Gutfeld responds to college students condemning American exceptionalism
'Gutfeld!' panel remembers 9/11 20 years later and discusses Campus Reform's video of college students being asked about it
It’s been 20 years since 9/11, and you gotta wonder – what's it like for the person who's not 20? Do they know enough about what happened that day to produce a cogent opinion?
Once you look at the latest Campus Reform "Student on the Street" interview, the answer might be "God help us."
Ophelie Jacobson: Did you learn a lot about 9/11 growing up in the classroom?
Student: Not in the classroom but on my own I kinda did my own little research thing
Student: No I did not
Student: I would say we learned a moderate amount
Student: I mean they showed us the videos – the basics
Student: I didn’t learn super specifics about it
Student: I had a whole unit – like 2 months learning about it which was a little strange
Student: Yea definitely my family is Bengali so we are all Muslim so it was something we are all very conscious of
That was as comforting as someone looking at their watch during a funeral. But they're young. We're all kinda silly back then. But maybe given the chance, what would they want people to learn about 9/11?
Jacobson: When talking about 9/11 what do you think we should avoid?
Student: I think we should avoid the more gruesome facts
Student: Avoid talking about its roots in Islam because that was an extremist group
Student: I think that um the 9/11 attack should be taught in a way that doesn’t really target like who did it but like more like how we can like move forward and like different like healing processes that we can go through to like make everything like you know good again
Jacobson: So you don’t think it is good to know who is responsible
Student: I do think it is good to know who is responsible but I also think it should be noted that like their religion is not the only thing
Student: Avoiding kinda placing blame because when you get to the more specific factors that were at play you know kinda opens the opportunity for things like islamophobia and ideas of American exceptionalism
Look - it’s unfair to say these kids are representative of a population as a whole. But what are they representative of?
How about an educational system that’s more about indoctrination than instruction? One that pushes anti-American bile, spewing from miserable, passive-aggressive, physically unattractive, perpetually wrong professors, whose misdirected anger damage impressionable minds.
Thanks to these Marxist think tanks, we call universities, we have a few generations who know less about this country than I do about dunking a basketball.
And somehow exceptionalism is easier to condemn than terrorism.
Ophelie: There is a recent video that came out from the Virginia Department of Education that showcased an American university lecture and she basically said that when talking about 9/11 we should avoid talking about American exceptionalism – would you agree with that
Student: Tea for sure we definitely should because we don’t need more nationalism in this country we need more like healthcare, I don’t know. I think they should focus on America's faults not how amazing we are and how we need to be superior because we are not.
Student: In terms of propagating this idea that our nation is the best no matter what. I would agree that that should be avoided
Student: I don’t think we should be talking about the greatness of the country.
Student: I definitely don’t feel like America is the best country on the earth. I think that we still need like a lot of fixing
Student: I think it is a dangerous mindset to teach young people that because I think that is the reason that a lot of people grow up to be extremists and really nationalistic
I hope stupidity is not contagious. But why would someone their age think this country is exceptional?
They got to the party late. The house is crowded, they don’t know these new people who just keep strolling in, fights are breaking out, the keg is almost empty and the authorities are on their way to shut it down. They arrived as this once great party started winding down.
And sadly, to them, something horrible perpetrated against us is another opportunity to talk about how bad we are.
So, unlike Jesse’s hair, history is a malleable thing – who teaches it and how they teach it, can determine how your kid interprets the world. And if they're too young and fearful to call b.s., it’s easy to be brainwashed.
Just recently, it worked for ‘less cops will make us safer.’
9/11 REMEMBRANCE: NAVY SEAL WHO KILLED BIN LADEN WARNS ABOUT AMERICA'S GREATEST THREAT NOW
So what would I tell them right now?
I was in New York City when it happened. It was as surreal as it was devastating. Because it’s the first time you felt engulfed in horror. Well, second if you’re married.
But you were in the heart of evil. It's not a movie. It's not something you can't walk out of because it sucks. You're in it and it changes you forever. The same way a person is changed forever if they are the victim of a violent crime
You can't have these baby thoughts about silly things. You can't just shrug it off as something we deserved cuz we're so mean and powerful.
That day was something else. And the something else is called evil.
Sadly, that’s forgotten as many now occupy their brains with s*** like gender pronouns and self-obsessed grievance.
But I’m pretty sure if you were on the 95th floor of a burning building and the fireman rescuing you called you the wrong pronoun, you’d let it slide. Some events in life have a way of putting things in perspective. The difference between what's important and what's trivial horse s***.
9/11 was one of those events. But this 20-year conflict for some has been back-page news...including politicians and media. Not as interesting as Britney, Kaepernick or Black Lives Matter.
There's too much stuff to think about – and a lot of it really doesn't require thinking at all. Just feeling angry and looking important. And saying what you're told to say.
We’ve insulated the country, successfully, from our conflicts. But by insulating them, they now have no visceral response to this moment - this event that affects millions of people. It’s so good here, people don’t even know it’s good.
We assign false bravery to the loudest voices – who can cry the hardest, who can claim the most victimhood. This relates to 9/11.
On that day, almost 20 years ago, we were reminded that we were Americans. Not Blacks, Whites, gays, trans, nonbinary woodland creatures. We didn't proclaim our separate categories – we were Americans. Too bad it took 3000 innocent souls violently snatched from us to remind us of that.
That's not tribalism. Or nationalism. It's understanding what you share with each other – that you were attacked, for being you.
Fact is, in 2001 we were Americans. But in twenty years’ time, we’ve been coerced by a profit-seeking media to reject that.
You could argue these entities have done more psychological damage to this country than any outside enemy; creating a whole industry off of hating America.
Because inciting wars between each other – means profits for companies, power for activists, and a distraction from real evil
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On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we call people who don’t want a vaccine, terrorists. Fact is, as long as we are at each other's throats, who needs terrorists.
Al Qaeda did 9/11. The rest is a self-inflicted gunshot wound as a result of "friendly" fire.
This article is adapted from Greg Gutfeld's opening monologue on the September 10, 2021 edition of "Gutfeld!"
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