Taking their cue from the White House, the Networks and most cable channels are defying reality yet again in their attempts to downplay the fact that this was an act of Islamic Terrorism.
Hasan was shouting "Allah Akbar" as he murdered his fellow Soldiers. He had cleaned out his quarters, even giving away the food from his fridge. He posted a blog glorifying Islamic Suicide Bombers. He had stated publicly that the War on Terror was a War on Islam. He badgered his fellow Soldiers with the "Glory" of Islam.... and on and on and on...
Just imagine the furor if he had had a Bible in his hand as he was shooting, and was a devout Christian. The Media would be screaming their heads off in their condemnation of Christianity.
This PC double standard of awarding "Protected Victim Status" to Radical Islam is beyond silly or stupid, it will cost more American lives.
The man was an Islamic Terrorist, Nothing more, nothing less.
Nobody's condemning a whole religion, Eagles. You're doing exactly the PC thing. And you are painting with the broad brush that we accuse the right wing of using.
I am condemning crazy fanatical extremist Muslims who think Allah wants them to kill people. They are BAD. They are anathema. And they should be condemned. Hasan's crying Allah u akbar leads me to certain conclusions which, I don't think, are unreasonable.
This guy gave away Korans as well as his furniture.
First folks, let us remember the ones that were murdered and also their families.....they need our prayers.....
This fellow needs to become intimate with "Old Sparky" in my opinion.....
He obviously is sick, but still should fry.....
all the religious implications need to center around a single issue: was he a true, dedicated AMERICAN?
If he did this because of some Muslim belief, then there is reason to raise a serious question.....but if he Muslim and did this from some other reason, then the question changes.....
The stories I'm hearing from those who knew the perp, paint a picture of a very disturbed and conflicted man. He should have been weeded out long ago as he was showing signs of mental problems long ago. Mental problems mixed with ANY religion doesn't usually turn out well for the people around them. I can't imagine why they were even considering shipping him to a war zone when it was obvious he was unbalanced. His Imam reported that his last conversation with him ended with the Major being incoherent.
Point well made, mshadow. He was typical rank and file where there is the comraderie of his peers, but as a major did not have the interpersonal bonded relationships the rank and file officers did. It is not my intent to draw a picture to paint excuses, by any means, but I wonder if the safeguards were there to identify this guy as disturbed or if the system failed.
It is common knowledge that those who go into psychiatry often do so to better understand themselves, have problems. Despite making it through the grind of medical school, fully 1/4 of all who enter post grad for psychiatry are flunked out as too seriously disturbed to ever counsel someone else. In schools of psychiatry, the student is required to go through ongoing therapy throughout the three years. I just wonder if the safeguards are in place, the continual counseling/therapy sessions in the military academy as well..
His post online drew the attention of the FBI and supposedly they had him under surveillance for six months preceding this incident,
All systems failed this man and his victims. Even to having adequate MP's on the base for it was a civilian police officer who responded and brought him down.
Here's a sad piece of the puzzle that indicates that his sick motivations when well beyond religion ... of the 13 dead, 5 were military psychiatrists who, like him, specialized in treating combat stress. What are the odds of that in a random shooting?
Hmmm ... can't re-find the link for that specific statistic, but I am finding that an extraordinarily high number of medical personnel of various kinds, including a patient advocate for wounded soldiers who couldn't speak for themselves, and the only civilian, a 61 year old physicians assistant who had a heart attack two weeks ago and had returned to duty last week.
Sometimes I despair for our species.
hersh, since all other incidents of mass murder (multiple other military base slaughters, school shootings in multiple settings, employees going postal in multiple settings, cafeteria shootups by a Texan who hated women and blacks, etc) were mostly done by white Americans, should your "single issue" question "was he a true, dedicated AMERICAN?" apply to them too? Using a single issue question as the only touchstone sure does let a lot of even more murderous Americans off the hook.
How in the world can this country ever move forward when the PC mentality that has somehow taken over prevents anyone from ever publicly calling anything what it really is ? Instead of speaking clear truth , every public utterance must trip over itself in an effort to avoid saying anything at all that has any meaning .
The reason political correctness came into being in the first place was that so many well-meaning(?) but insensitive people were making simple issues complicated through their own ignorance and lack of understanding of others. Yes, we sometimes go overboard in our efforts to seem sensitive to the differences in others but which is worse; too much sensitivity or too little?
"...Instead of speaking clear truth , every public utterance must trip over itself in an effort to avoid saying anything at all that has any meaning"--Dirck
Right on target. In an effort to make sure no one's tender little feeling/self esteem gets hurt, you can't say anything of substance. CALL A SPADE A SPADE. I grew up before all this PC crap started, and wsnen you had a conversation with someone, you knew EXACTLY what was said, or meant. Now, I walk away wondering, not sure what was said or meant. Most people today talk like crap salesmen with a mouth full of samples. Say what you mean, stop beating around the bush.
Apparently it didn't damage me too much, I haven't climbed any bell towers with a rifle yet.
"clear truth" often turns out to be over-simplified tunnel vision with someone hunting the same tired and dirty rabbit (or, LOL, fox) over and over again, no matter what the complexity of the problem.
Insisting that a spade is always a spade means you're probably missing the other 3 suits and haven't dealt yourself a very good hand.
A really good example of this is the tiresome, tedious tendency to call President Obama a commie, or Hitler, or some other boogieman name instead of addressing the truth, which is, of course, much more nuanced and much less dramatic (but may, if expressed articulately, tell a "real truth"). Why take pride in misnomers and goofy hype when a well-argued discussion might actually win hearts, minds and votes?
