Saturday, November 28, 2015

Why no calls for punishment for abortion clinic killer? Free use with credit



As usual, police who intervened after a terrorist attack were praised. But there were no guarantees of punishment, not even from President Obama.
No airstrikes, or Seal attacks. In some ways, it is like ISIS, the believers are spread throughout society even more so than the Muslim terror group and cannot be hit with drones.
The president, governor of Colorado, mayor of Colorado Springs, and others focused on remembering a policeman killed when he got in the line of fire.
Why?
Was it because the target was a Planned Parenthood Center in Colorado Springs, and the terrorist could turn out to be an anti-abortion nut?
They apparently guessed right.
Two people in addition to the policeman were killed. One was an Iraq veteran, the second veteran killed on the streets of Colorado Springs in 30 days. The other was a woman who was accompanying a friend to the clinic. The friend was wounded.
There have been many previous attacks on clinic, most not fatal. However, now anyone going to a clinic will need to worry about being a target for America's ISIS.
The Washington Post reported the shooter, Robert Louis Dear, of North and South Carolina, told them he acted to make sure  “no more baby parts” were sold by the center operators.
Republican Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina have been trying to sell a story that Planned Parenthood killed live fetuses to harvest their body parts. This claim has been denied, and a video that allegedly showed it debunked, but the Internet keeps it alive.
The Post quoted a source as confirming the murders, two civilians and one policeman, were politically motivated.
In other words, while political talk focused on fears of an ISIS attack, a Christian jihadist killed again.
He was from the Carolinas. Will governors of blue states now bar men from red states from entering?
Do Republican presidential candidates approve of these killings. So far, only one has commented, grieving the deaths.
On the Internet the rightwing reaction has been to deny the attack targeted the abortion clinic, saying a nearby bank was the target.
The killer, they say, only entered the clinic when he couldn’t get in the bank.
There have been several threats against Planned Parenthood since the phony video story spread. Meanwhile, the Republican party has sought to stop its federal funding. Three percent is estimated to go to facilitating abortions, mostly for poor women.



Friday, November 27, 2015

Some say Colorado Springs gets what it deserves Use for free with credit & attribution




A city that has been haven for rightwing evangelicals, Focus on the Family, and gun lovers now has paid twice in four months for its Christian jihadist sympathies.
It also is one of the cities with the highest number of gun holders, including concealed carry.
According to the NRA it should be one of the safest places on the planet if all it takes to top one bad guy with a gun is one good guy with a gun.
The holier-than-thou military center has had at least one mega preacher fall from grace for shacking up with a gay guy.
On the last day of October, four people died in a shooting in the downtown area in broad daylight.
The killer strolled down a mainstream carrying a rifle.
https://plus.google.com/+RobertWellerRub/posts/dG2uQLMNNNE
He had some connection to the Christian religion.
Meanwhile, the rightwing, and talk-radio blowhards, aided by president candidate Carly Fiorina, launched a campaign to destroy Planned Parenthood. There have been several arson attacks.
On Friday, while the U.S. waited expectantly for an ISIS attack, a terrorist attacked the Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs, which was full of patients. Unconfirmed Tweets said his partner had an abortion there. He reportedly was carrying an assault-style rifle.
The toll includes three dead, including a policeman,  and nine wounded. This time the killer didn’t even have the courage to kill himself, and was arrested after five hours of holding prisoners.
News coverage included where some hostages were hiding. Hopefully the killer didn’t have a smart phone.
For hours many in the media sought to distance the incident from the Planned Parenthood Center, citing journalism rules that award omissions more than reporter.
The Gazette identified the suspect as Robert Louise Dear, 57, from Hartsel, near South Park. Some reports said he orginally came from South or North Carolina, and had a history of animal cruelty.
Some jokingly Tweeted that Donald Trump and Republican governors would block any White Christian males from entering their states.
In breathtaking statements of denial of the obvious, media said there was no indication of a motive for the latest shootings.
Granted, terrorism by Christian jihadists is on a much smaller scale than ISIS, but like the Islamic group they often kill their own fellow Americans.
In a statement issued by the organization, which spends only 3 percent of its funding on abortions, said, “Extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism.”
It will be int
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said: “Our deepest condolences go out to the families and loved ones of those who were killed, including UCCS Officer Garrett Swasey, and those who were injured. Our thoughts continue to be with law enforcement, the Colorado Springs community, and the staff and patients at Planned Parenthood.”
Interesting to see if Trump and company want these people called “Christian terrorists” or “radicals.”

Hillary Clinton merely had to Tweet that she supported Planned Parenthood to be trashed by the so-called Prolife groups.
Helena Tweeted: "A few relevant facts: Colorado Springs is an overwhelmingly white, right-wing Christian and Republican stronghold, and home to the powerful conservative Christian organization Focus on the Family. "There's also a widespread anti-government attitude and an obsession with guns.
Certainly this act of terrorism could happen anywhere here in Colorado. But those of use who live here shouldn't be surprised it happened first in Colorado Springs."

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

How to deal with Trump’s lies



Donald Trump and his cohorts have found two ways to exploit the media, and made outrageous claims that won’t stand fact-checking.
First, the U.S. media is trained to avoid taking sides. Calling Trump a liar is considered taking sides.
Two, the media let the nation down by acquiescing to Bush’s phony election victory. Therefore, as Trump knows, the public does not believe the media will do the right thing, if it means breaking their rule of objectivity.
Pundits scratch their heads from CNN to MSNBC to the New York Times.
What to do about his making claims that are demonstrably not true.
Journalists must start by recognizing that the people are not all stupid, and they can tell that much of what Trump says it not true.
It is aimed for his base, and they would believe him if he claimed he saw Japanese Americans celebrating when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
This group cannot be dissuaded from supporting him.
Therefore, the concern must be about how the media looks when they constantly denigrate Trump, even if facts support them.
Take a cue from Humphrey Bogart’s “Rick” in “Casablanca.”
Don’t say Trump is lying. After all, he may believe what he is saying.
As Bogart told Major Strasser, when asked why he had come to come to a desert for water, “I was misinformed.”
Just state that Trump is misinformed. And perhaps reconsider how much airtime you give him for silly statements.
It will come back to haunt you.
The Republican establishment may be able to block Trump’s ascendancy.
In which case there could an independent Trump/Palin ticket.
This pair might focus their entire campaign on the terror threat from ISIS.
There is no guarantee the terrorists will still have the entire world terrified a year from now.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Syrian internment camps needed in U.S.


Time after time ISIS has surprised us. Sometimes, a la Hitler’s “Mein Kamp,” they have warned us what they are going to do.
Now they say they are infiltrating followers into the millions of refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq.
We will have blood on our own hands if we do not respond to these threats.
America is going to admit many Syrian refugees. It is our tradition.
But they should go in the same kind of internment camps we used in World War II. They must be well-treated, and taught English and our history. Call them refugee camps as they do in Europe.
Receiving thousands of non-English speakers is not like meeting a few hundred or even thousand foreign exchange students at the airport.
In addition, when they leave the camps they must be watched. Installing ankle bracelets would be a star.
We need to listen in their mosques.
And we need to return to widespread spying on all our communications.
It is only meta data, used when needed. No one will recording what we tell our spouses over cell phones when they are at Costco.
Ben Franklin’s admonition about the evils of security risking our liberty aside, Franklin did not leave in an era of social media, automatic rifles and C4.
Wesley Clark, the retired NATO commander,  has already suggested putting radicalized Muslim Americans into camps.
In fighting them, we must realize war has evolved. In this Fourth Generation the most important thing to do is win the war of morality.
If troops are sent in they must be prepared to endure higher risks instead of killing everything that moves.
We must seek to find out what is driving these people. ISIS would not have had such ease recruiting young people if economies had been so bad.
Corrupt state govenrments are responsible for much of this. But regime change needs to be limited to those at the top.
There must remain a government that can run a country so our troops do not have to do it. We will be hated the more we do, even if it is meant to help.



Saturday, November 14, 2015

Are Paris attacks act of desperation?


Only time will tell, but Republican exaggerations of the prowess of ISIS aside, killing 100 people at a rock concert is not necessarily an expansion of their power.
The Obama Administration and other countries claim they are shrinking the size of the caliphate. The U.S. president meant with Russia's Vladimir Putin over the weekend, suggesting the two countries' relations are warming because of the threat the mostly Sunni Muslim group poses.
This is not the first time a country has dealt with terror attacks in urban areas, particularly France. The Algerian War was a training manual for Paris.
There are things that can be done, though annoying. Forcing people to run their bags through security check points only adds a few minutes to the daily shopping.
Though not impossible, even without much additional security it would be much harder for ISIS to attack a rock concert in the U.S.
Apparently, the GOP doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “contained.” Obama’s message that ISIS was contained meant they have been stopped from coming here in any major way.
Contained means they do exist somewhere.
The organization is relying increasingly on outliers. This a major step back from being able to move around Iraq and Syria at will on Humvees that the West had given client states.
They rely on communications that are routinely read by Western and Russian intelligence. Forced to plan attacks without consulting with the leadership limits their effectiveness.
At the same time, when they brag of their exploits they reveal what they are planning.
These are not revolutionaries capable of taking power. Concentrating their forces makes them drone targets.
Even before the latest attacks Obama’s war planners had said they would destroy operational oil fields funding ISIS operations. Although attacks that destroyed hospitals suggest Western jets do not draw any lines, they can simply ignore all rules of engagements and destroy any village thought to support or be used by ISIS, killing even their goats.
The U.S. was launching more air strikes while ISIS was killing civilians in Paris. Washington claimed to have killed the leader of ISIS in Libya. Can ISIS provide a list of the people they kill. Of course they do not have to because the media does it for them.
Is Obama likely to relax security on ISIS -- not likely. With their numbers of mindless devotees it is always possible that a few will get through any defenses.
As for the French, in their long history this will be a small note. During the French Revolution the streets were constantly bloody, and the killers were the French themselves. They survived and democracy prospered.