Can the unexplainable be explained?
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Can the unexplainable be explained?
Elmer Smith weighs in on the Foot Hood massacre:
That trail will go cold. The committee will find only the most tenuous connections between Hassan and any terrorist affiliations just as it has found no terrorist links on his computers.
But it will issue a detailed report. Its findings will be preserved in the annotated archives of mass murder and draw dust until the next spring-loaded nut job spins out of control and starts mowing down innocent bystanders.
We can always come up with something from the catalog of homicidal motivations to rationalize the irrational. Was it a family feud or a money dispute?
But there is no "real reason" for a psychopath to make himself the arbiter of life and death.
Basically, I agree -- although I think there are some caveats that I'll be adding later, This afternoon's a travel day for me, and full-time blogging finally resumes tonight, Until then, consider this an open thread to discuss what's happening. Other than the agony and the ecstasy of health care reform, unemployment topping 10 percent, more fallout from Fort Hood, the end of the SEPTA srike, a bunch of expected and unexpected Phillies moves and that other Philadelphia sports franchise That Shall Not Be Named, I didn't really miss anything in my time away, did I?
Comments (113)
MSL - I don't know what religious beliefs you hold if I am correct I think you lean atheist now. As a Catholic, I can tell you I have attended several churches throughout the country and have never once heard a sermon that had a message of hate - including any about abortion. If I had I assume I would walk out and never return to that church. I can also say I have no clue where to go to find a church preaching such a message but I'm sure it can be found. On the other hand, it seems that a mosque can be found that preach a message of hate more readily. Certainly most mosque don't. And I've never hear of a synagogue preaching hate. While the message always gets blamed it is the people who are attracted to this type of message who are ultimately the problem. As to Obama and Wright, all I can say is if I were Obama and I heard Wright say those things I would find a new church.— bird11
Christians don't want to believe that anyone who practices their religion could possibly be a terrorist. Hassan may be a terrorist but until it is proven it isn't fair to label him as such. I agree MSL, religious fanatacism is the problem; whatever religion it is. Religion is based on faith. Blind faith can take you down some potentially dangerous roads (like listening to voices telling you to kill yourself or other people). This is where religion can be detrimental.— James TL
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- birdy, I meant batty. Sorry about that.— SteveMG
- MSL - we already have established that we disagree completely on "hate crimes". And no I am against prior censorship be it hate speech or any other speech. I'll go back to the Wisconsin (???) hate crime you referenced a week or so back - should "Mississippi Burning" be blamed because it inspired the hate speech or should the person who used the movie to inspire hate in others be responsible or should the handful of idiots who actually think that attacking an innocence child because of something they saw in a movie about something that happened 40 years ago be solely responsible. IMHO only the act should be because they had the opportunity to not act regardless of what they heard.— bird11
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- BOHICA - Happy Birthday. Fair seas and following winds.— bird11
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- "legalus-you need to tell your son or son-in-law happy birthday(I can remember which), he is 234 years old today. Happy Birthday to my fellow Marines. Semper Fi." Actually it is both BOHICA...son and son-in-law. Thanks for the reminder, I had completely forgotten about it even though I was honored to take part in the USMC birthday celebration that was held at the US Embassy in Lisbon a couple years back...one of the great honors of my life. Happy Birthday BOHICA. Semper Fi.— legatus
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To your lefty's sneering at us 'cowards' who think mulsims should be banned from the military , ok 17 years British Army , wounded twice in action , decorated for bravery three times gphilly , TPS want to beat that ? .— PAEnglish- "Blind faith can take you down some potentially dangerous roads".....like voting for Obama??? Hope/Change.— bird11
- PAEnglish - I disagree with you on banning Muslims from the U.S. military. As long as America is going to welcome people from foreign nations to become citizens we need to allow them to participate fully in being Americans. I see the Hasan incident as an indication that we have fallen back to the same old mindset we had prior to 9/11/2001 - we don't want to take notice of the warning signs and we certainly don't want to point out warning signs against a Muslim because we are then labeled racist.— bird11
- A couple points: Terrorists aren't psychopaths? You can be one or the other but not both. As far as the comments on CNN about this guy not reaching out for help, where did they excuse his actions and being psychological. All radical, Islamic terrorists are mentally ill and should reach out for help. But that doesn't excuse their actions. The guy was a lunatic and is now a terrorist and criminal. That doesn't mean he was part of an Islamic terrorist organization. I don't care if he's a member of a terrorist organization or not. Either way, he's a murderer. If there's a radical Islamic terrorist and he's not part of a terorist network, we're ok with that? Here's my question: Some Islamic/terrorist said this guy is a hero and that ALL ISLAMIC AMERICANS SHOULD DO THE SAME THIS. WHERE ARE THE ISLAMIC PROTESTS????????? They were in the streets over a cartoon implying their religion is violent. Ok, how about the statements of this guy???— MikeP
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