The headline over a Washington Post story on the front page of today’s Las Vegas Review-Journal reads: “Gunman kills 12 soldiers.” Now, I’m no expert, but shouldn’t that headline have read “Muslim Gunman kills 12 soldiers”? And why did the Post story not even mention the man was a Muslim until almost the end of the story? I mean, talk about burying the lead.
As Jon Ralston pointed out in his Flash e-newsletter yesterday afternoon, Sweet Phoebe Purebread’s propaganda machine over at the Nevada Democrat Party put out a press release claiming the Reid/Obama stimulus program “created or saved more than 37,000 jobs.” That is, of course, pure USDA bull. The actual figure, as Ralston points out, is 5,667. The Dem’s are trying to claim that a “debt cancellation provision” in the bill kept gaming giant Harrah’s from going completely out of business, thus saving some 31,000 jobs. What a crock.
Heard it Through the Grapevine: When Sen. John Ensign is finally forced to resign…er, I mean, *if* Sen. Ensign is forced to resign (he’ll never do it on his own)…Gov. Jim Gibbons might strongly consider appointing SAGE Commission Chairman Bruce James to fill the vacancy. James withdrew from a Senate primary in 1998 against Ensign, so we know he’d be interested in the seat. He also likely has sufficient financial resources to immediately launch an election bid next November for the right to finish out Ensign’s term through 2012. Interesting rumor, but the best bet would still be to appoint Rep. Dean Heller to the seat.
Andre Agassi laughably claims he included his meth use in his new book to help others with a meth problem. What a load of crap. He told the story because he knew it would create controversy which would result in greater news coverage which would convert into higher book sales which would mean more money in his pocket. If Agassi really, really, really included the meth story in the book to help others, then he’d be donating all the profits from the book to meth treatment programs. He’s not. What a hypocrite. What a liar. What a meth-head.
So you think that in the future, all people who go nuts and shoot people up should have their religion in the headline? Just imagine: “Catholic Gunman at Mall” or “Protestant with Shotgun Kills 7″ … or maybe we should we be more specific: “Southern Baptist Gunman” or “Strict Agnostic” or “Assembly of God Devotee” or “Latter Day Saints Follower”?
If someone is a gunman and shoots people, then they’re a murderer. Does their religion REALLY need to be in the headline, Mr. Muth?
I can’t believe you would write something so ridiculous. We are at war in Iraq and Afghanistan against MUSLIM extremists and terrorists. We’re not at war with Catholics. We’re not at war with Protestants. We’re not at war with Baptists. We’re not at war with Agnostics. We’re not at war with the Assembly of God or the LDS. We’re at war with radical MUSLIMS. If you don’t think the fact that this MUSLIM shot and killed a dozen U.S. military soldiers yesterday is THE story about this story at this time, you’re living in serious denial and can probably see your pancreas from where your head is. And I mean that in a good, Christian way.
But we are not at war with ALL Muslims, Mr. Muth (at least, I hope not, since they make up about 60% of the world population.) We are at war with a certain radical Muslim group(s) in two relatively small countries. There are numerous sects of Muslims, just as there are numerous sects of Protestants.
As I mentioned above, Muslims make up about 60% of the world population, and we’re at war with a tiny fraction of that huge sector. So it seems reasonable to be careful about tarring them all with the same brush.
Dumbing the issue down to “Us/Good guys vs. Muslims/Bad guys” is a dangerous simplification.
Oh, puh-lease. Simply identifying the man is Muslim no more tars every Muslim as identifying a mass murderer as, say, a woman, would tar all women. It is merely a statement of fact, and in this case, a SIGNIFICANT statement of fact. What’s dangerous here is your sanctimonous refusal to acknowledge the reality of this situation.
Mr. SnoCone: Would you please, just for a moment, take a step back from political correctness to realize that there ARE, in fact, Muslims who would like to do the US grave harm. Did you not learn anything from 9/11? Yes, it is wrong to equate all Muslims with evil – but Chuck was not doing that. However, it is dangerously naive to pretend (as you appear to be doing) that Muslims, as a group, do not have many members who wish to harm us. The fact (from survivor accounts) that the killer shouted “Allah Akbar” (sp?) just before opening fire, makes it clear this was an act of someone who was doing what he, as a MUSLIM, felt was part of his RELIGIOUS purpose. That is what suicide bombers call out just as they detonate themselves. These people feel they are in a ‘holy war’ and that they will be rewarded with eternal paradise. I am actually glad this killer survived – he will get to experience quite the opposite of paradise for some time to come.
I never said that there are not Muslims out there who hate the U.S. and want to kill Americans. Obviously, there are.
However, I was pointing out that statistically, those radicals are a small percentage of the millions of Muslims around the world. It’s a fact worth remembering, especially when hatred, prejudice and hysteria start swirling around.
Statistically, that “small percentage” of radical Muslims you refer to accounted for 100 percent of the individuals who hijacked four planes on 9/11 and killed thousands of Americans, taking down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York in the process. None of them were Catholics. None of them were Protestants. None of them were Baptists. They were Muslims. It is NOT an indicment of all Muslims to point out that fact. You’re barking up the wrong tree here.
NVSnoCone,
If someone is a gunman and shoots people their religion does need to be discussed if it was part of their motivation for the crime. If a journalist wrote an article about the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda and discussed their crimes (kidnapping children and cutting off people’s noses) it would be irresponsible not to mention how their motivation springs from Christianity. Likewise, discussion of the crimes of the Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka would be incomplete without mention of the Hindu fanaticism which fueled the conflict.
The sad fact of the matter is that the secular world is under a constant assault by the forces of backwardness and religion. He do the secular world a great disservice by pretending that religion is not connected to violence.