Too Much To Dream

It's disgusting that a news crew would stick a camera in the faces of this boy's relatives so soon after he died. Still, they should have shown a little class.

The name "Bey" interests me; I believe I've heard of some black Americans who have adopted that name after becoming Muslims. That would explain a lot. Wonder if there's a way to find out.

Black America's infatuation with Islam is truly unfortunate, and it has led to a huge amount of anti-American feeling among blacks.

All the Balamur stations are playing the story up. His represents a mindset I at least understand. Had one of my kids died in Somalia - or any of Clinton's nation building exercises - I'd have said the same thing. Translation: the man hates George Bush. We are a very divided nation, IMO. Like Andy Rooney said last Sunday, "I have friends who hate Bush so much they're willing to see their own stocks suffer if it hurts his economy ... [paraphrased]"

I've got a link on my site to a photo of Sgt. Waters-Bey's 10-year-old son, who's holding a photo of his father and saluting.

I appreciate the family's grief, but disrespecting their loved one's choice to serve as a Marine is not going to make their loss easier to bear. The little boy has the right idea.

In regards to the comment by Steve H. stating he "wonders" if Waters-Bey may have been a converted muslim; first of all, who cares? If he was a muslim, he loved America enough to risk his life to follow through with the commitment he made when he joined the military. Don't forget the pain he and his family felt the day he left the safety of his home to protect us and YOU. Second, you wonder if there is a way to find out if he was Muslim....why? He's dead. He died putting his life on the line for our freedom and the freedom of other innocents. Is it really "sad" if he was a Muslim? If the world was full of more Muslims that appreciated America, freedom, compassion and were equipped with the amount of selflessness and bravery this man had, this war would have NEVER begun. You are narrow minded. As far as his family is concerned, there are many anti-war Americans. They aren't anti-war because they hate America. Can you imagine not believing in the war and then having your only son, father, brother killed when it occurs? That spells resentment. I am extremely pro-war, but I can understand how the anti-war sentiments of this family were heightened when they suffered this great loss. Let Damon Waters-Bey rest in peace and dig deep in your heart and concentrate on the loss this family suffered for you and I.

Well, Holly (or John, or whoever you are -- I got your email about the extra entries -- don't worry, I removed them; please just click once next time, sometimes the site hangs, but that doesn't mean the comment hasn't been posted) -- there is no reason not to speculate on the religion of the man's family, and Steve H. wasn't doing it to impugn the dead Marine. "Bey," in fact, is a Turkish designation, I believe, not Arab -- most African-Americans who convert to Islam seem to pick Arabic names. And as a matter of fact, the sort of Islam that is being proselytized to many African-Americans is the Wahhabist version, which has come under some suspicion. I am sure that at least some African-Americans convert to Islam out of dislike for at least the Christianity of their parents, which seems to them wishy-washy or something. And many are converted in prison. But there are as many reasons to convert to Islam among African-Americans as there are among any other ethnic group, and whether or not this man's family had done so for any reason is not known, at least not to me.

That being said, I would appreciate it if you did not come to my blog merely to lecture other posters here -- especially on old posts which they are unlikely to go back and read. If you have a problem with any lack of compassion or "narrow-mindedness" you find here, well, there are so many other blogs to choose from on the internet. Try going to Google or Weblogs.com and doing a search using words like "cuddly," "safe," "tolerant," and so on.