The Confederate Flag

[billd91]

It is not simply true that they are a bigger threat than Islamists. You can come to that conclusion, and it's not inherently absurd. But between their creation in 1988 and now, al-Qaeda is averaging over 100 deaths in the US a year, not the 3 since 9/11 that the radical right-wing groups have done, or the 10 a year if you go back to the Oklahoma City bombing. There is money from Iran and Saudi Arabians to fund Islamic terrorism, where as most of the violent right-wing is poor losers. At the very least, there's good reasons for considering Islamists the bigger threat besides what we see on TV.

I'm not going to argue too much with the topic of which is a higher priority - Al Qaeda and its allied organizations or right wing domestic terrorism - but I will chime in that looking at casualties averaged over the organization's lifetime is a really bad metric. The history of deaths in the US, with respect to Al Qaeda, is a long stretch of nothing punctuated by a couple of events. It simply doesn't make sense to spread that over the organization's life for any analysis. The mean is skewed like crazy by a whopping pair of outliers.

 

[Ryujin]

I'm not going to argue too much with the topic of which is a higher priority - Al Qaeda and its allied organizations or right wing domestic terrorism - but I will chime in that looking at casualties averaged over the organization's lifetime is a really bad metric. The history of deaths in the US, with respect to Al Qaeda, is a long stretch of nothing punctuated by a couple of events. It simply doesn't make sense to spread that over the organization's life for any analysis. The mean is skewed like crazy by a whopping pair of outliers.

When attacks on American international assets are included you realize that it's not so much an outlier, as it is an escalation.

 

[Umbran]

I find governments ignoring the rule of law disturbing ....

Having done a little more reading, I find that to be a less-than-accurate description of what happened.

"In 1970, members of the FLQ kidnapped British diplomat James Cross and Quebec provincial cabinet minister Pierre Laporte, who was later murdered. What is now referred to as the October Crisis raised fears in Canada of a militant terrorist faction rising up against the government.

Under provisions of the National Defence Act, the Canadian Forces had been called to assist the police. They appeared on the streets of Ottawa on 12 October 1970. Upon request of the Quebec government with unanimous consent of all party leaders in the Quebec National Assembly, troops appeared on the streets of Montreal on 15 October.[24]

At the request of the Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, and the Quebec provincial government, and in response to general threats and demands made by the FLQ, the federal government declared a state of apprehended insurrection under the Act on 16 October 1970." This last was an invocation of the War Measures Act, which was already on the books.

At the time, 86% of French-speaking Canadians supported use of the War Measures Act.

So, your "ignoring the rule of law" seems actually to be "using the laws already on the books, with popular support, at the request of the government of Quebec at the time".

Was it ham-handed? Probably. But it seems to have been entirely legal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Crisis#War_Measures_Act_and_military_involvement

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Measures_Act

 

[Ryujin]

Yup.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Whiplash warning! In Confederate battle flag news:

http://news.yahoo.com/george-zimmer...ey-for--muslim-free--gun-store-171253005.html

"According to Zimmerman, the phrase has a double meaning: It refers to both the Second Amendment protecting the First Amendment and the Confederate battle flag protecting the American flag."

(emphasis mine)

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

That is EPIC doublethink.

 

[tuxgeo]

"Amen" about the WTF (though maybe not about the Whiplash).

The article doesn't go into detail, more's the pity. We'll have to guess what's meant by "the 2nd protects the 1st." How about:

(1) Majority of US active duty military personnel are from Southern states, and protect Old Glory? (Nah, too much of a stretch.)
(2) Rights not exercised fall into abeyance? (This one's even more tortuous: Flying the CBF exercises the right to free speech, which defends the Americanism of America?) (I think that one is even less likely to be what he meant than guess #(1) is, above.)

At least I tried.

 

[Hussar]

Yeeeouch. That's pretty brutal.

 

[Umbran]

That is EPIC doublethink.

There is no actual requirement that one's thoughts and beliefs make any flippin' sense.

Thankfully, there is a requirement that a public business not discriminate on basis of religion or race.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There is no actual requirement that one's thoughts and beliefs make any flippin' sense.

Too true.

I, for one, am looking forward to the next time The Pentagon schedules war games here in Texas...

 

[Kramodlog]

I see. The argument that the Twin Towers bombing got insufficient response because the organization behind it subsequently murdered 3,000 people is a strawman?

It is a strawman because I never said that.

That's non-responsive.

That sort of question doesn't deserve one.

If the actions committed by these terrorists in furtherance of the kidnapping of Laporte that in and of themselves assault do not amount to murder because they didn't intend to kill him, the actions of a mugger that amount to assault should not amount to murder because he didn't intent to kill.

There are different categories of killings because not all killings are the same. I have no issues with that.

In a scuffle, many things can happen, even illegal arrests. I certainly don't justify all the actions the Canadian government took, but in the context of executions (the terrorist group's words at the time) they hardly rank high on my list of historical atrocities.

An government acting outside the law is far more worrisome than a bunch of young folks trying to start the revolution.

I see; if you're in a discussion, and can question the other people's ethics, that makes you an angel.

So, you're saying people here are angels? Cause they are questioning mine.