HeyBub said:

Greg G. wrote:

You conveniently snipped the relevant portion. My question was why did
they miss clear cut signs of trouble, not why did he do it. I'll not
argue with Jung, who certainly makes far more sense than Freud, as
relates to machinery and such - finding out the why is a requisite for
future troubleshooting and avoidance purposes.

His betters did not miss the signs. The AP is reporting today that
interviews with several of Hassan's fellow officers and superiors declined
to raise his unfitness due to fears of Muslim and Muslim-apologist
recrimination. In other words, it wasn't politically correct.

I read that earlier today. He sounds like a very conflicted individual
that was somewhat ostracized by American society - guilty as hell, but
conflicted. Yet incidences like these are not restricted to any given
region or religion, and each perpetrator reasons his own justification
for such acts. Overcompensating by ignoring warning signs is callow,
however, and this should have been caught. We're new to this, and will
eventually catch on. It takes time; humans are notoriously slow to
change and adapt...

In the latter case, it's simply better to deal with the effect (kill
the ****er, his family, his dog, and everybody he ever knew, verily,
unto the third generation) and move on.

Umm... a bit reactionary, after all, he knew quite a few enlisted men.
I certainly don't want to be blamed for the actions of my friends and
relatives. It's bad enough to have taken the brunt of punishment for
the local politicians and their idiot kids, much less some extremist
nut job. (Yeah, I know, an attempt at sensationalist humor...)


It's called cordon sanitiare. Or fire break. Take no chances.

McCarthy would be proud. ;-)
History records much reactionary behavior - Japanese Americans and
Jewish Europeans during WWII, etc. Surely we have grown beyond that
mindset - regardless of how profitable or emotionally self-serving it
is to vilify those who are not just like "us." Hell, we have produced
quite a few mass-murdering gunman right here at home, and I don't
believe there is a need to recite them all here.

I fear is that this incident is going to further promote a blanket
anti-Muslim sentiment, and therefore anti-American sentiment in
response, that has become so prolific in the TV media since 9-11.
Extremists represent a minority of Muslims, just as Christian
extremists constitute a minority within their religion. Call me a
Pollyanna, but I refuse to paint every Muslim with the same broad
strokes. Most are loving, peaceful, people who want the same things in
life everyone does. But as with most ideologies, there are some who
agitate and seek prominent stature through inflammatory hate speech
and behavior; and some people, being acutely authoritarian in nature,
are swept right along... Hate is an easy sell when mired in misery -
which much of the ME has been for a thousand years.

And before anyone retorts, No, I'm not a Muslim.


Greg G.