Nelson Mandela Dead: Former South Africa President Dies At Age 95

YOU! And FOX and Drudge.

 

Sorry Joe, but your argument falls flat. Mandela was influenced by Marx and was an admitted Socialist who belonged to a Communist-affiliated group. He also planned an armed struggle against his government.

Why would you think it's disparaging to call him a violent Marxist/Socialist/Communist? After all, facts are facts. Don't sugar-coat them.

3 Things You Didn’t (Want To) Know About Nelson Mandela

LEE JENKINS JUNE 27, 2013 411

The hero of the anti-apartheid struggle was not the saint we want him to be.

The image of Nelson Mandela as a selfless, humble, freedom fighter turned cheerful, kindly old man, is well established in the West. If there is any international leader on whom we can universally heap praise it is surely he. But get past the halo we’ve placed on him without his permission, and Nelson Mandela had more than a few flaws which deserve attention.

He signed off on the deaths of innocent people, lots of them
Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK), the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party. At his trial, he had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilising terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists. Here are some highlights

-Church Street West, Pretoria, on the 20 May 1983
-Amanzimtoti Shopping complex KZN, 23 December 1985
-Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court, 17 March 1988
-Durban Pick ‘n Pay shopping complex, 1 September 1986
-Pretoria Sterland movie complex 16 April 1988 – limpet mine killed ANC terrorist M O Maponya instead
-Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, 20 May 1987
-Roodepoort Standard Bank 3 June, 1988

Tellingly, not only did Mandela refuse to renounce violence, Amnesty refused to take his case stating “[the] movement recorded that it could not give the name of ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ to anyone associated with violence, even though as in ‘conventional warfare’ a degree of restraint may be exercised.”

 

As President he bought a lot of military hardware

Inheriting a country with criminally deep socio-ecnomic problems, one might expect resources to be poured into redressing the imbalances of apartheid. Yet once in office, even Mandela’s government slipped into the custom of putting national corporatism, power and prestige above its people. Deputy Minister of Defence Ronnie Kasrils said in 1995 that the government’s planned cuts in defence spending could also result in the loss of as many as 90,000 jobs in defence-related industries.

Mandela’s government announced in November 1998 that it intended to purchase 28 BAE/SAAB JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft from Sweden at a cost of R10.875 billion, i.e. R388 million (about US$65 million) per plane. Clearly, the all-powerful air armadas of Botswana weighed heavily on the minds of South African leaders…

Not content with jets, in 1999 a US$4.8 billion (R30 billion in 1999 rands) purchase of weaponry was finalised, which has been subject to allegations of corruption. The South African Department of Defence’s Strategic Defence Acquisition purchased a slew of shiny new weapons, including frigates, submarines, corvettes, light utility helicopters, fighter jet trainers and advanced light fighter aircraft.

Below are some of the purchases made, presumably to keep the expansionist intentions of Madagascar at bay…

Description
Original Qty
Illustrative total cost
Corvettes
4
R4 billion
Maritime helicopter for corvettes
5
R1 billion

New submarines to replace ​

Daphne​

4
R5,5 billion
Alouette helicopter replacement
60
R2 billion
Advanced light fighter
48
R6-9 billion
Main Battle Tank replacement of Olifant
154
R6 billion
Total cost in 1998 Rand
R25-38 billion

Mandela was friendly with dictators

Despite being synonymous with freedom and democracy, Mandela was never afraid to glad hand the thugs and tyrants of the international arena.

General Sani Abacha seized power in Nigeria in a military coup in November 1993. From the start of his presidency, in May 1994, Nelson Mandela refrained from publicly condemning Abacha’s actions. Up until the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November 1995 the ANC government vigorously opposed the imposition of sanctions against Nigeria. Shortly before the meeting Mandela’s spokesman, Parks Mankahlana, said that “quiet persuasion” would yield better results than coercion. Even after the Nigerian government announced the death sentences against Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists, during the summit, Mandela refused to condemn the Abacha regime or countenance the imposition of sanctions.

Two of the ANC’s biggest donors, in the 1990s, were Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and President Suharto of Indonesia . Not only did Mandela refrain from criticising their lamentable human rights records but he interceded diplomatically on their behalf, and awarded them South Africa ‘s highest honour. Suharto was awarded a state visit, a 21-gun salute, and The Order of Good Hope (gold class).

In April 1999 Mandela acknowledged to an audience in Johannesburg that Suharto had given the ANC a total of 60 million dollars. An initial donation of 50 million dollars had been followed up by a further 10 million. The Telegraph ( London ) reported that Gaddafi was known to have given the ANC well over ten million dollars.

The apartheid regime was a crime against humanity; as illogical as it was cruel. It is tempting, therefore, to simplify the subject by declaring that all who opposed it were wholly and unswervingly good. It’s important to remember, however, that Mandela has been the first to hold his hands up to his shortcomings and mistakes. In books and speeches, he goes to great length to admit his errors. The real tragedy is that too many in the West can’t bring themselves to see what the great man himself has said all along; that he’s just as flawed as the rest of us, and should not be put on a pedestal.

 

Man, you sure manage to put up a mammoth smoke screen particularly when you ignore the facts.

 

Mandella was a complex man, yes he used violence for a political end but then again so did the forefathers of your own country!
What he did manage to do was to hold the country together without using violence after the fall of the white led regeim, and if you know anything at all of Africa you will know what a job that in itself was.

If you would like a insight into life in SA during that period and also want a good laugh then try reading "Riotous Assembly" by Tom Sharp (Also sadly died this year) he was a man who knew SA and apartheid, after all he was deported for sedition in 1961

 

Oh what a surprise! Another non-specific criticism. Do you just spew negativity as easily as breathing?

 

You mean like this?

or this?

Oh, BTW,

http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/08/1...d-to-support-sanctions-never-mentions-mandela

 

WOW!

Let me guess, "He was a great man" was an attack because he said it more than once. Or maybe you misunderstood "What he did for his people was stunning." What about "The sacrifices he made ......"?

But then there was "The Soviet Union is the torch-bearer for all our hopes and aspirations." and "
Long live the Cuban Revolution. Long live comrade Fidel Castro", and "
We support the cause of anyone who is fighting for self-determination, and our attitude is the same, no matter who it is. I would be honored to sit on the platform with the four comrades you refer to." (in re; four Puerto Rican terrorists who shot and wounded five US Congressmen in 1954).

IMO, it sounds like O'Reilly pretty much hit the nail on its head and someone else would not recognize the truth it hit him in the ass (where he thinks).

 

I certainly appreciate the personal resolve that Mandela had. I respect that he stood up to the injustices he perceived in his society. However, when people attempt to portray him as, say, the Martin Luther King, Jr. of South Africa then they need to open their eyes just a little wider. King fought injustice and racial inequality through non-violent means whereas Mandela did not. Whenever someone uses violence to gain whatever it may be they're seeking, then it's going to come back to bite them. King was, indeed, a great man. Mandela, well, not so much. Even he said so.

People may see Mandela's life story as inspirational and in some aspects it certainly is. However, his ideology and tendency toward violence (at least in his early years) is something I can't agree with.

 

Ted Cruz trashed for paying tribute to Nelson Mandela on Facebook

by Zerlina Maxwell | December 6, 2013 at 11:50 AM


Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas attends a hearing on sequestration effects on military budget and spending before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, November 7, 2013. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)/Nelson Mandela attending his granddaughter's funeral (AP Photo)

The Tea Party has officially jumped the shark.
With the passing of South African president Nelson Mandela Thursday came plenty of commentary from conservatives that completely altered his legacy, while at the same time trying to pretend that they have been supporters of Mandela all along.
As Joan Walsh wrote in Salon, this “right washing” of Mandela’s legacy in order to paint the Republican party as allies in his fight against apartheid is unacceptable. But nothing is more symbolic of how far removed from reality the GOP is than a quick glance at Senator Ted Cruz’s Facebook post honoring Mandela’s legacy.
Senator Cruz took to his Facebook page to say of Mandela’s passing:

“Nelson Mandela will live in history as an inspiration for defenders of liberty around the globe. He stood firm for decades on the principle that until all South Africans enjoyed equal liberties he would not leave prison himself, declaring in his autobiography, ‘Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.’ Because of his epic fight against injustice, an entire nation is now free. We mourn his loss and offer our condolences to his family and the people of South Africa.”​

While Senator Cruz appears to be taking the high road for once in his political life, his Facebook commenters would not let the Tea Party favorite get away with stepping out of their pure ideological line. Praising Mandela was a step too far for Cruz fans and the ugliness, historical inaccuracies, and racism in the comments on the post should serve as an illustration that the tea party as a serious political entity has jumped the shark.
“Let’s not forget that Mandela called Castro’s Communist revolution ‘a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people,’” said Mike Bates. Another commenter, Derek Crawford wrote, “stunned to see you support this scumbag, Mr. Cruz…Mandela was a murderer, and a terrorist..not to mention a communist.”
And Mandela being a communist isn’t the only point of contention Cruz’s supporters have with the praising of Mandela’s legacy.
“Go home ted your drunk. He was a communist terrorist who targeted people for no other reason than being white [sic],” another commenter Shane Spade wrote.
Mandela was a racist, according to these Tea Partiers because he had the nerve to fight for the end of apartheid. The nerve!
And the purity test that requires Tea Partiers to reject any praise for Mandela isn’t limited to communism or the implication that he is a racist because he fought against white supremacy. Another commenter found a way to connect Mandela’s political crimes to his support for women’s reproductive freedom.
“He was also a huge supporter of abortion! Don’t put him too high up! Careful Mr Cruz,” Paula Mcglothin wrote.
Another anti-choice conservative, Debbie Metts, wrote, “I see that the convicted terrorist and abortion-lover Mandela has finally met the Maker whom he never acknowledged as far as I know,” complete with a link to her friends ranting wing nutty blog post about the alleged “crimes” of Mandela.
Another commenter Matt Helm, insisted that South Africa was better off before Mandela was president (seriously). “Yeah…not with you on this one, Ted. Might want to reign in the warm and fuzzy interns posting on your page on your behalf, Mandela was not a hero and South Africa is NOT better off because of his work,” he wrote.
Cruz’s supporters seem the most disappointed in the senator’s need to appear politically correct.
A very disappointed supporter Carolyn Dodd wrote, “Tell the truth Ted!!! Who are you??!! Obama?? Don’t rewrite history to try to get people to like you!!! Educate them!! Mandela was a murderer, terrorist, and a Communist!!!! Can we even trust you to be honest now ??!!”
And still there were other supporters who even went as far as to say they were happy that Mandela is finally dead and that this is really a time for celebration, not mourning, “Mandela wasn’t worth the loss of a single tear. This is a time for celebration. He’s just lucky he never got justice handed to him for the cruelty he and his government inflicted on people,” Benjamin Broda wrote. Another commenter Joe Dowda wrote, “Come on Ted. Mandela was a thug, mass murder, and a terrorist, and you stand there and shout accolades, gimme a break!”
There were a few sprinklings of sanity where folks jumped in to say that all of the racism and hatred directed at Mandela in the thread is despicable, but the vast majority of comments and the most popular comments in the thread insist that Senator Ted Cruz is selling out to the politically correct establishment and that Nelson Mandela is not a revolutionary that literally changed the course of history, instead he’s a terrorist murderer who hates white people.
And Mandela support may cost Senator Cruz votes: “Well I’m sorry I voted for you Cruz. Really disappointed in [c]onservatives tonight for they’re [sic] ignorance about him. I didn’t realize we conservatives glorified racist, Marxist, terrorists but I guess all you politicians are the same,” wrote Taylor Hartmann, one very disappointed Cruz voter.
The Mandela bashing is a moment that should go down in history as the moment the Tea Party may have gone a bridge too far.
If even Ted Cruz isn’t pure enough for these folks, you have to wonder who is.

 

One Conservative finally admits what we all knew....

Nelson Mandela, R.I.P
By Deroy Murdock
December 5, 2013 9:41 PM

​

My friend James Deciuttis once asked me very directly, “Are you ever wrong?” It was not asked with bile, but very straightforwardly, as if asking if I ever had visited Spain.
I told James that if he referred to my writing, speaking, and political activism, I have made many bad calls and misjudgments. I can look forward to a brand-new year of them in just 28 days. In one particular case, however, I really blew it very, very, very badly. But I was not alone.
Like many other anti-Communists and Cold Warriors, I feared that releasing Nelson Mandela from jail, especially amid the collapse of South Africa’s apartheid government, would create a Cuba on the Cape of Good Hope at best and an African Cambodia at worst.
After all, Mandela had spent 27 years locked up in Robben Island prison due to his leadership of the African National Congress. The ANC was a violent, pro-Communist organization. By the guiding light of Ronald Wilson Reagan, many young conservatives like me spent much of the 1980s fighting Marxism-Leninism — from the classrooms of radical campuses to the battlefields of Grenada, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, both overtly and covertly. Having seen Communists terrorize nations around the world while the Berlin Wall still stood, Mandela looked like one more butcher waiting to take his place on the 20th Century’s blood-soaked stage.
The example of the Ayatollah Khomeini also was fresh in our minds. He went swiftly from exile in Paris to edicts in Tehran and quickly turned Iran into a vicious and bloodthirsty dictatorship at the vanguard of militant Islam.
Nelson Mandela was just another Fidel Castro or a Pol Pot, itching to slip from behind bars, savage his country, and surf atop the bones of his victims.
WRONG!
Far, far, far from any of that, Nelson Mandela turned out to be one of the 20th Century’s great moral leaders, right up there with Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He also was a statesman of considerable weight. If not as significant on the global stage as FDR, Winston Churchill, and Ronald Reagan, he approaches Margaret Thatcher as a national leader with major international reach.
Mandela invited the warden of Robben Island prison to his inauguration as president of South Africa. He sat him front and center. While most people would be tempted to lock up their jailers if they had the chance, Mandela essentially forgave him while the whole world and his own people, white and black, were watching. This quietly sent South Africa’s white population a message: Calm down. This will be okay. It also signaled black South Africans: Now is no time for vengeance. Let’s show our former oppressors that we are greater than that and bigger people than they were to us.
As Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon beautifully dramatize in the excellent film Invictus, Mandela resisted the ANC’s efforts to strip the national rugby team of its long-standing name, the Springboks. Seen as a symbol of apartheid, Mandela’s black colleagues were eager to give the team a new, less “white” identity. Mandela argued that white South Africans, stripped of political leadership and now quite clearly in the minority, should not be deprived of the one small point of pride behind which they could shield their anxieties.
Mandela then championed the team. He attended its games and rallied both blacks and whites behind it as a national sports organization, rather than an exclusive totem of South Africa’s white minority.
Mandela’s easy manner, warmth, and decency shone through and gave South Africans a common point of unity amid so many opportunities for division.
(As an American, it would be nice right now to have a leader who could bring our nation together, rather than pound one wedge after another into our dispirited population.)
Mandela’s economic record deserves deeper analysis later. However, for now it is worthwhile to remember that he came to power in 1994, less than half a decade after the Iron Curtain collapsed and the triumph of scientific socialism was exposed as a cruel and hollow fantasy. Rather than follow that vanquished model, Mandela looked to economic growth as the path his nation should follow. Among other things, he sold off stakes in South African Airways, utilities, and other state-owned companies. While some wish he had gone further, this was a far cry from the playbook of Marx and Lenin.
So, I was dead wrong about Nelson Mandela, a great man and fine example to others, not least the current occupant of the White House.
After 95 momentous years on Earth, may Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela rest in peace.

 

"People may see Mandela's life story as inspirational and in some aspects it certainly is. However, his ideology and tendency toward violence (at least in his early years) is something I can't agree with."

No argument from me on that Coin

 

NBC and Al Sharpton are up to their selective editing tricks again. Watch:

http://nation.foxnews.com/2013/12/1...eceitful-video-editoreilly-factor-exposes-lie

 

Best bit is the guy who was doing the sign language at the memorial was a fake LOL