11/11/09
by David Corn
On Tuesday morning I accidentally had the chance to listen to Chris Plante, a Rush-wannabe radio talk-show host who appears on a D.C. station. He was going on and on about how the Fort Hood shootings have driven the nation apart.
An agitated Plante noted that 9/11 had brought the country together, but that in the wake of the horrific Fort Hood attack there's been no unity.
Why? Because, as his Web site noted, Democrats and liberals have been "trying desperately to convince America" that Nidal Hasan, the presumed shooter, was "just a crazy guy who spent too much time around deployed soldiers and caught [post-traumatic stress disorder] and oh he happened to be a muslim [sic], but we should ignore that. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."
This was a bizarre analysis: Division was being created by people saying that there should be no rush to judgment regarding the motives underlying this horrific act or the episode's ultimate significance. Actually, it was right-wing pundits and activists who were eagerly whipping up conflict.
On his show, Plante repeatedly asserted that Hasan had shouted, "Allahu Akbar!" before firing on his fellow soldiers -- which would make his attack an act of religious-inspired murder. But a Fort Hood spokesman had said that Hasan's use of that phrase was just "speculation. . ."
Maybe Hasan did shout that Islamic phrase. If so, that would partly explain what had driven him to kill his fellow soldiers. For now, stating it as an established fact is a divisive act.
Yet some on the right see no need to wait for evidence. On Monday, the American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, posted on its Web site an article calling for all Muslims to be barred from military service.
"As soon as Muslims give us a foolproof way to identify their jihadis from their moderates, we'll go back to allowing them to serve," wrote Bryan Fischer, the group's director of issues analysis. (An aside: When Christian right extremists shoot abortion providers, does this outfit call for prohibiting all Christians from owning guns?)
Rightardia sees the Fort Hood attack as an internal Army matter that should not be politicised. Was this an act of terror or the solitary act of a deranged man? The facts will come out in the next couple of months as the FBI investigation is completed.
The right wing is too anxious to score political points. The right should should cool it heels until the facts are available. Judgement should be reserved until then.
See the rest of the article at http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/11/how-right-wing-talkers-have-crassly-exploited-ft-hood-tragedy/
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