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A recent column by Leonard Pitts was scurrilous to say the least. Objecting to a slew of blogs on the Internet he asks, "What about Muslim-Americans who fight for us?" "At this writing" he says of the Fort Hood massacre, "we know next to nothing."

If he ignored the blogs and followed the news, he would know that within hours of the shooting there was ample first-hand knowledge of Hasan's radical ideas and vehement opposition to American foreign policy, and he had commented that suicide bombers can be considered the same as a soldier that throws himself on a grenade to save his comrades. Of course the liberal or mainstream media didn't have that information. So Mr. Pitts remained uninformed.

He goes on to say, "The majority is often eager to stamp the minority with the worst actions of its worst members." Then he proceeds to tell us that African-Americans were lynched still wearing their uniforms, when they came home from fighting for our freedoms. Were the majority or the minority responsible for such atrocious acts?

I am a recent immigrant. I lived most of my life as a minority and it amuses me that the minority rules in America. We shouldn't celebrate Christmas because it may offend the minority; we can't object to gays in the Boy Scouts because it may offend that minority.

This was an act of terrorism by a radicalized Muslim with a heart full of hate, aided and abetted by political correctness gone mad.

My husband and I cried at the ceremony, when I, along with people from 132 nations all became citizens: Americans not Japanese-Americans, Cuban-Americans; but Americans.

What must happen is for political correctness to be set aside and for our country to work on its less than enviable issues. Mr. Pitts should start by making a stand against black on black crime. If my memory serves me correctly there were 11 murders in his home town during the first few days of this year. If we all volunteer, speak out against a sea of babies being born out of wedlock, take time to mentor young people, we can make this great land even better.

Barbara Riley
Sebring