For years we’ve listened to the Right whine that President Obama won’t call terrorism by its name. Of course, sometimes he does (see: Mittens gets schooled), but the point is that righties seem to think there’s something magical about using the word terrorism that strengthens us and confounds our enemies. Except that only applies to Muslims, apparently.
But, somehow, they are less bold in other contexts. See Judd Legum, The Wildly Different Ways One Senator Responds To Terrorism: Boston Versus Charleston. The Senator in question is Miss Lindsey Graham.
In response to the Boston bombing of 2013, Senator Lindsey Graham demanded that the government do everything it could to learn from the attack and prevent future attacks.
This man, in my view, should be designated as a potential enemy combatant and we should be allowed to question him for intelligence gathering purposes to find out about future attacks and terrorist organizations that may exist that he has knowledge of, and that evidence cannot be used against him in trial. That evidence is used to protect us as a nation.
Many people took issue with Graham’s claim that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is a U.S. citizen, could be designated as an enemy combatant. But Graham’s conviction that the attack was part of a more systemic problem, based on Tsarnaev’s Muslim faith, was unmistakable. Tsarnaev’s attack killed three people and injured over 250.
Graham’s reaction to Wednesday’s attack on a black church in his home state of South Carolina was very different. (His niece, coincidentally, went to school with the shooter). Graham is adamant that the attack is not evidence of any larger problem.
Graham, who is on his way to Charleston, said his niece did not recall Roof making any statements that were related to race.
“I just think he was one of these whacked out kids. I don’t think it’s anything broader than that,†Graham said. “It’s about a young man who is obviously twisted.â€
They were all young men who were obviously twisted; IMO the object of violent peoples’ twistedness often is the cart, not the horse. In any event, terrorism experts apparently saw no connection between the Tsarnaev brothers and any larger terrorist organization, but of course some on the American Right would love to waterboard every Muslim on the planet.
There’s no doubt Dylann Roof is one of these whacked out kids, but so was Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. We seem to have a lot of whacked out kids these days.
By the same token, if the Tsarnaev brothers were terrorists, then so is Dylann Roof. And so is Scott Roeder, who murdered Dr. George Tiller. Let’s be consistent, Miss Lindsey. Intimidating, threatening, and actually killing people on behalf of some Cause is pretty much what terrorism is.
I say we all pressure the righties to call the shooting in Charleston an act of terrorism.
I don’t know if the inconsistencies of the Lindsey Grahams of the world, when it comes to terrorism, is due solely to their cravenness when it comes to protecting the racist sensibilities of their supporters red meat for votes, or if it is just a knee jerk reaction to deny racism out of some inherent fealty to it.
The righties can’t admit its racism or racial terror because their tactic is to try and convince everyone that racism doesn’t exist (black president and all). If they admit racism exists then they can’t exploit it anymore. It’s a foolish political tactic in the long run but it seems to work for now. Everyone has some level of racism I think, denying that it exists is usually a good indication that your racial animus has gotten the better of you. Anyway I’m not holding out much hope that things will change anytime soon, its pretty much been this way for over 250 years? It would be nice to at least see than God Damn Flag come down, maybe that will happen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2mZwHVfBMk
Remember, Maha, how I talked years ago about relocating to New Zealand ? That yearning is back. If I only had planned better. This country is an open aired nut house.
“This country is an open aired nut house.” That’s because about the only time we “institutionalize” someone is we send them to Congress. Or prison, if they happen to be “of color” and manage to survive the arrest process.
erinyes,
You buy or build a boat to go, and I’ll help to row!
(Not-at-all) Dear ‘Blanche’ Graham,
Please explain why this terrorist, isn’t a terrorist?
Is his name too “American?”
Is he on the whiter part of the paint-swatch?
This punk is a cold-hearted terrorist and murderer!
He sat with people for an hour, looked them in the eyes, prayed with them – AND THEN SHOT THEM IN COLD BLOOD!!!
We don’t need to worry about foreign terrorists.
We’ve go enough white supremacist ones right here!
Lindsey Graham’s weirdness is well known in these parts, and his running for President is quite enough of a joke.
But…
Since some people keep electing him why not give him his title, and avoid loading this onto the overworked backs of people known as “Miss?”
I ask humbly as one who really does not fancy getting into these peripheral brawls, but I used to be “Miss”and it sort of hurts me that my identity is used as a punchline.
millekat — I will explain this one more time. It’s a Southern thing. In the past, a genteel and privileged southern lady, regardless of age or marital status, was always “Miss [First Name].” As in “Driving Miss Daisy.” In this case it’s designating that Miss Lindsey is a privileged and protected creature of southern culture. So get over it. I used to be a “Miss,” too, but I was never that kind of Miss.
I do get sick and tired when people (Like tweety) refer to the person as “kid”. Mr. Gulag has the right of it although I’d replace the word “punk” with “thug”
The people who were hurt the most by the actions of this thug forgave him even while tears were running down their faces. This thug has hurt and diminished white people everywhere.
Shirt
Oh dear. And here I thought “not over it” was sort of the whole point of having a South.
Seriously, you might rethink this whole mission you seem to have, of inflicting some retrograde Dixie etiquette on people who had saner upbringing.
We all know a lot of Misses, some of who are sane, some cuckoo for cocoa puffs…but we really prefer to sort out those distinctions between their ears, not between their legs.
When it comes to privilege, “Mr. Graham” has it all over all but the most blushing denizens of the hooped skirt.
And it should be entirely possible to challenge the former, in his own masculine terms –(under the flowering chestnut tree, at dawn, if you prefer) — without gratuitously insulting the latter.
It by no means was intended to be an insult to anyone but Lindsey Graham, and if you choose to see it that way, that’s your problem. And good bye.
Gee, you live and learn.. I would have assumed that Miss Lindsey title was in reference to his apparent feminine mannerisms. I’m not saying anything about his sexuality,but there is no doubt he has certain feminine mannerisms. In my world of manly men he would be considered a candyass or a limpwrist. A sweet guy, except his personality is anything but sweet. He seems to have a nasty streak that he tries to subdue but it somehow manages to show itself in spite of his best efforts to hide it.
I don’t think I’m alone in my observation.
“I don’t think I’m alone in my observation”
Certainly not! I think in polite circles Miss Lindsey’s nasty/tough guy behavior can be referred to as overcompensation?
Dear Maha,
I love you as my dharma sister, and everything you say here is right. But calling Lindsey Graham “Miss” is not a satirical comment on his genteel Southernness, it’s gay-baiting, and if you don’t see that, I’d urge you to take a step back and look again. Did you use the same language to talk about Strom Thurmond? About Saxby Chambliss, who was the lowest form of animal life on the planet Earth? You are much better than this.
I bow to you with palms together.
Chris — stop projecting. It’s tiresome.