Originally Posted by
zinderel
The gist of your words, which WBE responded to, is, "It's no big deal, since most people aren't affected by it." So yeah, that's excusing right wing terrorism, Mets.
And here we have you belittling concerns about right wing terrorism by comparing it to the totally unrelated deaths from auto accidents. See, there's this thing called 'bad faith argumentation'. You exhibit it here, by pretending that the one has anything to do with the other, and acting like you win for making the comparison no one else has made. Auto accidents are just that. ACCIDENTS. Not a deliberate attack on a minority to drum up fear, terror and anxiety. Not a deliberate attempt to suppress an entire segment of the population's sense of safety in their homes. So, good on you for making an argument that addresses nothing being discussed. *claps*
The authorities treat right wing domestic terrorism as lone wolf, zero provocation events, with no connection to the words and actions of political and religious leaders. Meanwhile, 9/11 was a concerted effort on behalf of all Muslims to destroy freedom. So, for starters, 'what more should be done' is treat the white man who shoots up a black church the same way we would treat a Muslim shooting up a gay bar. But, see, we don't. We don't hold white religious leaders to the same standards we hold PoC religious leaders. We don't hold Christian terrorists to the same standards as we hold Muslim terrorists. We don't even treat a white mass murderer the same way we treat a black man who was arrested for 'owning an illegal knife' - one got dinner at the burger joint of his choice, the other wound up dead in the back of a police van.
So, what more should be done? Hold white, right wing, Christian terrorists to the same bar as any other terrorist. And hold those who enable them to the same standard. So far, that's not happening. And if Republicans have their way, it never will be.
9/11 was a tragedy. One followed up by the bigger tragedy of an endless war against nations and peoples who were not involved in the attack. An endless war that serves only to enrich those who profit from war. It also saw continued political and financial interactions with the nation who WAS responsible, which has led us to the point we are in currently, where their crown prince likely had a jounalist killed and our president still thinks he's a great guy. Muslim extremists did a HORRIBLE thing. No question. But it was also ONE event, whereas right wing terrorist acts - while taking less lives in total, to be certain - are far more common, and treated vastly differently than we have treated Muslims, post 9/11. It's GREAT that you think 'some' anti-terrorism measures are too much, but I would bet those measures are the ones that directly affect you - like the restrictions on footwear and carry on containers, and such. Where are the laws preventing white, Christian males from owning guns? Where are the demands for profiling any white person entering a black church/movie theater/Vegas casino hotel? Or the extradition camps for suspected white terrorists? Where is Abu Graib for the domestic terrorist? (Not that I think Abu Graib was in any way acceptable, mind you. That's KIND of my point.) Why have people like Tony Perkins, Scott Lively, Pat Robertson, et al been demonized the way Muslim clerics have? The way black pastors who suggest that white men are the devil (owing to centuries of white oppression of the minority) have?
I am doing nothing of the sort. I am saying, bluntly, that right wing callousness and disregard, demonization, and dehumanization directly lead to right wing acts of violence against those demonized and dehumanized, and that the callousness and disregard we get from right wing politicians in the face of such acts embolden the terrorists. I am BLUNTLY stating that right wing terrorism is good for Republicans, and that is why they treat it with such callousness and disregard. How is it good for them? Well, it causes those victimized to do one of two things - cower and hide, which means they are less likely to vote and less likely to live openly; or make a fuss about it and the lack of response, which allows right wing politicians to claim they are being attacked for their traditional values and Christian faith, thus allowing them to turn the ACTUAL victimization of others into a narrative of their own made up victimization (which is called accountability, a thing Republicans claim to love, but HAAAAATE when applied to themselves) which plays into fundamentalist Christian hands. So solving the former - right wing callousness, disregard, demonization, dehumanization of minorities and their concerns - will help solve the latter - terrorist acts against the minorities that Republican pundits, preachers and leaders target as enemies.
And if it turns out the bomber IS a straight, white, Christian male Trump supporter (or any combination of those, or NONE of those) I think he should be prosecuted - in court and in the court of public opinion - in the same way that a Muslim bomber would be. However, I fully expect him to be treated with kid gloves by your party, I expect him to be the center of a narrative focusing on mental health and lone wolf acts. I expect your party to do everything in their power to deny their role in events and blame anyone trying to tie them to it of 'partisan politics' and 'dividing the nation' rather than actually addressing the corruption at the core of the party.