It’s worth revisiting what the right-wing was saying after a Christianist terrorist assassinated Dr. George Tiller in Kansas. They…
…admonished us not to “politicize” the killing, and that doing so would “collectivize” the shooter’s guilt and “smear the entire conservative movement.” After all, Dr. Tiller’s murder was just an “isolated incident” — “kooks happen” — so it’s deeply unfair, they argued, to point fingers at anyone but the killer himself. Most importantly, they noted, jumping to score political points while the Tiller’s family was still grieving is crass, uncivil, beyond the pale.
Needless to say, they have done exactly the opposite in the face of the Ft. Hood tragedy.
They are, in fact, collectivizing the shooter’s guilt, smearing the entire Muslim religion, they did not respect the families of the dead by leaping to conclusions, there are no mentions of “kooks” or “isolated incidents” and they are quite happily jumping to score political points — most notably, by blaming the tragedy on “political correctness.”
Political correctness is the handmaiden of terror.
They knew this guy was a jihadi. They knew. But they sacrificed American lives at the alter [sic] political correctness.
Yet there was, and what’s more, Major Hasan’s motive was perfectly clear — but it was one that the forces of political correctness and the Islamic advocacy groups in the United States have been working for years to obscure.
This is not the first time American soldiers have been victims of politically correct policies.
It takes a particularly demented type of crazy to blame the US military for a tragedy like this. Because that’s exactly what they’re doing here.
Related posts:
- Right-Wing Bloggers Relieved to Find Shooting They Can Politicize
- Lieberman’s Hunt for a Lone Wolf: Will Fort Hood Shootings be Used to Expand PATRIOT Surveillance?
- Demagoguing Fort Hood, Hoekstra Adds to List of Lies
- Come Saturday Morning: Is This Really What You Want, Wingers?
- Wherein Lies the Fort Hood Intel Failure? Connecting Nidal Hasan’s Dots
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And how do they explain today’s shooting in Orlando I wonder?
This shooter was a psycho and a coward. Scared to go the war zone and must have just cracked after treating so many vets with terrible injuries and PTSD. I don’t think it had anything to do with his religion. My question is, why did he have a gun? Are all troops on base armed at all times?
Or Oklahoma City and McVey?
Depends. What is the shooter’s name?
Already seeing that wingnut chatter on Facebook… sadly.
Well, the alleged shooter’s name is Hispanic sounding…
Exactly!
By the way, the Orlando shooter is Hispanic — any bet this’ll make the wingnuts crank up the pogrom calls against Latinos?
From MSNBC’s Breaking News Twitter:
Political correctness is the handmaiden of terror? Yeah. And compassion is the handmaiden of torture. WTF?!
http://firedoglake.com/2009/11/06/right-wingers-blame-political-correctness-for/#comment-2009627
They wanna beat up brown people.
My question is, why did he have a gun? Are all troops on base armed at all times?
No, troops on base are, in general, unarmed. They are, however, a rather easy pass-through on private handgun permits.
My understanding is that this guy lived off base, and did the shooting with two personally-owned handguns.
No is the answer to that question. Don’t assume that they were miiltary issue.
I bought a gun last week and it took 20 min. I did have to sign a form saying I wasn’t crazy though.
…and they will mangle all logic to do it.
It would be ironic if the only people not allowed to have guns were soldiers.
It sounds more like he was stressed to the point of breaking, and ‘went postal’.
According to his family, he was treating difficult cases, was being harassed because he was Muslim and had a name that didn’t sound American enough for some people, and was about to be shipped to one of the war zones.
I didn’t mean that they should not have guns – was just asking. I have only been on AF bases and know zip about Army. I was curious – do they have some sort of security about who carries? I would appreciate info about this. If it’s that easy, it could happen again.
I am shocked no-one has speculated the following, so I’m getting this in:
Consider this — the shooter is a Muslim who, as a mental health professional has been listening to the confessions and testimony of soldiers who have participated in tens– or hundreds of thousands of murders, maimings, rapes, and other assorted brutalities against other Muslims. He has had to listen to some soldiers curse and denigrate the “hajis”– of which he is one. He has had to watch dozens of whole human beings break down and disintegrate under the stress of enabling and participating in atrocities. And now he has been ordered to report to Iraq, to further assist numberless atrocities against fellow Muslims.
Doesn’t this seem like a motive? Doesn’t it seem reasonable that a man in this position might just snap?
Trying to present a logical argument, or trying to show blatant inconsistency and hypocrisy, to the screeching right wing is pretty much a waste of time.
There exists a certain kind of stupid in this country (why did Michele Bachmann just pop to mind?) that is simply not capable of recognizing, admitting, or even understanding that they’ve been shown to be fools.
Let’s not forget, also, that mass shootings like this are a very American phenomenon. Rampage killing kinda supports the theory that he was totally culturally American regardless of name or religion, IMO. *ducks to avoid thrown objects*
Yeah, there have been some pretty horrifying blogs regarding the President’s response on some sites. Like his job isn’t hard enough; he just seemed forelorn to me. So sad. McVeigh…Florida…Psychotic will find some to focus on and despise because that is what psychotic does.
My question, though, is where has Gov Rick Perry of Texas been? There has never been a greater political opportunist than Perry but the point person has been his political rival Kay Bailey Hutchison. The President stepped up and the Senator from Texas was out front of it. Where’s Perry?
Exactly. He’s a guy who snapped, not a sleeper-cell terraist of the wingnuts’ 24 torture porn wet dreams.
Meanwhile, here’s more from MSNBC’s Twitter on today’s shooter (who’s probably a copycat):
that’s my take as well. I think he was doing everything he could to get dropped by the Army in order to get out of his committment. Don’t think he ever thought he’d be going overseas when he signed up.
It sure does to me. And I’ll bet that when he comes to trial, he’ll bring all of this up, much to the wingnuts’ dismay. Unless of course somebody pulls a Jack Ruby.
I tried to make the same point this morning.
Political correctness kills people, eh? I thought crazy people with guns kill people.
According to his cousin he was doing everything he could to get out of the Army so he wouldn’t have to go to Iraq. If he didn’t think he would ever have to go, why was he in the military? I understand that he may have had emotional problems but I just have no sympathy for him. He has destroyed so many people and families for his own selfish reasons.
You seem to have deviantly vivid imagination.
Orlando itself is kind of Hispanic sounding…. has anybody analyzed that angle?
/s
yes, but I still marvel that he shot other soldiers – dead.
There were other ways to “get out” of going, other choices available. Not very good choices, mind you. so while I recognize your explanation, it still falls short of why he took out his desperation on fellow soldiers. And anti-muslim sentiment doesn’t seem to be enough (for me).
sorry if I sound argumentative with you, don’t mean to be. just writing fast.
I’m catching the live stream video from WESH.com out of Orlando on the shooting. They are reporting that the DoD has asked helicopters to clear the area and power down their transmitters. The company was Reynolds, Smith and Hills. Shooter apparently laid off previously, might have been a traffic engineer, but firm also said to do some defense work.
I agree.
Exactly.
I think he signed up before 9/11 and thought he could get cheap medical degree in the name of patriotism.
Faux had the following headline up on their website about an hour ago..
“Largest ‘Terror Act’ Since 9/11?”
Was this “suicide by cop” as it is commonly called? He must have known that he wouldn’t get away. Strange.
Sounds about right to me. I’ve heard a friend’s son talk about things he’s seen, done, thought while on a couple of tours in Iraq and just spending an afternoon listening to that get’s me pretty on edge. I can’t imagine what listening to that day-in and day-out, on top of the racism I’m sure he also hears, would do to your psyche.
I wonder what winger buttheads feel about German and Italian Americans helping out during WWI and II???
I wonder if the fact that it was a military base will prevent the NRA from launching there usual damage control operation? Remember, guns don’t kill people, the holes left by speeding bullets kill people. If you’re going to outlaw something you should outlaw holes.
some say it is…so why didn’t he take someone hostage and shoot it out somewhere more privately? He went to a place where many others were unarmed and trusted the safety of the environment. Totally violates the code of brotherhood.
I did a seminal diary recently about 20 reasons to not escalate in Afghanistan. Some of those reasons were the staggering statistics about desertions and suicides and addictions and PTSD and sexual assaults and domestic violence and social violence and unbelievably unfair re-deployments within our desperately in trouble military.
This shooting is the tip of the iceberg, the opening of the floodgates for the human toll of having the soldiers involved in fighting an immoral corporate driven war. And the corporate/military gamesmen have no empathy for the pawns of their game and the victims of the war, our soldiers and their families and the families they are destroying in other countries.
The fact that the Right is off to the races demonizing is no surprise.
The fact that the progressives are not clamoring for empathy and an end to the war and the horrifying issues of the military, those down the line, not the narcissistic gamesmen, is the issue as I see it. And a sell out Prez who had a mandate to end the war and instead is willing to let the war machine and imperialism chug on.
Wasn’t WWII the one in which America joined forces with it’s allies to defeat Obama?
Finally, some logic! Alert the NRA.
Yup. He of all people shouldn’t have been so selfish and self-centered — he should have got help, somehow.
True, but I have never understood this desire to kill other people because of it. I wonder how killers like this justify it in their own minds. One of the questions I had was will they go ahead and send the other soldiers who were present to fight. It certainly would have been a very traumatic situation for them.
And the Mexicans! Don’t forget them!
I understand to a point…however, this is the job. there are many trauma centers who hear pretty awful stories too. people are trained to “hear” this. they are also trained not to take racist rants personally, it’s a form of anger.
Frankly, I think it’s trumped up bull to get out of going. I think this may be why he was written up for a “bad attitude” at Walter Reed.
To me, the motive was “hell no, I won’t go” everything else is a corollary to that.
I agree. Really, with such high levels of security there should be no need for personal guns on a base. The loophole is what allowed them in. This would prevent stressed out Vets or pre-deploys from carrying fire on base.
Military weapons are generally locked-down except for “military use”. To prevent theft they are supposed to be tightly inventoried. Perhaps all private weapons on base should be checked into a secure room…checked out for hunting, off-base target practice, or competitive shooting events.
Really, this had nothing do with choices. This guy clearly knew he was on a downward spiral. By the time he snapped there was no other choice. If he had been able to extricate himself sooner this might have ended with simply his suicide, but he was way past that. Though I will bet he wasn’t planning to survive this. Waking up alive must have really ruined his day.
and pledged allegiance to the “red, white and blue”. Key word, “white”.
It’s a few minutes up the street from where I am now. Guy’s at large last i heard. Roads are closed off and no cars. I-4 is closed. Jeez. Empty.
Acorn. The right-thinking white heterosexuals of America joined together to defeat the global threat of Acorn and the president they allegedly own.
There is the Indonesian phenomenon of “running amok” (in fact the word is Indonesian/Malay)…and there are other cultures with similar phenomenon.
Yeah, all that stuff belongs in a national park!
Have you ever seen Pancho Villa and Barack Obama in the same place at the same time? You don’t suppose? Paging Glenn Beck!
well, this doesn’t even compute with me but I guess it never will. not supposed to make sense.
Agree with you on the waking up alive part.
Alert the NRA.
I’m thinking that their phones may have been accidentally left off the hook for the last two days.
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/11560
Here is a link to the diary I wrote that has shocking statistics about the army (re suicide, desertion, PTSD, sexual assaults, redeployments, etc.)
I was a counselor, simply referring vets from an 800 number to an appropriate doctor.
Inevitably I would listen as they justified their reluctant call, the things I heard horrified me. I Haven’t been in war since Vietnam but these stories, even if half true, would cause any cheetos fingered keyboarder to fill their pants. Me, I quit. I don’t think Americans know the potential heck they have unleashed on themselves.
I think bin Laden is one of the few to know how effective he has been at leveraging American society over the edge.
They pledged allegiance to Pabst beer?
Seems like it happens in Germany once in a while, usually a kid with a knife.
Is it that our culture treats it like porn or that we have easy access to guns? Other places have access to guns but rampage killings just don’t happen like they do here.
BTW, what happens in Indonesia when someone runs amok?
Glad to hear that you are okay. Keep your head down.
Libby, I appreciate the work you’ve done.
For some reason, I put this shooter in a different category than the guys who were actually deployed and their families.
I wish it had played out that this was a case of PTSD in action and it’s time to stop these effin wars.
You know if this outcome hadn’t been so horrible it would be almost funny that a military psychiatrist was written up for his “attitude” and was permitted to continue treating soldiers. That one went from amusing to mortifying in short order.
I get the “white,” but why are they talking about Communists and sad people?
Also.. Wingnutter Corsi over at Worldnet Daily had a headline up earlier today sayin’ that the shooter was on the Obama transition team. I’m not going to grace that website with a link.. y’all will have to find it yourselves.
I believe everything you wrote in your post, and it just makes me even angrier that Sen. Coburn is holding up a vote that would provide health care services for our veterans and enlisted military personnel. VoteVets talked with his staff, and he still refuses to lift the hold. He wants to take the money and spend it on something else. VVs has a petition on its’ web site, and I made sure I added my name to it.
Republicans seem to always take facts and spin them in a way that removes truth and reality. They seem to be interested only in re-gaining control of the government at any cost. These folks are not patriots. They are traitors of everything that America stands for.
This is what war does!
WE MUST STOP MAKING WAR, PREPARING FOR WAR, EXPECTING WAR, FIGHTING WARS!
OUT of Afghanistan! OUT of Iraq! Close the 760+ US military bases we maintain around the world!
Mind our own business! Use the trillions we will save to solve our own MANY problems!
jesus.h.christ.
Sometimes I truly despair that this country is irreparably fucked.
I hope that someone has standing to sue the fuck.
Exactly. This is why we shouldn’t EVER go to war, unless absolutely f*cking necessary. And when presidents LIE about the reasons for going, and face no consequences for their immoral and illegal actions, why is it surprising that those who take those orders (especially someone who is the child of Palestianian immigrants, who has seen his nation basically destroyed with US complicity) would react with a less than legalistic alternative?
And I don’t think that the highly publicized court machinations of Orley Taitz has helped the situation, either.
It is almost a cliche for a psychiatrist to be crazy, however imagine interacting with people suffering from PTSD every day, it would not be surprising if an individual in that environment also started to exhibit symptoms. I also suspect the workload for psychiatric counselors in the military is overwhelming, they probably don’t get much time off.
Cheers!
dennis hopper!
and teletubbies?
I don’t know. I can’t explain.
yep.. they’re just outright making incendiary stuff up in an ill-concealed attempt to start a fire. They want blood on the streets.
Shooter advised Obama transition
Posted: November 06, 2009
9:21 am Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
NEW YORK – Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter in yesterday’s massacre at Fort Hood, played a homeland security advisory role in President Barack Obama’s transition into the White House…
Dosido @ 45: “To me, the motive was “hell no, I won’t go” everything else is a corollary to that.”
Maybe, but why not “man up” and face jail rather than undertake such a violent response? On the one hand it might be that his speeches on the Quran and overt radical statements were an effort to pull a “Klinger” to get booted out (but why not actually PULL a Klinger and violate DODT)? The possibility that he was sending out emails to salafist websites on jihad might argue against this, but was he hoping to be caught (he used his real name).
It’s sounding as if there were many individuals concerned both at Walter Reed and at Ft. Hood about his increasingly vitreolic and inappropriate behavior. For example, he supposedly gave a talk to fellow internists (designed to be about cases or syndromes they had encountered) in which he told them that the Quran considered infidels evil and would send them into hell. At first some internists thought he was trying to explicate the “jihadist” mentality, but it becanme more and more clear that he was speaking about his own beliefs. A fellow Muslim challenged him on his beliefs in the talk and Hasan stepped down.
These were very obvious trouble signs. Yet the military doesn’t allow people out of deployments…it’s a contract of your body…with few options. Hasan reportedly even offered to “pay back his education” but they wouldn’t release him (or perhaps would not without a taint on his service records).
Could we not and say we did.
That is a great clip from Blue Velvet, probably my favorite Hopper role from back before he went completely off the deep end and turned Republican.
Again, I like the President. I wouldn’t want to be the President, though. What a drag with all the very real things to deal with, and with all the families he has to call, and wars to end…Now there’s a new bone for Wingnuts.com to chew on. Really, he must be wishing he could turn back the clock today.
Actually it’s not clear that he did this for the Obama administration or if these meetings were for EITHER Administration.Some of these hearings were being held as far back as Spring of 2008. They were not official advisory groups for the Obama team, at all.
But it doesn’t surprise me that Corsi is portraying them that way.
What ellamay said.
omg. here’s another one from Worldnet Daily.. just went up:
“Military jihadists fill ‘every branch’
“Ultimate 5th column penetration…”
This behavior pretty much passes the bright line test for shouting fire in a crowded theater, IMO. If anyone gets killed over this crap, their editors should face prosecution.
Yeah, I’m not easily shocked and my friend’s son shocked me with some of the stuff he talked about. And he’s not even officially diagnosed with PTSD (or whatever euphemism they use these days). I imagine there are even worse stories than his out there.
That doesn’t excuse anything, I’m just saying I can believe someone could snap from just listening to that every day. And I also know from my friend, that many soldiers have to dehumanize the locals in their own minds in order to do what they need to do. So I imagine this psychiatrist had to listen to his patients denigrate and dehumanize people who share his heritage and religion on top of it all.
I can’t even imagine taking that pain and anger and just going on a rampage against anonymous victims, but I’ve never completely snapped before either (thank God!)
they caught the guy
Iraq is/was all about the oil. Wars are fought over resources, not over WMD or liberation or some such nonsense. I heard the headline on NPR yesterday morning that Iraq had just finalized very “lucrative” oil contracts.
Terrific, that means we can keep our ridiculous “vehicle on asphalt” transportation system alive for a few more years. Until we fight the next oil war.
The human cost in this country’s thirst for resources is not just measured on battlefields far, far away.
Blue Velvet one of my favorite movies of all time. And I’ve always had a thing for Kyle McLaughlin.
I-4 is open again.
I’m always a little taken aback by how much older Kyle MacLachlan looks now, given that I haven’t changed at all in the past 20 years.
Well, it is the right wing of the GOP talking here. As soon as Boehner sees this thunder on his right, he will mainstream it.
“I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”
One of the greatest lyrics of all time. ;-)
Yeah, I haven’t changed a bit in the last 20 years either, whereas Kyle McLaughlin has gained wrinkles and his chin has become more prominent. Ha!
Good. Now if he turns out to be a Christian does that mean all Christians are terrorists?
who’s Kyle McLaughlin ?
The Homeland Security Policy Institute is not affiliated with any single candidate or political party. They gave a series of talks and held task force sessions entitled
“Thinking Anew: Security Priorities for the Next Administration”. It ran from April 2008-January 2009. Note the dates. When these were set uop no candidate of either party had been nominated. One could argue just as easily that Hasan was advising Sarah Palin…or Ron Paul.
http://www.gwumc.edu/hspi/old/PTTF_ProceedingsReport_05.19.09.pdf
Check page 32.
Rodriguez is the name. Likely raised Catholic. We’ll have to find out more about him from Lou Dobbs tonight I guess.
John’s kid. Actually an unauthorized alternate spelling of MacLachlan
Thanks for that. Good research. Unfortunately, I don’t think our ideological opposites still have the ability to distinguish between fact and fantasy. Crossing the Rubicon.. with orcs.
He is an actor who starred in several works by David Lynch, including Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. Recently, he was the husband of the redhead on Desperate Housewives.
http://cm1.theinsider.com/media/0/90/2/0827061949_M_emmys_mclaughlin_kyle.0.0.0×0.350×450.jpeg
Yeah, Lou’s an expert on Hispanics.
Wow, Kyle is 50, no wonder he looks OLD.
That statement makes my head hurt
Has anyone ever looked at the electronic games section at the stores? How about the toy section?
*shudder*
Don’t even try to blame this on the toys. It’s caused by political correctness. Anchor Baby even said.
“pull a Klinger”, that’s exactly what I was trying to say. thanks. in response to your comment, I thought there were other choices available to him, but how would I ever know how a decision like this is ever made? makes no sense.
Everybody knows them terrorists likes ‘em some maidens…
hey now!
Jon Walker has a fresh cross-post available: “Live Blog House Rules Committee – Health Care Reform”
I’ll be there in a year and eight months. My doctor told me they don’t recommend prostate screenings until age 50, so until then I’m off the hook. I looked at her with feigned shock and asked, “You use a HOOK?”
He offered to pay the government back for the medical degree, in trying to get out of the army (I understand he’d been in for several years already).
Also, he was born in Virginia, from the reports I saw, so he was probably really tired of the ‘camel jockey’ crap he seems to have gotten.
JAMA: “Prostate Screening Should Be Offered Beginning at Age 40″
But since insurance companies run our healthcare system, pretty soon it’ll be 65 before they’ll pay for the procedure…
Also, it sounds like he might have been trying for ’suicide by cop’.
I’m on Medicare. I believe they’d allow it if the doctor ordered it.
Well unfortunately for him it was a woman cop. She was probably being careful not to kill him, seeing as how women are all about nurturing and stuff. ‘Cept for women like Anchor Baby.
Take a look at all those Obama supporters that were at the same set of task forces. Edwin Meese III, Fran Fragos Townsend, William Sessions, half of the Bush appointed Homeland Security, a crew of his US Attorney General appointments, several Republican Congressmen, Connie Mack, a [redacted list] of NSA/CIA spooks, lots of folks in business deeply enmeshed in supporting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sheesh…instead of some ambivalent soldiers that are simply cogs in the machine Hasan could have gone “big-time”. Here he was, invited into the “belly of the beast” during the Bush Administration (Quelle Securite FU) and he didn’t do a damn thing.
What’s going on here?
ah. You overprivileged elite, you… I want socialized medicine too! ;-)
When someone snaps it can be very difficult to know how data is processed and what kind of linkages are made in the mind. If Hasan dies what went on in his mind will never be known.
I read that she was about four feet away from the shooter. She’s a hero, good to hear she’s going to be okay.
T’aint perfect, especially if you need high priced meds but it’s a lot better than nothing.
There is some discussion that prostate screenings may encourage unnecessary surgeries since there have not been a reduction in prostate malignancies since the use of heavy screenings. One possibility is that the surgeries are taking out benign or even naturally retrogressive growths.
Personally I’m in favor of long-term screenings and follow ups in order to get a better idea of the “markers” of real malignancy (or at least high probability risk).
Whatever happened to the guy that went into the Holocost Museum and shot the cop.
Yeah, it’s a positive aspect of the story.
Militarism as a form of violent authoritarianism is inherently deadly. It is a beast developed and adopted by ruling elites in order to protect power and wealth and to increase control.
But this tool of power grows in power itself as it becomes an outsized version of Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors,” demanding ever larger amounts of human blood as it expands.
The knee-jerk respect that the media, government and society gives to the military creature is so large and dysfunctional that the Pentagon seems to be an alternate White House. If the US were Italy several centuries back, the Pentagon would be the equivalent of the Vatican, it’s own city-state with whom accomodation must be sought.
This is exactly the European model that the authors of the Constitution sought to avoid. An ancient model of kings in collusion with military elites and kings in collusion with religious elites. These constitutionally mandated barriers are becoming permeable as we bankrupt our nation to feed our trillion dollar beast.
Until after WW2 this was not the case. We had a civilian controlled military. Dwight Eisenhower warned us of the military industrial complex in a parting speech as president. As supreme commander of the Allied Forces in WW2 he watched the beast grow in size and power. No vast bureaucracy voluntarily diminishes itself, but like Audrey, only wants it’s unquenchable hunger fed. A cuddly little companion plant becomes the monstrous plant that demands servitude.
Militarism is parasitical. It latches onto its host and feeds until the host dies and it as parasite nearly dies also. That is, until an unwitting host (a new government) stumbles by and militarism (a bad idea) latches on once again, a small, benign attachment at first, promising protection. But first the host has to believe in militarism as a necessity of governance based on a philosophy of social darwinism, that it’s dog eat dog out there in the world and the “biggest stick” rules the schoolyard.
Militarism is authoritarianism with a gun. Humans are basically cooperative social animals unless trained otherwise. That’s what Basic Training is for, to deprogram the humane out of the human. And it works. It is unnatural for a human to harm another human, even if it rarely is inevitable or accidental, as in self-defense.
Who has not participated in some form of schoolyard violence that was “inevitable” only to feel a sense of nausea afterward? Being a good soldier means suppressing the humane in the human through propaganda. This propaganda must “retrain” the recruit away from a basic awareness that there is a part of my person in the other person. That is why muder and violence against others are crimes in all cultures. Unless the government says it’s OK.
It is not surprising that friendly dogs trained to be vicious guards will frequently turn on each other violently. Anyone murmuring “How could this happen?” has little awareness of the negative socialization that military training foists on it’s gullible victims or the fawning respect of all things military that is culturally attached, virus-like, onto Americans.
Violence is sickening. The military is institutionalized sickness. Somehow we need to sweat it out of our system. We could start by not being so shocked that a military shrink might turn on his own people in a psychotic fit of deadly violence. We should expect it.
Senseless, deadly rampage is militarism’s Job # 1.
This shooter is no more representative of all Muslims than McVeigh was of all Baptists. And neither is representative of all soldiers. Blaming a group for the conduct of an individual is textbook bigotry.
Well if you hate the digital rectal exams, just remember how bad the old analog ones must have been…
this tragedy may have a short media life afterall.. the big nets have all dumped the Fort Hood story and turned to flashing the image of the very male Caucasian face of the Orlando, FL nutter on overy screen. Things fall apart.
Just turned fifty last year so I got my first one. The procedure itself is a cakewalk.
The prep, as it were, is, uh, draining.
Thanks, dosido! :)
Appreciate the extenuating circumstances and am waiting to hear more but I hope rational minds prevail but doubt that, especially with lazy mainstream and Right media.
But if the military with media shoves and has shoved under the carpet PTSD meltdowns that were not perpetrated by a Muslim American that relate to the horrifying mental health and violence and self violence statistics and buzz going on in combat and especially between deployments and then this horrific tragedy grabs the headlines and is perfect for the Right to re-propagandize anti-Muslim sentiment.
So this guy probably had compassion fatigue if he was a therapist for soldiers, hearing all the horror stories that the masculine ethic demands silence and secrets be kept. And then he was being deployed himself for the first time. And he had issues with the war in Afghan, Iraq and also sympathy with Palestine, not a popular stance in the US generally. A tragic, perfect storm for a meltdown.
I had a younger work acquaintance married to a Muslim man die last year from a heart attack. She converted and wore a burka-like outfit to work. Again, she died of a heart attack, large part stress I’d guess. I know her and her family must have had chronic low grade stress from being Muslims in the United States.
I await news of this tragedy. But there are other tragedies I have read about not given enough attention that pointed to this one and I predict there will be more and more acting out from PTSD victims.
It is an awful way it is getting attention, the trauma our military and their families are going through, let alone the victims of our wars in other lands. But it needs attention. To have it twisted by the RIGHT to generate paranoia about Muslims is a cruel twist. Will that be used by the war hawks, a backlash of demonization?
I doubt that surgeries are taking out benign or even naturally retrogressive growths because there will no doubt be a biopsy prior to any surgery.
I read about MyLai, Scott Peck’s analysis. Desensitization is part of the training process of war. Add that to the horrifying extenuating circumstances of this one and a nation that now that we have Obama in the White House has backed off demanding out. Philosophically against the war, but not hitting the phones and streets.
I heard a report that the concern is that they are undertaking surgeries on still replicating cancers but that these would go into remission if left alone. As I understood it there may be hundreds of remission prone polyps that emerge and that these are likely the tumors being removed. In this view one only catches the serious ones later. This, the argument went, explains how there were now reduction in large scale cancers despite an increase in surgeries.
Here’s the report
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704797
Now there could be some other factor maintaining the higher rates of progression…perhaps there’s simply a greater number of cancers overall nowadays. If so they are extracting potentially fatal cancers…but just keeping pace with the prior rate. It’s not clear.
I’m not sure if reducing the screening is best though. But people who are diagnosed and then the biopsy is done suggesting a metastatic cancer will, of course, want surgery, radiation or chemo. Even though the cancer might endogenously go into remission if left alone.
Who wants to be the guinea pig?
Then there’s old Barry M. N.Ema. Cold slushy down the pipes.
Sorry wait, it’s “politically correct” to allow Muslims in the army? Well yes.
Not all prostate cancers are the same. If cancer is identified, the choice of treatment, including just waiting, is based on much testing as well as the patient’s age. Waiting is not a reasonable option for aggressive forms. For nonaggressive forms, waiting can be a good choice.
Since it is “politically correct” to suppress opposition to a stupid, unjustifiable war by claiming anyone opposing it “is in league with the terrorists,” then it is true that political correctness is responsible for this tragedy. If we weren’t in this stupid war in the first place, none of this would have happened. Who can blame a guy for going off his rocker when his job exposes him on a constant basis to the mental and psychological damage that this war is doing? He didn’t want to go for a reason.
That he chose this way to object rather than just flat out refusing to go should be condemned. There was no reason he couldn’t have pulled a Watada. It would have been more effective and resulted in a much better outcome.
Very well written. Kudos.
Thanks.
The military is one effed up monster. Attempting to join psychiatry with it is as insane as putting religious chaplains in there. What a bizarre mess.
Any psychologist worth 2 cents would try to talk someone out of military service. The military is like the Medieval Church in the middle ages… everywhere and dangerously powerful.
Being a psychiatrist employed by the military is like being an honest CPA employed by the mafia. Watch your numbers.
Mighten it not be that the Military had bought and paid for this guy, and because of that thought they had Him under total control.
The Constitution says there shall be no indentured servatude in this Country. Join the Military and You become an indentured servant. Your life is theirs, and is theirs to do with as they please, making You an indenture survant.
This guy knew He had a snowballs chance in hell of getting out, and took that out on innocents in uniform, because of it.
Ah the old “PC Card”.
They never grow tired of that particular gambit do they?
Apparently what constitutes political correctness only applies to the values of Liberals while the rigid ideology of the Right is naturally,”PC Free”.
That Terrorists who happen to fight on our side are referred to as “Freedom Fighters” for example,isn’t at all “PC” it simply acts as a tribute to their bravery.
That “Global Warming” on the Right side of the ledger is placidly referred to as “Climate Change” is NOT PC,it’s just a much more “logical” way of seeing things.
We must be thankful that Conservatives have never rigidly adhered to values and principles that the rest of us find offensive because that kind of behavior can lead to “group think” which can lead to narrow thinking which can take eyes off bigger pictures,which can lead to planes crashing into buildings which can lead to illegal wars which can lead to…well you get the idea.