LEWISTON -- Hillary Clinton has to be the toughest guy on the block. No hints of careful, deliberative approaches to our troubled world. In her do-anything campaign to snare the Democratic presidential nomination, tough rhetoric will always trump reasoned discourse, even if it means creating more fear and distrust toward the United States in the Muslim world.
Sen. Clinton's shameless performance last week on the morning of the Pennsylvania primary showed how low she would stoop to show targeted voters her toughness, not giving a hoot that many in the world see her behavior as recklessness.
"Good Morning America" host Chris Cuomo asked Clinton what her response as president would be to an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel. Lost in the exchange, of course, was the fact that Israel does possess nuclear weapons and Iran does not.
Clinton could have pointed that out and then offered some words of reason to defuse the Armageddon-scenario question scripted for the superficial Cuomo. She could have discussed a hope of dealing with Iran and departing from the Bush administration's failures and refusal to nourish and encourage voices of moderation in Iran.
Instead, Clinton saw an irresistible opening to pounce and use the rhetoric of bellicose bullying that Bush has shown can win elections, while further alienating and inflaming the Muslim world. Clinton chose the low road.
Flexing her nuclear muscles, Clinton said, "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president we will attack Iran." Then she added, "We would be able to totally obliterate them."
Well yes, senator, we have a nuclear arsenal capable of obliterating most of the world. But is that the kind of message and tone a powerful nation should be using when we should be trying to defuse nuclear saber-rattling?
Clinton sounded like a vestige of the Cold War, a 21st-century American version of Nikita Khrushchev bellowing, "We will bury you."
As with all she does, Clinton's words were calculated. She's the toughest guy on the block. Sen. Barack Obama can't match her threats.
"Hillary mocked reasoned discourse," wrote Robert Scheer in TruthDig.com. "This is not a gaffe. It is an assertion of the right of our nation to commit genocide on an unprecedented scale."
He sees the poison of Clinton's rhetoric: "Shouldn't this potential leader of a nation that used nuclear bombs to obliterate hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese employ extreme caution before making such a threat?"
Dave Lindorff, co-author of "The Case for Impeachment," sees the folly of Clinton's logic. On the Smirking Chimp Web site, Lindorff exposed the misdirection of her posited wrath: "Think about the moment! A country that we view as a theocracy, run dictatorially by a bunch of self-appointed religious fanatics, whose rule is enforced by an army of equally fanatic quasi-military thugs and enforcers, launches an attack on America's ally Israel, and Clinton says her response should be to incinerate the people of that country -- people who are as powerless to stop an attack as would be the people of Israel or the United States."
Obliterate Iran? "The Iranians are doing a pretty good job themselves," according to Dr. Philip Jenkins, a distinguished professor of history and religious studies at Penn State University.
Jenkins was guest speaker last week at the Henry and Grace McNulty Lectures presented by the Religious Studies Department at Niagara University. The lecture series, established by the late Father Thomas McGourty, C.M., is a reflection of his commitment to education, described as "learning aimed not only at gaining knowledge, but also at growing in wisdom needed to bring justice and peace to the world."
I attended the lecture and found Jenkins' insights about Christianity, Islam and Europe's religious crisis a refreshing, reasoned analysis of the issues. The author of more than 20 books offered wisdom, instead of the hollow political sloganeering and fear-mongering we are usually exposed to when Islam is discussed in the mass media.
Jenkins pointed to the dramatic decline in birth rates in the region as "the most important political change in the Middle East." He dispelled the myth of hordes of Muslims with an exploding population immigrating and transforming a continent into "Eurabia," relegating Christianity to religious insignificance.
Jenkins noted that women in Iran had on average six children in 1980. The birth rate today is 1.7. Similar statistics are found in most Muslim countries in North Africa and the Middle East.
The role of women in the work place, especially the professions, is growing dramatically in Muslim nations, Jenkins said. He used the example of Algeria, where two-thirds of the doctors and two-thirds of the lawyers are women. In Iran, two-thirds of all college students are women.
Jenkins sees the emergence of moderate voices in Islam finding more common ground with Christianity in Europe. "If Christianity in Europe is dead, it keeps coming back," he said.
He said Europe is in a "golden age" of religious pilgrimage, and Christians from Africa and Eastern Europe are spurring religious revival and enthusiasm across the continent.
He acknowledges the threat of terrorism in Europe, particularly among "young men who cannot cope and assimilate as well as their sisters." But he also sees great hope for people of different religious traditions to live in peace. That, however, requires knowledge, understanding and tolerance. Ignorance, fear and threats -- and the politicians that peddle them -- will never lead us to that era of promise.
A little vacation in Niagara Falls last week reminded me how beautiful the area is in the spring. My usual visits are in summer and fall, so it had been a while since I had experienced the marvels of early spring here and the hope and rejuvenation it brings.
The first wonder, though, was seeing my grandson Yusuf on April 20, his second birthday. I had not seen him since Christmas, and children at that age change and blossom so quickly.
Even stipulating the bias of a proud grandfather, I must say Yusuf is bright, adorable and a little dynamo. He's all boy and loves sports. He can kick and throw a ball with force and precision. Adults must protect themselves when he winds up and hurls a miniature University of Michigan football (his mother's alma mater, although she admits the only time she ever set foot in Michigan Stadium was for her graduation), and all fragile items are in peril.
We have to explain to him that he must now take his ball-throwing outside, although it's understandable that he is used to the indoor venues, given the long, harsh Western New York winters.
Yusuf is rapidly picking up vocabulary and he rattles off names and commands with great authority. But he often spontaneously goes into his sports chant. "Football, basketball, soccer and hockey," he rattles off in his litany of preferred sports.
We try to get him to include baseball, but no luck. He has strong views, and family members often glance my way when he vigorously vocalizes his opinions. It's a delight to watch this little guy, animated and fascinated as he experiences life.
I spent parts of a couple days walking around the Falls and the parks overlooking the gorge. I took my son-in-law, Semir, Yusuf's dad, on a walk around Goat Island. The weather was spectacular, in the mid 70s, with a bright sunny sky.
Semir had never been to Luna, the little island off Goat Island, right on the brink of the American Falls. The sound is always thundering. A radiant rainbow glowed in the cool mist below the falls. Maid of the Mist boats were being prepped to go into the water, perhaps a little early as ice clears the river. A group of Russian tourists bubbled, taking pictures of the spectacle. Semir commented on how much more natural the falls is on the American side and noted the thrill of being in such close proximity to the water.
Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of the Niagara Reservation, blended his trails and human access in harmony with natural beauty. Olmsted -- who also sculpted New York's Central Park -- would have appreciated Semir's compliment.
We stopped at the statue of Nikola Tesla, the Serbian genius who really harnessed the power of the falls and gave the world practical, reliable alternating-current electricity. Thomas Edison, I explained, made a lot of money and was happy to take most of the credit for the electrical revolution, but Tesla was the true visionary, a towering intellect for the ages. He died in poverty, having enriched the world with his gifts.
With seven consecutive April days with temperatures in the 70s -- breaking a record that dated back to the 1880s -- Niagara Falls was bursting with spring. Tulips, daffodils, magnolias and forsythias bloomed and blossomed everywhere. Trees budded overnight, and a week that started with the drab browns of winter suddenly glowed in green, a wonderful display of nature on the fast track. It was a great time to be back home.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | April 29 2008 |