Index

The Terrorists Win Again

I just spent some time looking for information on the Navy Yard shootings, and what I found just about made me sick.  President Obama made some comments about the event before going into a speech on the economy, and there was a bunch of idiots lambasting him for talking about the economy while the Navy Yard “terrorist” incident was unfolding.

First off, in case nobody noticed, there are a regular stream of these sorts of shootings going on - there are a lot of people in this country who have an axe to grind, so the assumption that this is a terrorist incident is completely unfounded.  How about some facts, there, folks?

Secondly, terrorist or not, if you drop everything and panic every time one of these things happens, you have done exactly what the shooter is wanting - pay attention.  Allowing this sort of thing to induce more than a moment’s fear is a sign that you have a problem, not that the world is about to end.

Lastly, if it really is a terrorist attack, the last thing the terrorists want is for us to continue business as usual.  A terrorist wants to induce fear and disruption, so ignoring them other than treating them as a common (much TOO common) criminal is exactly what we need to be doing.  The right wing attacking the president for a proper, intelligent reaction is pretty sick on their part, but is typical - apparently anything utilizing even a modicum of intelligence is beyond that bunch.

A terrorist wants us to clamp down and lock ourselves into permanent panic - that is their definition of victory.  Bin Laden got his victory, and a far greater victory than he could have ever hoped for.  The United States is now a hostile, out-of-control pariah in the world, thanks to us allowing ourselves to become paranoid beyond any civilized bounds and spying on everyone - allies, enemies and our own citizens.

This latest bunch of idiocy just demonstrates that we don’t learn, and that is the saddest part of it.