine High School killings? Then there were Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, who beat and murdered Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. Ah, but these don't rise to the level of terrorism.

If I really wanted to worry, I could much more easily worry about those white men in imported and custom tailored suits who are so often in the news. These are folks like Donald S. Johnston, president and chief executive of American Tobacco Company; Thomas Sandelur Jr., chairman and chief executive of Brown and William Tobacco Corporation; Edward A. Horrigan, chairman and chief executive of Liggett Group Inc.; Andrew H. Tisch, chief executive Lorillard Tobacco Company; Joseph Taddeo, president of United States Tobacco Company; James W. Johnston, chief executive of R. J. Reynolds; William I. Campbell, chief executive of Philip Morris who testified before Congress that nicotine was not addictive. Smoking is attributed to about 430,000 deaths each year. Other terrorists have a lot farther to go.

I could worry about the likes of Warren Anderson, who was Chairman of Union Carbide when it killed over 8000 people by releasing tons of methyl isocyanate and other chemicals into Bhopal, India. Ah, but that was for a rational reason -- to increase profit.

And I could rant on and on about how evil Christianity, Judaism and other white sects are. I could point out how difficult it will be to trust any Christian after the shameful way Paul Hill killed Dr. Bayard Britton and NOW activist Jim Barrett in cold blood. His reason -- he became "convinced that [he] had been entrusted with the proclamation of a truth upon which the lives of untold millions in this and every succeeding generation depend." And how about that evil Jim Jones who engineered the deaths of all those nice people with poisoned Kool-Aid? Or the evil one, Ariel Sharon, whose "actions and failure to act facilitated the massacre of at least seven hundred to eight hundred - and by some accounts as many as 3,000 -- Palestinian, Lebanese, and other civilians in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Beirut in September 1982." At least that's what he's accused of. But accusation seems to be sufficient to convict in this day and age. But, maybe only if you are brown or black or from an uncivilized nation.

There are any number of reasons to think that each one of the white men I see in the streets, or in the halls of government, or in places of worship, or marching off to fight some new war intends to kill or injure me. There is a rich history of murder and mayhem in the catalogue of white male behavior. Still, I don't worry.

And Mr. Maniscalco, if you really exist, this may be why we are writing different missives. I don't worry because I know that stupidity honors no national boundaries. I know that ignorance can be found packaged in any skin color. I know that lies and threats and fears can be expressed in any language. I have it on good authority that even Americans have the capacity to be foolish and wise, happy and enraged, fearful and brave without regard to religion, race, creed, color, sex, age or sexual preference. And no federal or state law is required.

I also don't wonder why the Muslim world isn't rushing out with flags flying and signs em blazoned with "Allah Blesses America too!" I can easily imagine how such a statement might be offensive. Or foolish. And I don't wonder whether the Muslims of America are plotting its downfall, any more than I worry about the evil motives of Bernie Ebbers (WorldCom), Kenneth Lay (Enron) or Martha Stewart (ImClone). I haven't seen corporate executives rushing out with "God Bless GAAP" signs and reviling those of their fold who have strayed. Heck, in a few months they may have to hire them.

So, I don't worry when I meet a Muslim or an Arab or an Arab-American. I don't cringe when I get on an elevator and there is a man in a turban or a woman in a veil. I don't shake uncontrollably at the thought that I may board a plane with someone who reads the Koran or speaks Farsi or has ridden a camel. But please, Capt. Maniscalco, when you board your next flight, remember that I might be on it. Please don't single me out for your fear and loathing simply because you have read something in the papers or seen it on TV. Yes, I am one of those deadly white males.

And please, don't drink too much before your next flight. I just read about another one of your kind getting drunk before flying. Are you all suicidal alcoholics? Maybe I'll worry about that, but I doubt it.

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A PILOT EDITORIAL-- "YOU WORRY ME."
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I've been trying to say this since 9-11. I guess I will be labeled as
a bigoted American.
By: American Airlines Pilot - Captain John Maniscalco
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"You worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down
the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture
still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this
country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it
worries me. I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People
from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been
attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more
than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and
hate but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their
attacks.

On September 11, nineteen ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four
jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of
children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control
of those planes and crashed them into buildings killing
thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents,
elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public
servants, and children's mothers.

So I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want
to be consumed by the same rage and hate and prejudice that
has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help.
As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in
an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the
difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true
Arab-Muslim-Americans and the Arab-Muslims in our
communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks,
and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR
constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter
those very same good neighbors and children? The events of
September 11th changed the answer. It is not my responsibility
to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL
of it's religions, with ALL of it's different citizens, with all of it's
faults. It is time for every
Arab-Muslim in this country to determine it for me.

I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to know
whether or not you love America. Do you pledge allegiance to it's
flag? Do you proudly display in front of your house, or on your
car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless
this nation, that He will protect and prosper it?

Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your
"Jihads"? Are you thankful for the freedom that only this nation
affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of
thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are
you willing to preserve this freedom by paying the ultimate
sacrifice? Do you love America? If this is your commitment, then
I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.

Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the
media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard
actions you are taking as a community and as a religion to
protect the United States of America. Please, no more benign
overtures of regret for the death of the innocent because I worry
about who you regard as innocent. And no more benign
overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks because I
worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any
more sympathy .. I am only interested in action. What will you do
for America -- our great country -- at this time of crisis, at this time
of war?

I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the
streets. I want to hear you chanting "Allah Bless America". I want
to see young Arab-Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to
see a commitment of money, time, and emotion to the victims of
this butchering and to this nation as a whole.

The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to
regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and
socialize in Muslim communities. You know them. You know
where they are. Hand them over to us, now!

But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action.
Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community
close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You
have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have
threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from
reprisals.

The very few Arab-Muslim representatives that HAVE
appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They
seemed more concerned with making sure that the United
States prove who was responsible before taking action. They
seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims
from violence directed towards them in the United States and
abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing
"leaders" like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat. If the true
teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all
people then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and
statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What
good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good and pure and
true when your "leaders" are teaching fanatical interpretations,
terrorism, and intolerance.

It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if large
numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of
Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the
religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over
again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of
violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are
recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose
members defended Johnny Cochran and O. J. Simpson after the
latter butchered his wife and murdered an innocent friend. A form
whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen
day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in
the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents,
burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form
whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up
arms against the great United States of America, the country of
their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling
members refuse to show their faces at airport security
checkpoints, in the name of Islam.

Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because our
women proudly show their faces in public rather than cover up
like a shameful whore?

Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because we drink
wine with dinner, or celebrate Christmas? Do you and you fellow
Muslims hate us because we have befriended Israel, the ONLY
civilized democratic nation in the entire middle-east? And if you
and your fellow Muslims hate us, then why in the world are you
even here?

Are you here to take our money? Are you here to undermine
our peace and stability? Are you here to destroy us? If so, I want
you to leave. I want you to go back to your desert sandpit where
women are treated like rats and dogs. I want you to take your
religion, your friends, and your family back to your Islamic
extremists, and STAY THERE!

We will NEVER give in to your influence, your retarded
mentality, your twisted, violent, intolerant religion. We will NEVER
allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter,
to take away that which is so precious to us: Our rights under the
greatest constitution in the world.

I want to know where every Arab-Muslim in this country
stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen
of this country to demand it. A right paid for by the blood of
thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the
very constitution that is protecting you and your family. I am
pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother,
my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American. But there can be
no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance and it is
up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand."
"Until then ... you worry me." ""

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LET'S COVER THE COUNTRY WITH THIS ONE!

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