Following the horrific Bastille Day terrorist attack in Nice, France, Thursday night, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were both interviewed by Bill O'Reilly, and offered some decidedly different views on the event. Trump agreed with O'Reilly's flat-out decision that we're now in a "World War" -- which seems like it might be a bit hyperbolic, considering that we don't know even know for sure what terrorist group the killer was affiliated. Probably ISIS, but hey, let's call it World War III before we know, because quick decisions are more important than gathering all the facts. For all the times Donald Trump says "we have to be smart" about terrorism, he certainly doesn't act like it. After saying it's a world war, for sure, Trump went back to the same old bullshit lines he's been saying throughout the campaign -- including stopping refugees, which has precisely fuck-all to do with actually fighting terrorism, but sounds great to crowds, which is almost as good as fighting terrorism. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, actually came off sounding like she knew what the hell she was talking about. So let's take a look at the two interviews:
Please don't bring Elliott Rodger into it. His parents tried desperately and every which way to get him help and to stop him. He was an adult so they couldn't have him committed. They saw his alarming messages and called the Santa Barbara police, who went to his apartment, and then "took his word for it" that he was okay, and refused to listen to the parents urging them to search his apartment--even though the parents told the police they thought he was armed.
When the police refused to do anything, the parents, who live in L.A., got into their car and drove straight up the Ventura Freeway as fast as they could, 90 minutes to Santa Barbara, but en route, they heard on the radio about the killings, and they knew immediately what had happened. I repeat: these were parents who tried everything they could, who were thwarted both by the utter lack of mental health care, inadequate policing, and the terrible legacy of Reagan here in this state, where you can't "commit" someone under any circumstances, no matter how ill they are and how much danger they represent.
You also couldn't even get the police to take their guns away... until now, that is. The parents worked their asses off and just got a new law passed here in California, where if someone presents a danger, family can petition a judge to have his weapons taken away.
This was a mentally ill kid, who wrote a mentally ill manifesto, and went out and killed people, and then killed himself because he was disturbed. And his parents knew and tried and tried to stop it. The fact that they were well-to-do has little to do with it--I repeat, they tried everything within their power to stop this from happening and to help their mentally ill kid. It was a tragedy, not some "evil rich kid."
I agree with the rest of your post. In Orlando, and in Nice, these were deeply disturbed angry men, with no connection to ISIS, which itself has no connection to Islam. The better comparison, for me, is that ultra-Christianity was also the "excuse" for Nazism--and no one then assumes all Christians are Nazis.
I heard a forensic criminologist talking today, talking about the fact that disturbed individuals get angrier and angrier, get no help, and extremist groups push them over the edge. He said what needs to happen is people need to feel free to report disturbing behavior, but that also our treatment of the mentally ill, as well as policing needs to change. People are afraid to report anything, because there's a stigma to mental illness, and also they have no guarantee the police will do the right thing. (There are plenty of instances of a terrified, worried parent calling the cops on their disturbed adult son, only to have the police come and kill him.)
And, as anyone with a mentally ill loved one can tell you, there's nowhere to take mentally ill people-- no mental health institutions (thanks, Reagan), very few mental hospitals, who may only take them for 72 hours, or a few weeks, so they probably end up in jail, which is disastrous. The last thing we should be doing is somehow turning into some anti-Muslim frenzy. To circle back to the Nazis, that's exactly what they did, and it's awful to see Americans emulating that sorry part of our past.
Agreed, also too getting disenfranchised potential recruits out of the area and show them how nice and friendly North America can be is probably the best thing we can do to fight terrorism.
The current ISIS strategy, connecting with disaffected losers in the west via social media and encouraging them to engage whenever they see the opportunity to kill a lot of civilians while giving ISIS credit is just turning these disaffected losers into ISIS drones. No military solution will be able to stop a crazy person from driving an 18-wheeler into a crowd anymore than a Syrian freedom fighter can stop a missile fired from half a mile away.
It's a World War and Isis is in France. Clearly, we need to storm the beaches in Normandy, and liberate Paris. Then we can race the Russians to Berlin. And obviously, we'll need to round up all the Muslims, and put them into internment camps.
And how.
https://www.google.com/imgr...
Please don't bring Elliott Rodger into it. His parents tried desperately and every which way to get him help and to stop him. He was an adult so they couldn't have him committed. They saw his alarming messages and called the Santa Barbara police, who went to his apartment, and then "took his word for it" that he was okay, and refused to listen to the parents urging them to search his apartment--even though the parents told the police they thought he was armed.
When the police refused to do anything, the parents, who live in L.A., got into their car and drove straight up the Ventura Freeway as fast as they could, 90 minutes to Santa Barbara, but en route, they heard on the radio about the killings, and they knew immediately what had happened. I repeat: these were parents who tried everything they could, who were thwarted both by the utter lack of mental health care, inadequate policing, and the terrible legacy of Reagan here in this state, where you can't "commit" someone under any circumstances, no matter how ill they are and how much danger they represent.
You also couldn't even get the police to take their guns away... until now, that is. The parents worked their asses off and just got a new law passed here in California, where if someone presents a danger, family can petition a judge to have his weapons taken away.
This was a mentally ill kid, who wrote a mentally ill manifesto, and went out and killed people, and then killed himself because he was disturbed. And his parents knew and tried and tried to stop it. The fact that they were well-to-do has little to do with it--I repeat, they tried everything within their power to stop this from happening and to help their mentally ill kid. It was a tragedy, not some "evil rich kid."
I agree with the rest of your post. In Orlando, and in Nice, these were deeply disturbed angry men, with no connection to ISIS, which itself has no connection to Islam. The better comparison, for me, is that ultra-Christianity was also the "excuse" for Nazism--and no one then assumes all Christians are Nazis.
I heard a forensic criminologist talking today, talking about the fact that disturbed individuals get angrier and angrier, get no help, and extremist groups push them over the edge. He said what needs to happen is people need to feel free to report disturbing behavior, but that also our treatment of the mentally ill, as well as policing needs to change. People are afraid to report anything, because there's a stigma to mental illness, and also they have no guarantee the police will do the right thing. (There are plenty of instances of a terrified, worried parent calling the cops on their disturbed adult son, only to have the police come and kill him.)
And, as anyone with a mentally ill loved one can tell you, there's nowhere to take mentally ill people-- no mental health institutions (thanks, Reagan), very few mental hospitals, who may only take them for 72 hours, or a few weeks, so they probably end up in jail, which is disastrous. The last thing we should be doing is somehow turning into some anti-Muslim frenzy. To circle back to the Nazis, that's exactly what they did, and it's awful to see Americans emulating that sorry part of our past.
It's not even nice in the original sense of the word. The execution was awfully sloppy.
So long as you don't squeeze him, everything should be fine.
but..... Extra Strong for extra squeezies!!
that might be an Italian thing, not a French thing (but you know that's "those French--they have a word for everything!")
or as my compatriots in officer training used to say (or the Shire,) a "hard-on for the guidon."
Agreed, it's time to stop letting people use religion as an excuse, both to explain behaviour and to condemn it.
Agreed, also too getting disenfranchised potential recruits out of the area and show them how nice and friendly North America can be is probably the best thing we can do to fight terrorism.
You, sir, owe me a mouthful of coffee and the cost of a paper towel with which to wipe my desktop. Well done.
The current ISIS strategy, connecting with disaffected losers in the west via social media and encouraging them to engage whenever they see the opportunity to kill a lot of civilians while giving ISIS credit is just turning these disaffected losers into ISIS drones. No military solution will be able to stop a crazy person from driving an 18-wheeler into a crowd anymore than a Syrian freedom fighter can stop a missile fired from half a mile away.
God save us from rightwingers seeking power because of their Daddy issues.
Another empty-headed injustice collector with bad hair.
By my reckoning, the Cold War should really be called the Third World War (i.e., the war against the Third World).
It's a World War and Isis is in France. Clearly, we need to storm the beaches in Normandy, and liberate Paris. Then we can race the Russians to Berlin. And obviously, we'll need to round up all the Muslims, and put them into internment camps.
You got that right, my soul sistah!