In a piece yesterday where I waxed optimistically that maybe refugee hysteria was losing steam, Tom made this comment.
They won't be if even one of the shooters in San Bernardino today has even a remote resemblance to somebody from the Middle East or has a slightly Islamic sounding name. It'll be almost as bad if any of them are Mexicans or Mexican immigrants (which is going to be fairly likely given it took place in SoCal)."
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/12/is-congress-having-second-thoughts-on.html
Well the dead couple who engineered the attacks have both more than slightly sounding Islamic names and are of Middle Eastern descent.
"Before the attack, Mr. Farook, 28, who was born in Illinois and whose parents are from Pakistan, joined colleagues at an annual holiday party for the San Bernardino County Public Health Department, where he worked for five years as an environmental inspector, officials said. He had attended the same party the year before, and he did not appear out of place."
"Soon, however, he stormed out in anger. The nature of the dispute was not clear, but when he returned with his wife, 27, both of them were dressed in tactical gear and carrying assault rifles, officials said. That level of preparation is among the factors investigators are weighing as they examine a motive for the attack"
"It was hours after Mr. Farook and his wife had left their baby with Mr. Farook’s mother, whose name was not released, that she learned there had been a shooting at his work party, said Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles, which helped organize the news conference with Mr. Khan. At first, the baby’s grandmother was tense with concern about her family."
"Then she received a call — her son had been named as a suspect."
"Mr. Ayloush urged people not to jump to conclusions regarding a motive. “Is it work?” he said. “Rage-related? Is it mental illness? Extreme ideology?”
"The authorities could not offer an answer either, with Chief Burguan saying that he was not aware of the suspects having any previous contact with law enforcement."
He added, “We have not ruled out terrorism.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/us/san-bernardino-shooting-syed-rizwan-farook.html?_r=0
They won't be if even one of the shooters in San Bernardino today has even a remote resemblance to somebody from the Middle East or has a slightly Islamic sounding name. It'll be almost as bad if any of them are Mexicans or Mexican immigrants (which is going to be fairly likely given it took place in SoCal)."
http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/12/is-congress-having-second-thoughts-on.html
Well the dead couple who engineered the attacks have both more than slightly sounding Islamic names and are of Middle Eastern descent.
"Before the attack, Mr. Farook, 28, who was born in Illinois and whose parents are from Pakistan, joined colleagues at an annual holiday party for the San Bernardino County Public Health Department, where he worked for five years as an environmental inspector, officials said. He had attended the same party the year before, and he did not appear out of place."
"Soon, however, he stormed out in anger. The nature of the dispute was not clear, but when he returned with his wife, 27, both of them were dressed in tactical gear and carrying assault rifles, officials said. That level of preparation is among the factors investigators are weighing as they examine a motive for the attack"
"It was hours after Mr. Farook and his wife had left their baby with Mr. Farook’s mother, whose name was not released, that she learned there had been a shooting at his work party, said Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles, which helped organize the news conference with Mr. Khan. At first, the baby’s grandmother was tense with concern about her family."
"Then she received a call — her son had been named as a suspect."
"Mr. Ayloush urged people not to jump to conclusions regarding a motive. “Is it work?” he said. “Rage-related? Is it mental illness? Extreme ideology?”
"The authorities could not offer an answer either, with Chief Burguan saying that he was not aware of the suspects having any previous contact with law enforcement."
He added, “We have not ruled out terrorism.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/us/san-bernardino-shooting-syed-rizwan-farook.html?_r=0
So we don't know what the motive is-it could be a case of workplace violence. But Tom was prophetic. Because of name and other features these two suspects share with Jihadists it won't be hard at all for conservatives to indeed jump to a quick conclusion.
Meanwhile, whatever the motive, the fact remains if these folks hadn't had access to these kinds of weapons they couldn't have perpetuated this kind of attack.
If they can conservatives will probably turn this into more Islamophobia. Even though the real ongoing threats for Americans are not foreign terrorists but domestic mass shootings.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/us/how-often-do-mass-shootings-occur-on-average-every-day-records-show.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
For some reason conservatives believe any draconian policy is called for regarding foreign terrorism, except taking away their guns.
Cruz is already calling it "Islamic terrorism" today:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/12/03/cruz-shooting-was-islamic-terrorism.html
Thanks for the call-out BTW!
DeleteYes, I saw that too.
ReplyDelete