Oren M. Spiegler – 11/20/15

 


This page was last updated on November 25, 2015.


Irrational fears play into terrorists’ hands; Oren M. Spiegler; Beaver County Times; November 20, 2015.

Mr. Spiegler is such a prolific letter writer the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review gave him a little tribute back in 2003.  Google “Oren M. Spiegler” and you’ll get more hits than you know what to do with.  Unfortunately, prolific is not a synonym for competent.  Mr. Spiegler claims to be a Republican.  In my critique of “Breathing more freely,” I cited reasons why I was “beginning to believe Mr. Spiegler is simply another Republican impersonator,” but he sealed the deal with “Greatest foreign policy debacle.”  Subsequent letters provided more confirmation.  The group of local Republican impersonators also includes Messrs. William A. Alexander, Arthur Brown, Edward J. Hum, Bill Ralston, and George Reese, all claiming to be disgruntled Republicans.  While he has previously claimed to be a Republican, this appears to be the first time Mr. Spiegler claimed to be a registered Republican in a BCT letter.  If true, Mr. Spiegler joins Mr. Hum in going the extra mile to further his impersonation of a Republican.

ALERT!  Though I missed it by several months, Mr. Spiegler finally did the honorable thing and ended his charade and deregistered as a Republican.

You can find links to previous critiques of Spiegler letters I critiqued here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

The BCT has or had a limit of 12 letters per writer per year.  In 2014, the BCT either ditched that limit or made a huge exception for Mr. Spiegler.  By my count, the BCT published at least 25 Spiegler letters in 2014.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.


“These are wonderful days for the barbarians of ISIS.

“A small group of murderous hoodlums was able to execute a coordinated, well-planned, wide-scale attack on the great and major city of Paris, causing President Obama to look foolish as he had stated just before the assault that the group is ‘contained.’  Additionally, the backlash that the killers hoped to spawn against all Muslims is well underway, taking place precisely according to plan.”

[RWC] Geez, another guy who won’t name the enemy.  As I wrote elsewhere, “it appears the Middle and Far East refers to ISIS and its ilk as Islamists, and they generally don’t use the ‘radical’ modifier to soften it.”

I don’t know about elsewhere, but where in the US is “the backlash that the killers hoped to spawn against all Muslims … well underway?”

“An initiative to bring to the United States a tiny number of the refugees our military escapades have helped create is likely to be reversed due to Republican opposition, and hatred for all Muslims has escalated throughout our nation, including threats against mosques.  The irrational knee-jerk reaction will surely serve as a great recruiting tool for the terrorists.”

[RWC] Again, where is the “hatred for all Muslims [that] has escalated throughout our nation?”  Where are the examples?

According to NPR, “Some officials, including FBI Director James Comey, worry there are what Comey has called ‘gaps’ in the vetting process.  Experts say U.S. intelligence in Syria isn’t very good, because the U.S. lacks much of a presence on the ground.  So there’s no way to compile a thorough watch list of possible terrorists from Syria against which refugees can be checked.”

“A tiny number of the refugees?”  According to NPR, “On average, officials say it’s 18 to 24 months before a refugee is approved for admission to the U.S.,” yet President Obama wants to approve 10,000 Syrians in 13 months.  According to ABC News, “Terrorists Once Used Refugee Program to Settle in US.”  On 11/19/15, 47 (26%) House Democrats joined Republicans to pass the American SAFE Act of 2015 (HR 4038) 289-137.  If President Obama vetoes HR 4038, the same House vote would override the veto.  Representatives could change their vote, however.  HR 4038 now goes to the Senate.

The Obama “State Department stopped processing Iraq refugees for six months in 2011, federal officials told ABC News – even for many who had heroically helped U.S. forces as interpreters and intelligence assets.  One Iraqi who had aided American troops was assassinated before his refugee application could be processed, because of the immigration delays.”  As far as I can tell, in none of his letters to the BCT did Mr. Spiegler complain about the plight of those Iraqi refugees.

I like to believe the vast majority of Americans have no problem admitting genuine refugees to our country as long as they are correctly vetted.

Has anyone else noticed just about any commonsense action “will surely serve as a great recruiting tool for the terrorists?”

“As one whose paternal grandparents were slaughtered in a concentration camp in 1944, I am particularly sensitive to the fact that we are a nation of immigrants and that we exist on the basis of extending a hand to the downtrodden and those in need of refuge.

“Certainly some type of coordinated military strategy involving the United States and other countries will be necessary to diminish the terrorist threat posed by a relatively small number of deviants, but even Donald Trump’s plan to ‘bomb the hell out of them’ will not be enough.  If we continue to stereotype and to act against and discriminate against all Muslims out of fear and ignorance, long-term gains in the battle against terrorism will be minimized.

“I feel for the many peace-loving Muslims in our country, who now must live in fear.”

[RWC] Perhaps I missed it, but who the heck is “act[ing] against and discriminat[ing] against all Muslims out of fear and ignorance?”  Folks like Mr. Spiegler made similar comments after 9/11.  It was BS then and it’s still BS.  If it’s so bad here for Muslims, why on Earth do they want to come here and why would Mr. Spiegler want them to?  Inconsistencies like this are what happens when you lose track of your lies.


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