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November 9, 2009
A Shameful Consensus at the Atlantic
A consensus seems to have formed here at The Atlanticthat the Ft. Hood massacre means not very much at all. Megan McArdle writes that "there is absolutely no political lesson to be learned from this." James Fallows says: "The shootings never mean anything. Forty years later, what did the Charles Whitman massacre 'mean'? A decade later, do we 'know' anything about Columbine?" And the Atlantic Wire has already investigated the motivation for the shooting, and released its preliminary findings. Of Nidal Malik Hasan, the Wire states: "A 39-year-old Army psychiatrist, he appears to have not been motivated by his Muslim religion, his Palestinian heritage (he is American by nationality), or any related political causes."
It seems, though, that when an American military officer who is a practicing Muslim allegedly shoots forty of his fellow soldiers who are about to deploy to the two wars the United States is currently fighting in Muslim countries, some broader meaning might, over time, be discerned, especially if the officer did, in fact, yell "Allahu Akbar" while murdering his fellow soldiers, as some soldiers say he did. -- When Muslims Commit Violence - Jeffrey Goldberg
Posted by Vanderleun at November 9, 2009 2:51 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
This illustrates our greater problem, the Left.
Posted by: james wilson at November 9, 2009 9:54 AM
Since the Vidal interview, the reasons not to read or even to link to The Atlantic are becoming compelling.
Posted by: Robert Townshend at November 9, 2009 11:04 AM
I'm distressed at Megan McCardle's remarks. She's a bright lady with many cogent things to say, but she also appears to be one of those over-educated glitterati who pick and choose elements of their worldview 'cafeteria style' from a menu of what's convenient for them at any given moment, rather than on principle. She also, like Peggy Noonan, voted for "The One."
Posted by: Don Rodrigo at November 9, 2009 11:14 AM