Hi, everyone.
A long-time expat resident and citizen of Australia, I live north of Sydney in the country. Charles Hurt (Washington Times) made a number of inaccurate, inappropriate and irresponsible comments to Fox News Australia while the hostage crisis unfolded which ended with the death of the gunman and two hostages.
For Mr Hurt to use a public crisis to push a US far right political agenda was incredibly offensive when people were worried about their loved ones and concerned about whether this was a terrorist incident (it ultimately was not- it was a damaged man who had been in prison and didn't want to go back. The politics stated were a smokescreen).
This is my response to him after the siege ended, sent to the address below.
I hope you will consider publicising it and calling Mr Hurt on his stupidity as people need to push back against bad ideas. Thanks in advance.
charleshurt@charleshurtpolitics.com
Mr Hurt,
In the wake of the tragedy in Sydney, your comments on the day to Fox News Australia that looser gun laws might have prevented the hostage situation are wrong, horribly inappropriate and irresponsible and smack of either right wing lunacy or just stupidity. Please shut your mouth and butt out of another country’s affairs.
As an expat resident and citizen of Australia, I can tell you that the gun laws (enacted by a conservative government) are working very well as gun crime has gone way down. But you propose that this Government gut those laws as the Congressional slaves to the NRA (along with their compliant right wing media boosters) have done in the US, based solely on a lone wolf attack. Are you insane? Have you learned nothing from the spate of shootings in the US which were made possible by those easier gun ownership conditions? Don’t spread your misinformation and poison here.
And pushing for institutionalised torture (one of the Right’s other favourite causes) is not an option as the Senate report on the CIA clearly points out. It is illegal, amoral and cruel and undermines the US’ reputation as a beacon of freedom, justice and, most importantly, a moral compass. If your desire is to get as down and dirty as the terrorists, move to Afghanistan, Syria or Saudi Arabia and fight them directly- please. But I doubt that will happen.
Your statements yesterday symbolize the aspects of right wing media that repel people- the image of egotistical armchair generals, professed to be Christians, with no sense of morality and no thought for the consequences of their actions or their dangerous views. Bulls in a china shop.
We’ve seen how well right wing US programs have worked:
1) Defence spending way up without a similar increase in effectiveness;
2) Arrogance and poor planning in foreign affairs and conflicts;
3) Too many guns available and gun crime way up;
4) A growing racial divide and increasing income inequality;
5) Replacement of science (which can be proven empirically) in many states with creationism, which is solely based on faith;
6) A politicized Supreme Court;
7) Unequal treatment of women and legislating against their rights;
8) Disenfranchisement of non-Caucasians;
9) Bias against LGBT people; and
10) Favouring the power of the corporation over that of the individual in Citizens United.
It’s no wonder that Congress has the poorest approval ratings it’s ever had. Now rational individuals will have to clean up your mess.
Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it- no statement could better describe you and your ilk.