Americans Owe America an Apology

Jennifer Seago

Over the course of about a week while the serial Beltway sniper attacks were occurring, I was participating in some interesting dialogue on an online message board. Everyone had his or her speculation on who the person was and why he was doing his terrible deed, and quite frankly, I was appalled. I saw subject headlines such as "this is an angry, white male", "the NRA did this", and "black people are too stupid to do something like this". As you can tell, all three of these headlines were dead wrong.

There were so many of these bigoted and racists headlines that it was impossible to respond to them all. How many times can you tell people "the race of the sniper does not matter" before they will listen to you? You might as well be screaming at a brick wall.

Why, at a time when our nation is at war, did so many Americans assume that this sniper was not a Muslim, militant extremist? Did they forget who bombed the World Trade Center with jetliners? Of all people, Geraldo Rivera, reporting on Fox News, reminded Americans that militant Muslims were still out there and that we should not count them out when it comes to terror attacks like the Beltway sniper. He hit the nail on the head, it would seem.

I think this goes to show that Americans are still in denial over what is happening in America. Americans would rather close their eyes tight and try to blame 'homegrown' terrorists for attacks than to admit that there are those in the world who would like to blow us to smithereens. They would rather attack each other's ideals and promote hatred than to blame the person responsible for the shootings, especially if it might be seen as 'racial profiling'.

People like Kennedy-Townsend in Maryland used this sniper attack as an 'opportunity' to promote not only gun control, but also herself. I will be interested to know if the gun used in these attacks was registered, and I'm quite sure it was not 'fingerprinted' ballistically. Why would a criminal register and fingerprint a gun they were about to use in a major crime? They wouldn't.

As Americans, we owe ourselves a big apology. Many of us did not have faith in our country's goodness or in ourselves. We blamed the N.R.A., we blamed white people, we blamed guns, we blamed black people, we blamed Chief Moose, and basically, we blamed ourselves. We were not to blame.

Mr. Muhammad and Mr. Malvo are entirely responsible for their own actions. They bought the gun, perhaps illegally, learned to shoot with it, cut a hole in the trunk of their car and killed people at will. Would you have done this? I think not. Are they victims of their environment? It would seem not. Muhammad was in the U.S. military which is known to give young men direction and cause. If he chose not to use what he learned there in a constructive manner, then it was probably a part of his attitude. Mr. Malvo was more than likely lead around by the elder stepfather, but that is his fault for coming to our country illegally and allowing himself to be brainwashed by a militant Muslim. They pulled the trigger, not you and not me.

You blamed yourself. Now it is time to give yourself a big hug and offer up a deep-felt apology. While you are giving out apologies, give one to America, too. Have faith in your country and your fellow Americans, as that is what our constitution, and our God who created it, gives to us every day.

Warm fuzzies, everyone.

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Jennifer Seago

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