THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506080008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
One truly amazing thing that has come out of the Waco/Oklahoma city bombing incidents has been the ability of liberals in the media to frame the debate as they see fit. Rather than being open to a well-needed discussion on alleged civil-rights abuses by the BATF at Waco, the national media have successfully maneuvered the debate to such weighty matters as whether the NRA was ``mean-spirited'' in calling BATF agents ``jack-booted thugs.''Federal agents killed 90 people, but the debate isn't about civil rights or whether the BATF is totally free from blame; it's ``the NRA called BATF a bad name - isn't that just the nastiest thing you ever heard?'' That either takes a lot of talent on the part of liberals or a lot of stupidity on the part of Americans in allowing them to get away with it.
On to Oklahoma, where the nation would be united for a common cause - that of bringing those who commited this act to justice - if it weren't for liberals offering the suggestion that all who are strongly for limited government are ipso facto bloodthirsty anarchists. Now, instead of debating effective measures to protect U.S. citizens without abridging fundamental rights, the debate is whether talk-show hosts and conservatives are like a few extreme militia organizations.
Once again, liberals manage to distort what is relevant, and no one calls them on it. This brings me to a valid point; in both cases the real issue is the scope of government, its abuses and its appropriate limits. However, in both cases liberals in the media refuse to discuss these issues, and opt to call all those who are for making the BATF accountable and the government limited ``mean-spirited anarchists.'' Our progressive friends must have a rather unnatural love for unrestrained governmental power to go to such lengths to silence the debate of whether such a love is wise.
MIKE A. BURNAT
Virginia Beach, June 2, 1995
michbu4(AT)beacon.regent.edu by CNB