I just find this whole thing that Rep. Peter King is doing to be just strange. Other words came to mind, but I had to settle on strange. Is there really something wrong with holding hearings on domestic terrorism across the board? We do still have those concerns. I mean what happened in Tempe, AZ and Wichita, KS were acts of domestic terror, as horrible as what happened at Fort Hood. Why single out American Muslims? Hell, I am surprised that the "New" Black Panther Party isn't being called in for this (though I am sure there might be a separate Congressional hearing for all four of those guys soon enough).
It's also more than fair to bring up King's support for the Irish Republican Army back in the day, a real terrorist organization. I remember those stories coming out of the UK and Ireland when I was an adolescent. Considering his support for the IRA, I am sure that King would have bristled at the notion of the Brits hauling in all Northern Ireland Catholics to see if they were doing enough to stop the terror plots of the IRA, and rightly so. It's hard to blame the whole for the actions of a few.
I found a great editorial on this issue from a Jewish perspective, another religious minority within the U.S.
We don't need to go down this path. We are better than this.
3 comments:
What happened in AZ is terrorism? By what definition of terrorism?
Terrorism is a tactic of policy -- whether war or political policy.
Loughner is a psychopath, not a terrorist, and to conflate what he did with what Hasan did doesn't hold water
"We don't need to go down this path. We are better than this."
No, sadly Free, we're not. This country has seen it time and time again, from the Salem Witch Trials, slavery, the Japanese American internment during WW II and now Guantanamo Bay.
At the risk of sounding trite, history has shown us nothing.
@TC: I will say this. Technically, and unless I am mistaken, neither trial for either shooter has come to a conclusion. If I am not mistaken, then neither of us can claim terrorism, until that comes out during the trial. Hassam isn't as much a psychopath at Loughner? There are definite allegations about Hasan, no doubt, but aren't we still trying to learn what made Loughner tick? He had conspiratorial sentiments, as was reported widely, but those sentiments haven't been attached to a particular group. Can't a lone shooter who doesn't say much exhibit a "tactic of policy" based on his shooting a politician he didn't like? Isn't that a part of what needs to be proven in court? and isn't the same true for Hasan? Or is it because of his being Muslim that moves his actions into the terrorism camp without question? Again, I am basing this all on the idea that neither suspect has been convicted.
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