This Is Honouring Pearl Harbour?

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked Pearl Harbour damaging all eight of the battleships in the harbour, sinking four of which two were later raised and six later returned to active duty. More than 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 injured.

It was a surprise attack intended to prevent the United States from entering the war. The attack was successful, the intended result was a failure. It awakened ‘the sleeping giant’ and America did enter both the European and Pacific conflicts which ultimately led to the downfall of Japan’s imperialist ambitions.

That happened more than sixty years ago and since then the United States and Japan have been allies and trading partners. Japan has invested heavily in the American economy providing thousands of jobs at American-based plants of Shimano, Toyota, Nissan, Mistubishi, Sony and countless others. When the tsunami hit Japan last year, the United States was one of the first to provide aid and assistance.

In other words, enemies have become friends and that has benefited both nations as well as the broader world.

None of that mattered to the gutless fools who lurk on social media, however. You know the type; the ill-informed, feeble-minded racist cowards who live vicariously through the accomplishments of others and who use those accomplishments as a platform to promote their stupidity and hatred. These are people who confuse their racist opinions with being something important to say and in the end they are no better than a lone crazed neo-nazi standing in a temple gunning down innocent people because some of them wear turbans.

Within minutes of the game ending, the barrage of mindless hatred and stupidity started.

It was a soccer game, not part of the war. The war is over and has been for a very long time. The women who played soccer today weren't even alive during the attack on Pearl Harbour and for that matter, neither was the idiot who posted this tweet.

It's a terribly small life that has to make itself feel important by lashing out with such racist nonsense. The next one, however, borders on abject stupidity. I seriously doubt that the American Women's Soccer team went into their match with the motivation to win one for Pearl Harbour. In fact, I doubt that Pearl Harbour was on anyone's mind except the adolescent moron who posted this tweet. 

This isn't racism, it's a desperate need to call attention to one's self by a person with a dreary little life that has accomplished little other than attracting attention with a stupid tweet on Twitter. 

It is sad need for personal validation that fails on every level.

The barrage of hate messages continued because social media is a breeding ground for one upmanship. If one person posts a message that attracts attention, a bunch of other mindless fools are only too happy to throw values and common sense to the winds in their rush to be a part of the trend. 

It becomes a "Hey, look at me!" frenzy as those who cannot think for themselves trip all over each other to join the trend in a desperate and pointless attempt to prove they are relevant and informed. In the end, all they prove is that they are idiots who have successfully taken attention away from the Women's Soccer Team's achievement and tarnished it with racist stupidity.

It came down to this tweet by someone who decided that hating the Japanese for something that happened before he was born was too much trouble so he just lumped all Asians in together. It's easier that way for morons like this they don't have to bother trying to distinguish the good from the bad; just hate anyone who is different but always from the anonymity and safety of social media. Hide behind Twitter to spew the garbage and to bully and threaten. 

This isn't civilized behaviour, it is the antithisis of it. It isn't morality, it is sanctimonious self-indulgence made all the worse because it comes from people with no knowledge of history, no understanding of where the world is today but who are only to happy to parade their stupidity before the world.

I find it interesting that nobody from Japan tweeted comments about the American air force dropping atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an attempt to shock the Japanese government by deliberately killing more than 200, 000 civilians, including thousands of children. The Japanese, for their part, understand that what happened then is not part of what is happening now.

What these mindless fools fail to realize is that the simple fact that two former enemies are now allies and friends and their national women's soccer teams are playing for the gold medal at the Olympics is a testament to how far cooperation, tolerance and peace can take you. The hatred and vitrolic in these twitter messages are only a reminder of how easily hatred can undo what has taken decades to build.

There are some on whom the right of free speech is wasted.

© 2012 Maggie's Bear

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