RSS Feed MenuJust when I thought the p.c. culture in the United States could not be any more pervasive, or stifling of the truth, I was treated to this quote from newly re-elected New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s take on the Fort Hood killings. After convening a meeting yesterday with members of the Muslim community to discuss the city’s role in maintaining an open dialogue he had this to say:
“I want to make sure that everybody in New York understands that the terrible tragedy at Fort Hood was an individual who snapped but it has nothing to do with religion,” Bloomberg said.
That would probably come as a surprise to the many victims who were treated to shrieks of “Allahu Akhbar!” (God is Great) before being cut down in a hail of gunfire.
Americans are sharp enough to know the difference between decent law-abiding citizens of any faith and mad jihadists. It’s condescending for politicians to tell citizens lies to avert a backlash that is not going to come.
The Fort Hood shooting was not a “tragedy.” It was a massacre. It was yet another battle on another front in our continued struggle with an Islamic radicalism waging war on our very existence—politically incorrect as that may be. No offense.
Raider1 // Nov 12, 2009 at 10:58 am
And there it is. Bloomberg is the poster child for this absolute refusal to see Islamic teror for what it is: Islamic terror. Yeah, religion had nothing to do with it Mike. Next headline: Bloomberg to offer brooklyn Bridge to highest bidder. This country is doomed if our leaders refuse to even identify the threat.
MI-GOPer // Nov 12, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Raider1, Bloomberg isn’t alone. Last night on one of the highest rated news shows, Bill OReilly’s The Factor, Bill tried to get far Left Democrat elite and Obama-apologist extraordinaire Sally Quinn to admit that Hasan was a jihadist terrorist. Ms Quinn had been very vocal about blaming the military for Hasan’s slaughter, trying to make Hasan a victim of mental illness –like some of the far Left trolls on this site tried to do on the day of the massacre.
For the majority of the interview she wouldn’t capitulate; just like most liberals and just like the Obama. But when presented with Mr OReilly’s simple, clear, irrefutable logic, even the liberal apologist Sally Quinn finally admitted Mr OReilly was correct… Hasan is a jihadist terrorist.
Of course, the far Left trolls on this site still haven’t been able to do that simple task. In order to do that, they’d have to admit internally that the War on Terror still rages –and you can’t admit to something the Obama says no longer exists, right?
MI-GOPer // Nov 12, 2009 at 12:10 pm
By the way, for the far Left trolls… here’s how your Mother Ship, the HuffPo, reported Fox News’ continuing ascendancy in the news world:
“Fox News has pulled off another dominant quarter, claiming the top 10 cable news programs in 3Q 2009 and growing against 3Q 2008, while CNN and MSNBC lost substantial portions of their election-boom audience.
Fox News averaged 2.25 million total viewers in prime time for the third quarter, up 2% over the previous year. That’s more than CNN (946,000, down 30%) and MSNBC (788,000, down 10%) combined.
“The O’Reilly Factor” led all cable news programs with an average of 3.295 million total viewers for the quarter, up 12% over the previous year. “Hannity” (2.603 million, up 9%), “Glenn Beck” (2.403 million, up 89%), “On the Record with Greta van Susteren” (2.150 million, up 16%), and “Special Report with Bret Baier” (1.997 million, up 20%) rounded out the top five.
Meanwhile, flagship programs at MSNBC and CNN did not sustain their growth from 3Q 2008: At MSNBC, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” averaged 1.087 million total viewers, down 12% from the previous year and “The Rachel Maddow Show” averaged 996,000 total viewers (Maddow began the program in September 2008, so a comparison for the quarter would be inaccurate; compared to September 2008, though, Maddow’s September 2009 total viewer average is down 40%). At CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360″ averaged 1.005 million viewers, down 17% from the previous year and “Lou Dobbs” averaged 658,000 total viewers, down 24%. Larry King and Campbell Brown were both down just slightly in total viewers.
CNN in particular had a rough quarter in the primetime Adults 25-54 demo: the network dropped 39% compared to 3Q 2008, averaging 287,000 viewers.”
Raider1 // Nov 12, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I was shocked when I read this and checked even to make sure it was an accurate quite. There’s a video even of him saying this so Schaeffer wasn’t misquiting or taking out of context.
I wish I’d seen that O’Reilly. heck I’m surpised Michael Moore hasn’t found a way to blame this on Goerge Bush or Andrew Sullivan found some anti-gay angle in it.
sinz54 // Nov 12, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Here’s the acid test:
Army officials strongly deny any suggestion that Hasan’s religion resulted in his being given special treatment. But one officer who attended the Pentagon’s medical school with Hasan disagrees. “He was very vocal about being a Muslim first and holding Shari’a law above the Constitution,” this officer recalls. When fellow students asked, “How can you be an officer and hold to the Constitution?,” the officer says, Hasan would “get visibly upset — sweaty and nervous — and had no good answers.” This medical doctor would speak only anonymously because his commanders have ordered him not to talk about Hasan, he says.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1937334,00.html#ixzz0WfPBLFWa
At any time, but especially in wartime, any citizen who asserts that his loyalty to some foreign ideology transcends his loyalty to the Constitution should be instantly suspect. I don’t care if that foreign ideology is named Nazism or Communism or Islamism.
And anyone with such views cannot serve as an officer in the U.S. military. Period.
Jumbo05 // Nov 12, 2009 at 12:30 pm
While it certainly does appear as though the shooter yelled “Allahu Akhbar!” I think it’s a little premature to jump to the conclusion that the primary motivation was Islamic extremism. Many reports I’ve heard from people who worked with Nadal Hassan seem to indicate that he may have had severe psychological issues that went unaddressed. It is not unreasonable to think that a disturbed individual such has Hassan could have committed this heinous act, while shouting in Arabic, without sharing an Islamic fundamentalist’s hatred of America.
While I don’t agree with Mr. Bloomberg summarily dismissing the event as having nothing to do with religion, I also think that focusing solely on the religious factors of this massacre is taking the easy way out. Ignoring the mental health issues of the shooter makes us focus only on the simple explanations and will lead to gaps in prevention measures and in our ability to recognize warning signs in the future.
Raider1 // Nov 12, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Jumbo…I rest my case. Sorry bro. I just don’t think you get it.
ericna // Nov 12, 2009 at 12:41 pm
It is funny how one hears repeated cries for referring to some terrorist acts as committed by “Islamic extremists,” but never terrorist acts committed against abortion clinics as committed by “Christian terrorists.” Both terms are equally offensive and should not be used.
Raider1 // Nov 12, 2009 at 12:52 pm
They guy reached out by email to an Al Qaeda recruiter several times if I understood the story right. Imagine if you will it is 1960 and a US Army Maj. was contacting Moscow for God’s sake.
And as for these damend Wahaabist mosques like that one in VA, preaching anti-US vitriol. Do we now somehow believe that sedition is a first amendment right??? What the heck is happening to this country? We are committing suicide.
Raider1 // Nov 12, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Eric…that is the old reply. And obviously you don’t watch the mainstream media because they covered Tiller’s murder to death. Do tell how many abortionists have been killed versus the victims of Islamic terrorism? Tell you what. If we had churches all over the US getting massive funding from say the Vatican who were preaching the violent overthrow of the US and the mass murder of any non-Christian as their duty. If 19 Christians flew planes into our buildings, or blew holes in our ships, bombed our embassies and barracks, blew up resorts and night clubs and train stations throughout the world in the name of Jesus, then I would say we need to sit on them. But they don’t do they? Because Christianity is harwired for co-existence and peaceful conversion. Someone dunks a crucifix in urine or slings s**t on a picure of Mary and it is labled “art.” Larry David splatters Jesus with urine and it is comedy. BUT, a man does a drwing of Mohammed and hundreds die in riots or a man makes an anti-Islam movie and has his throat slit.
You know what? I am a Christian but I would never in a million years justify murder of those who are not of my faith. Not so our Jihadist friends.
You cannot be serious.
mlindroo // Nov 12, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Sinz54 wrote:
> At any time, but especially in wartime, any citizen who asserts that his
> loyalty to some foreign ideology transcends his loyalty to the Constitution
> should be instantly suspect. I don’t care if that foreign ideology is named
> Nazism or Communism or Islamism.
I don’t have any problem with that, but while we’re at it let’s screen everybody for dangerous behavior and beliefs! Muslim servicemen hardly have a monopoly on irrational and dangerous beliefs (see e.g. Timothy McVeigh, who also was anti-US government).
BTW, as long as the war is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan there is going to be a need for Arabic, Pashtun etc. language skills and cultural knowledge. So it would be really dumb to ban all Muslims from serving in the armed forces.
MARCU$
Independent // Nov 12, 2009 at 2:40 pm
raider1, i give you credit for trying to discuss these issues with our frum trolls. and mi-gop. and sinz54.
Raider1 // Nov 12, 2009 at 2:42 pm
The truth hurts. I try. Mark Steyn does it better:
Speaking of “people you doom”:
The principal of an Islamic school has admitted that it uses textbooks which describe Jews as “apes” and Christians as “pigs” and has refused to withdraw them.
Jeddah? Don’t be silly. It’s the King Fahd Academy in West London – though, as the school puts it, “This is not England. This is Saudi Arabia.”
Nothing to see here, folks. After all, as the textbooks of the Saudi Islamic Academy teach:
“Oh Muslim, oh servant of God, here is a Jew hiding behind me. Come here and kill him.”
Islamabad? No, Falls Church, Virginia. That was the school, incidentally, that produced Mr Abu Ali, a young man charged with plotting to assassinate the President, or as The New York Times put it:
Mr. Ali, 23, described in recent news reports as a Houston-born American citizen and the valedictorian of his high school class in suburban Virginia…
The headline in The Detroit Free Press read: “Valedictorian Suspect In Plot On Bush’s Life”. Did they arrest him midway through his star turn in Bye Bye Birdie?
Independent // Nov 12, 2009 at 2:42 pm
“Of course, the far Left trolls on this site still haven’t been able to do that simple task. In order to do that, they’d have to admit internally that the War on Terror still rages –and you can’t admit to something the Obama says no longer exists, right?” –mi-gop
absolutely, 100% nailed it. in fact, some of the trolls here keep right on going like some perverted energizer bunny of far left lunacy.
Raider1 // Nov 12, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Honestly it isn’t even the overt terror war that concerns me most. Even the trolls here (except Otto1, Otto2, Otto3 and Balcon maybe) can understand a bomb going off. But what about the p.c. that prevents honest discussions of Islam. What about textbooks that whitewash the history of Islam while demonizing Christianity? What about Saudis pouring huge sums of money into our highest institutions to buy influence? What about German publishing houses self-censoring for fear of Mulsim street violence? (Something that Otto2 never answered of course). Etc.
They are taking over the West while putting it to sleep at the same time.
jakester // Nov 12, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I totally agree he is the classic home grown jihadist and I am sick of morons at Huff Po et al pretending he wasn’t. Do you know how many times some jerk went on about McVeigh, I had a stock response, he was not a practicing Christian, was not part of any Christian terrorists group nor cited any biblical references or religious text to justify his act. I must have followed a hundred of those comments with that come back.
On the other hand, I totally blame the Army for not weeding this cretin out. I don’t think PC had anything to do with this, just usual Army incompetence. He could have been arrested for numeroous charges, had his shrink license revoked for proselytizing or been transfered to some remote US base.
jakester // Nov 12, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Marcus
McVeigh was not in the army when he blew up the building. No one said check all Muslims, but ones who spout jihad sentiments, have contacts with a radical Imam and try to contact Al Qaeda should ring a bell somewhere.
midcon // Nov 13, 2009 at 8:19 am
Regardless of what the Kuran teaches, it is clear that the current manifestation of Islam includes the acceptability of violence to achieve an end. It is virtually indistinguishable from ethnic cultural practices, such as “honor” killings. This integration of ethnic/nationalistic culture and religious identity gives rise to the perception that Islam is violence, when it is the culture that is actually responsible. However, there is a common denominator, it is either Arabic/Islamic culture or Islam the religion. To deny that there is a significant advocacy for violence in Islam (the religion or culture) is just plain silly. While I may have daily interaction with those who practice Islam I consider them extremists until proven otherwise.
balconesfault // Nov 13, 2009 at 10:57 am
midcon: Regardless of what the Kuran teaches, it is clear that the current manifestation of Islam includes the acceptability of violence to achieve an end.
Let’s change that to “some current manifestations” … and I would wholly agree with you.
While I may have daily interaction with those who practice Islam I consider them extremists until proven otherwise.
Perhaps prudent, for your purposes – I won’t judge. But on a societal level we have to be aware that depending on how we “treat” those we would therefore consider “extremists until proven otherwise” can backfire.
If society deliberately sets higher bars for Arab/Americans to do certain things, if we set obstacles to them being more incorporated into our institutions – we will most certainly have the effect of estranging a larger percentage of that population when the success of the American model rests on assimilation. If only 1 in 100 American muslims feels estranged because of your policies … and only 1 in 1000 of those who are estranged come to embrace terrorism and violence as a response to this estrangement … you have probably ended up making America a far far more dangerous place as a result of this policy.
To a certain extent, this is the Israel paradox. They have decided to guarantee security by setting up walls and checkpoints, but people sitting in hours long checkpoints every time they want to travel 5 miles to a different town begin becoming more disaffected, and some portion more prone to anti-Israeli violence.
And the terrorists are counting on that each time they blow something up. You don’t think Hasan had in mind that he was making it more difficult for Muslims to be a part of the US military when he went on his spree? I would be surprised if that wasn’t his primary motive, the tragedy of the dead soldiers being not only secondary but irrelevant except for the response it would provoke.
Oneon1isto // Nov 13, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Everyone screaming Jihad is missing the point. Completely.
Why? Because there are degrees here that ignore the perp’s mental state and yes, his religion. It matters that he might have had an irrational religious belief coupled with a severe mental state. It’s quite possible he wasn’t a garden-variety terrorist (if there is such a thing) that requires immediate knee-jerk reactions from every single couch-warrior out there. It’s possible he snapped. It’s doubtful that he’s cellular. This is one massive grey area we shouldn’t be jumping into without prior knowledge.
The dirty liberal view expressed is that you need to determine what role religion played in his attack before you even start rolling out the hysteria. The fact that he is Muslim in and of itself is not useful information. It’s his own personal motivations and beliefs that are. To immediately point to his religion (while 100% ignorant of his BELIEFS) is unfair to the rest of the American Muslims in the room.
Regardless, it seems the most important part of this is that it has raised red flags in the military’s screening of people with mental issues and how it handles them.
sinz54 // Nov 14, 2009 at 9:11 am
Oneon1isto: Why? Because there are degrees here that ignore the perp’s mental state and yes, his religion. It matters that he might have had an irrational religious belief coupled with a severe mental state.
I don’t know why you keep playing Freud at a distance and talking about a “severe mental state.” What if, at the upcoming trial of the 9-11 plotters, the defense claims that they too were just mentally ill before they got recruited into terrorism?
Did it ever occur to you that it’s the neurotic young Muslim men, often made neurotic by the religious teachings of these radical imams that women are unclean sirens who are constantly trying to lure men into bed to corrupt them, that are the prime candidates for recruitment into terrorism? A well-adjusted Muslim man, leading a good life, isn’t going to want to give that up and become a terrorist. A neurotic young Muslim, sick to death with the sewage that’s been pumped into his head by radical imams, is a good candidate for terrorism.
There are a whole lot of people that have mental illness. Some of them have even gone violent. But none of them, AFAIK, did so after a long history of citing one of the Abrahamic religions as their justification for their delusions.
sinz54 // Nov 14, 2009 at 10:13 am
Oneon1isto:
One more thing. Let’s completely factor out religion from the equation. Let’s just say we’re dealing with army Major John Smith, a known atheist.
Why would we allow someone with a “severe mental state” to keep his job as an Army psychiatrist??? How good a job at mental health counseling can someone do, if he’s psychotic himself?
jakester // Nov 15, 2009 at 1:08 am
sinz54
That is why after the jihader himself, I blame the Army. He was showing signs as large as interstate billboards yet they ignored them all.