TheBoost said:
darth_ender said:
I don't really care, but if it's such a crime to blame Islamic extremists, why is it okay to blame right wing white American Protestants with equally little corroborating evidence?
I think the differences in sensitivity levels is largely due to all the attacks and hate crimes done against white people after Newton, Aurora, Columbine, and Oklahoma City.
This is a good question, but also a bit misleading because most recent terrorist attacks have been committed by "right wing American Protestants" so it's natural to speculate if this is on the same lines. Warbler had a legit point about speculating/investigating parties that could be possible suspects based on past actions and known activities, and the reason I took some issue with that is because 9/11 was a long time ago and, really, an isolated incident, which hasn't quite clicked with a lot of people but it's true. Middle eastern terrorists haven't blown anything up in the United States since 12 years ago, so they aren't very realistic suspects any more when there is a whole population body of crazy white people who have been doing stuff like this many times over the past few years--them and pretty much them alone. If it was 2002, for example, it would be reasonable to wonder if Al Queda was responsible for a terrorist attack. Doesn't really hold much water any more, although I will admit the public/spectacle nature of this crime is a bit more in keeping with such an organization rather than the "lone gunman" local extremists that have been in the news a lot recently.
Having said that it would be wrong of course to start arresting card-carrying Republicans as suspects--which is pretty much what happened to that Saudi fellow, who's only crime was being middle eastern in public. The official reason is "acting suspicious" of course, but I can read between the lines on that one, and I'm not sure what that even entails since I don't think they have officially elaborated on it (you mean he looked nervous and worried like he just survived a public bombing?). When being Republican at a major crime gets you in a police car this point will have more merit.