Really Going Dark
We can do the innuendo
We can dance and sing
When it's said and done
We haven't told you a thing
--Dirty Laundry, Don Henley
Olivia de Havilland: You speak treason!
Errol Flynn: Fluently
--Robin Hood (1938)
________________
"Which is why one hopes nothing changes at the Holocaust Museum. The defense against terrorism isn't just physical, and it isn't just about violence. It's about the decision not to be terrorized ("The Built-In Response to Terrifying Moments").
This is erroneous commingling of crime with terrorism. The Holocaust Museum shooter was a bigoted whack job who committed a craven crime. A white supremacist who figured he'd go hunting over a baited field, and ended up killing a black security guard. Not the sharpest pencils in the box, those supremacists.
I resent the news media using every instance of "scary crime" as being in the same ballpark as terrorism. The media exploited the recent killing of an abortion doctor in the same way.
Instead of using these discrete examples of criminal behavior as teaching points to highlight the difference between what is homegrown crime versus terrorism, they shamelessly elided the two into one muddy ball of wax. Fear is the product, all the time.
They could have said, "a terrorist aims to reach an audience beyond the actual target. This crazed racist just wanted to kill him some Jewish people." But that would be to put the blame where it belongs, squarely on the shoulders of the racist and bigoted society and subculture which spawned such a murderer.
It is the intersection in the media of two impulses, neither good: Feeding a no-responsibility culture, and a need to whip up fear and frenzy among the populace, to keep them on the straight and narrow path their government has laid out for them. The press is colluding with the government.
It is lax thinking and reportage.
Labels: crime, holocaust museum shooter, terrorim
posted by Lisa at 9:59 AM
8 Comments:
The art of manufacturing opinion and consent is difficult. The real pros have to go to Georgetown and Harvard to learn the ropes. That killer was not a terrorist, but the terrorism must always be lurking around the corner ready to pounce. Perpetual war, perpetual fear, perpetual consumption, perpetual suffering, that's the plan!
While I am sympathetic to your basic viewpoint, I believe that you are wrong in the instance of the abortion doctor killing.
There really is no doubt that such an act will have a chilling effect on many doctors who would otherwise consider providing abortions. If it is palpably unsafe to do so, even when legal, then it is obvious that the number of willing providers will be depressed.
So, not only did the murderer bring great attention to the issue (a fundamental aspect of the tactics of terrorism), but his act will also literally have the effect of reducing the number of available doctors who perform the procedure.
Obviously I am not arguing that all terrorists are equal, but the Tiller murder certainly could reasonably be viewed as an act of terrorism.
The essential problem in all acts of violence is the ramifications that ripple out beyond the initial violence.
With the Tiller murder there probably does exist a thought in the backs of the minds of abortion providers that some whack job will walk through the doors and begin shooting.
The sad thing is that the Tiller murder is not the first time an abortion provider has been killed, and I'll willing to wager he will not be the last, either.
So, historical precedent says that the murder of one abortion provider does not deter abortion providers from performing abortions.
So...to what end?
A man killed another man, and in so doing must reap the results of his actions.
As for the killer in the Holocaust memorial...I'm willing to label him a domestic terrorist as he is associated with a right wing fascist group with motivation to kill. However, that said, to devalue the killer's motivation, and render his message inert is by treating him like a common criminal.
Therein lies the secret to combating terrorism on the international scale, and the domestic scale. We reduce their message to that of a fringe, criminal mindset of little importance than that of a crime family.
Sheerahkhan,
This killing may have created Terror but it wasn't Terrorism. There was no larger message nor was there anything gained by this meaningless/mindless type of violence. As perverse as it may be Terrorism has a twisted logic that is somewhat understandable-this shooting had absolutely no message beyond hatred of Jewish culture. Even tho the shooter had ties with right wing groups this act does not further their agenda in any appreciable manner. All Terror acts have a payoff and this one is valueless.
I oppose the wording of COMBATTING TERRORISM that you use. Combat is a military concept and terrorism is not a military construct.When you use words like this it adds to the mystique and helps justify the PWOT.
We can use a myriad of words that are more descriptive and appropriate.
As for the abortion type murders-I find it so strange that Pro- Lifers will resort to murder to protect little unwanted blobs.
jim
Tony C,
Creating terror in itself does not make an act Terrorism. Clearly assasination is one of the most used terror tactics. It's cheap and effective as we see in this case. Obviously you agree but the key is that it goes beyond abortion providers and even keeps possible patients from approaching a facility. A WOMAN MAY WANT TO TERMINATE A PREGNANCY BUT WILL THINK TWICE if SHE'S INTIMIDATED. This is a aspect of terrorism.
These abortion shootings lack support for the shooter , either active or passive before the fact. Personally I was amazed by the vocal support by certain groups supporting this murder by saying that the DR. had it coming to him since he was a murderer. This type of talk is more disturbing to me than the shooting since the shooter was clearly wacko. Commentators should be more reality based. I fear we'll see more of these shootings since they get support in right wing talk shows.
Terrorism is more concise and focused.
jim
Sounds like semantics to me. Peace and Justice are the words that interest me. Don't lock up the perps, make them work as a volunteer in an AIDS clinic or a homeless shelter.
"I oppose the wording of COMBATTING TERRORISM that you use. Combat is a military concept and terrorism is not a military construct.When you use words like this it adds to the mystique and helps justify the PWOT."
I can see your position, and I can comprehend why you would oppose the use of militaristic jargon to in respect to a law enforcement position. As it is, I was careful in respect to that as to qualify my statement, which I quote to minimize misunderstanding.
"Therein lies the secret to combating terrorism on the international scale, and the domestic scale."
Either way, the issue is that to limit the response to that of a law enforcement reduces the drama that the assailants think they'll achieve by elevating themselves to something that they desperately want more than anything else...respect...albeit, through fear.
So, as I think about it, I suspect we're aiming at the same target, just from different positions.
On the issue of message...hmm, you say, "There was no larger message nor was there anything gained by this meaningless/mindless type of violence." which on the surface seems logical, and to those of us who are baffled by the senselessness of this horrific crime would agree.
However, the far right wing fascist will see this act as a reinforcing message that "one of their own" acted on their collective fantasy, and that further actions can be accomplished.
Cowardly, I'll admit, but we have to remember that these people have constructed a fantasy world...so, whether you see a message or not, there is a message there and it needs to be debunked.
So, for me at least, there is a psychological element to this crime which definitely places it higher up on the list of things we, as a society, need to be very careful in monitoring and establishing a response that one demytholigizes the act in the far rights world view, and limits our response to it as one of criminality rather than some glorious paen to all things ridiculous..
While the acts of violence may have accomplshed some of the goals of terrorism as a tactic (i.e. drawing attention), I would agree that these were not terrorist operations... just whack jobs going out in a blaze of ignorance.
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