Trolling the Waters

Politically I’m a leftist through and through, so I’m always surprised when my inner conservative rears its pointy head.

I’m reading a blog entry by Phoenix Woman about right-wingers refusing to call domestic terrorism by its name, nodding along, completely in agreement, when I come upon this sentence:

Republican Senator Scott Brown — who was all for putting Abdulmutallab, a person who unlike Stack didn’t kill or even hurt anyone besides himself, in the military-justice system — got all touchy-feely concerned and understanding about that poor “frustrated” white guy Stack.

Little Rush Woodford commandeers the keyboard and posts a comment beneath Phoenix Woman’s blog entry:

Good points, undermined by this bit of Stockholm Syndrome twaddle:

. . . all for putting Abdulmutallab, a person who unlike Stack didn’t kill or even hurt anyone besides himself, in the military-justice system . . .

The hell were you thinking, writing that? Abdulmutallab intended to kill hundreds, and not only intended, actually set off the bomb he was wearing. Our good luck that it fizzled.

I go back the next day and find this reply, left by a friend of the blog:

Paul, (a) You don’t have to be rude. If you think you actually do have to be rude, we can make a better decision for you, at least as it applies to this site, (b) the law makes a distinction between people who try to kill others and those who succeed, so you would seem to be calling the law “twaddle,” and (c) Phoenix Woman’s statement could just as easily be taken to mean that Stack should be tried under military justice.

And just below that, a response from Phoenix Woman herself:

Charles, I’m sure that this guy’s just a typical drive-by troll who is not here for discussion, just to lob smears and to distract. He won’t be back.

Over time, I’m getting better at recognizing the things that stir my inner Limbaugh. A big red flag is ignoring Muslim terrorism while condemning home-grown terrorism. Yes, right-wingers who refuse to call white men like Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, and this Stack loser terrorists are dishonest, know-nothing racists.  But attempting to gloss over an attempted act of mass terrorism committed by a black Muslim by saying he “didn’t kill or even hurt anyone besides himself” is also dishonest and ignorant, and exposes progressive bloggers everywhere to ridicule.  If a Hannity or a Beck ever gets hold of Phoenix Woman’s blog entry, we’ll never hear the end of it.  And “Stockholm Syndrome” is precisely the phrase they’ll use.

Yes, my response was confrontational.  I meant it to be.  My God, these bloggers are sensitive creatures . . . I wonder how long they’d have lasted in basic, let alone flight training?

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