On the news recently we heard of another would-be American jihadist itching to earn his spurs. He'd traveled to Syria to get training, but instead of buckling down to the bloody job he was recruited to return to this country and work his magic in a more target-rich environment.
He is said to have harbored a strong desire to enter an army base in Texas and kill a few soldiers, execution style.
I suppose there are large numbers of Americans who still wonder why such a desire would be held by anyone.
In the Boston bombing trial, the actions of the accused (and now convicted) were characterized as "senseless." And I'm pretty sure that comment came from the man's own defense attorney.
The problem is, these "terroristic" actions and desires for action are far from senseless. Unfortunately, they are to a large extent religious in nature.
Politicians play down this angle, as I've said before. They can't afford to antagonize their religious constituents. (This is especially true in America.)
But removing this exotic motivation forces pundits to supply another one (unless "senseless" is still on the table). What's left is pure politics.
Or maybe politics seasoned with good old-fashioned revenge.
Revenge for the actions of American military personnel is certainly an understandable reason for action (even if wrong-headed). Many lives have been lost in Muslim countries, a substantial number of them those of innocent civilians.
(As for those guys actually engaged in fighting us, a case could be made they were simply defending their country from invaders. It's not entirely far-fetched.)
Put religion back on the table, and now our devout enemies can take "senseless" out of their equation for explaining why Americans act the way they do.
Which brings them back to the obvious conclusion: the U.S. is waging a war-to-the-death against Islam.
Revenge politics riding to work on God's holy word: It's a devastating combination, one especially difficult for humans to resist.
When you know the unknowable, all things make perfect sense. Including what to do next.
*******************
In case it has escaped your notice, this blog is meant to support a book currently available on Amazon in the Kindle e-book format. Starting tomorrow (Tuesday, April 21) the book will be offered at a discount for a week. Early birds get the best price. Double-clicking the book's cover image (in the margin on your right) takes you to Amazon where you can see what's what.
And by the way, if you're an Amazon Prime member, I believe you can borrow this book for free. You might want to look into that....
Monday, April 20, 2015
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
UNNECESSARY PROOF
Now we have cell-phone video of a new and outrageous police shooting in South Carolina. A black man runs from a white cop because (it is alleged) he feared going to jail for unpaid child or spousal support.
The cop, who had already Tased the fellow, watches the guy (Walter Scott) run away for only a fraction of a second before pulling his service weapon and firing eight times—hitting the man five times in the back and killing him.
The cop (Michael Slager) says he feared for his life. He says Scott grabbed his Taser. Slager is currently under arrest for murder.
On network news a former FBI investigator looked at the video of the man running and said this is when a proper cop pursues on foot. You don't just shoot the guy because you're reluctant to work up a sweat by chasing him.
Black folks in the "Black Lives Matter" movement point to this new video as proof of what they've been saying all along: white cops are murdering black guys in the street for no reason.
But this is not proof of that.
This is proof that one particular white cop shot and killed a particular black man because he apparently felt it was more effective police work than chasing him down and wrestling with him on the ground.
This is not substitute photographic evidence Michael Brown was shot and killed in the same manner. (Brown was not shot in the back.)
Similarly, the video does not add weight to existing evidence a man was choked to death in New York City or that a 12-year-old kid brandishing a pellet gun was murdered in Cleveland.
This video applies only to the case it depicts. No other conclusions are valid. It doesn't even add a point to a graph already alleged to be cluttered with points. This may in fact be the first valid point in recent memory on an otherwise empty field.
Unfortunately, the human brain plays by its own rules. A proof of one thing can be taken as proof of another thing.
In other words: "It's all good."
Folks know what they know and they can't be wrong—as far as they know. Why? Because everything they see proves them right. In this case, the new video is just more evidence backing up the earlier conclusions. Evidence they don't even need.
Video from an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles showed San Bernardino Sheriff's deputies punching and kicking a man on the ground (he'd fallen off a stolen horse). As far as could be seen, the fellow was proned out in the dirt when the cops got to him. He even put his hands behind his back. The deputies wailed on him anyway. (They've been suspended by the Sheriff.)
The suspect was white.
Seems like every day we're treated to new video of folks getting pummeled by the police in what certainly seems to be cases of psycho cop-rage.
And much of this footage involves white cops going to town on unarmed black guys. It would be hard to make the case that white cops are not displaying a disturbing attitude of racism in this country.
That said, it doesn't follow that white cops are murdering black folks right and left. Getting photographic proof of this one incident does not validate all the other alleged murders.
Look, I'm not saying it's not happening. I'm just saying we don't have any reason to know one way or the other. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop a lot of us from knowing for sure.
But that's our birthright as human beings. We invented knowing for sure.
The cop, who had already Tased the fellow, watches the guy (Walter Scott) run away for only a fraction of a second before pulling his service weapon and firing eight times—hitting the man five times in the back and killing him.
The cop (Michael Slager) says he feared for his life. He says Scott grabbed his Taser. Slager is currently under arrest for murder.
On network news a former FBI investigator looked at the video of the man running and said this is when a proper cop pursues on foot. You don't just shoot the guy because you're reluctant to work up a sweat by chasing him.
Black folks in the "Black Lives Matter" movement point to this new video as proof of what they've been saying all along: white cops are murdering black guys in the street for no reason.
But this is not proof of that.
This is proof that one particular white cop shot and killed a particular black man because he apparently felt it was more effective police work than chasing him down and wrestling with him on the ground.
This is not substitute photographic evidence Michael Brown was shot and killed in the same manner. (Brown was not shot in the back.)
Similarly, the video does not add weight to existing evidence a man was choked to death in New York City or that a 12-year-old kid brandishing a pellet gun was murdered in Cleveland.
This video applies only to the case it depicts. No other conclusions are valid. It doesn't even add a point to a graph already alleged to be cluttered with points. This may in fact be the first valid point in recent memory on an otherwise empty field.
Unfortunately, the human brain plays by its own rules. A proof of one thing can be taken as proof of another thing.
In other words: "It's all good."
Folks know what they know and they can't be wrong—as far as they know. Why? Because everything they see proves them right. In this case, the new video is just more evidence backing up the earlier conclusions. Evidence they don't even need.
Video from an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles showed San Bernardino Sheriff's deputies punching and kicking a man on the ground (he'd fallen off a stolen horse). As far as could be seen, the fellow was proned out in the dirt when the cops got to him. He even put his hands behind his back. The deputies wailed on him anyway. (They've been suspended by the Sheriff.)
The suspect was white.
Seems like every day we're treated to new video of folks getting pummeled by the police in what certainly seems to be cases of psycho cop-rage.
And much of this footage involves white cops going to town on unarmed black guys. It would be hard to make the case that white cops are not displaying a disturbing attitude of racism in this country.
That said, it doesn't follow that white cops are murdering black folks right and left. Getting photographic proof of this one incident does not validate all the other alleged murders.
Look, I'm not saying it's not happening. I'm just saying we don't have any reason to know one way or the other. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop a lot of us from knowing for sure.
But that's our birthright as human beings. We invented knowing for sure.
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