This week brought a three-day conference on “Countering Violent Extremism” and also an op-ed along the same lines from President Obama that was published in the Los Angeles Times, according to Fox News.
One paragraph jumped off the page —
Governments that deny human rights play into the hands of extremists who claim that violence is the only way to achieve change. Efforts to counter violent extremism will only succeed if citizens can address legitimate grievances (emphasis added) through the democratic process and express themselves through strong civil societies.
Right-wing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh made a commentary about the op-ed that rambled on about FDR:
Rush: You don’t remember that? I do. You don’t remember FDR defending Japan? You don’t remember that? You don’t remember FDR, I mean …. FDR, why, he defended Japan almost as much as he defended the Democrat party. Am I wrong about, FDR never defended Japan? … FDR never went out of his way to explain Japan to, I wasn’t alive then, maybe I’ve been misinformed. FDR did not go out of his way to tell people that we’re misunderstanding Japan? He didn’t?! FDR never said that the Japanese had legitimate grievances against us? He didn’t?! FDR never did that? … I know George Bush did, but Ted Kennedy, I remember Ted Kennedy when Reagan became president, Ted Kennedy called the Soviets and said hey, look, just be patient, we’ll try to get rid of this guy after one term. But really, FDR was not, I just thought Obama was continuing in a tradition of great Democrat presidents here.
OK, Fine. 