Shooters, Fanatics and Political Correctness

Am I the only person in the world who finds it odd that our president urges caution, and urges us not to assume anything about the Fort Hopd Shooter, yet he himself went off not even half-cocked at that cop in New England who confronted his pal, mr gates (lowercase purely intentional)?

What am I failing to understand.

First of all, if ever there should have been a backlash against American Muslims, it should have been about the day after 9/11 - and it didn't happen. Unlike some folks in other places in the world, we do not permit ourselves the luxury of mob rule, and the American Muslims among us are far more likely to be good Americans than they are to be Jihadisti.

Does anyone else recognize the irony in a guy who is born in the USA of Jordanian parents calling himself a Palestinian? There's a red flag right there that got ignored for too long.

If there was any doubt about his intent, the choice of weapon (a pistol with magazines up to 30 rounds available, firing ammunition designed to defeat the vests of law enforcement personnel) and location (the place overseas troops go to turn in their weapons) should dispel any doubt about his intentions.

I am naturally suspicious of folks whose primary allegiance is to other than this great nation - particularly those who would be citizens and accept the benefits that that citizenship confers. I am suspicious of those who identify themselves as something else first, and then American. I am not German-American - I am American and if anyone cares my ancestry is German.

I am also suspicious of those who come here and then expect the nation to remake itself in their image. Come on, folks - if the place you left was superior, why did you leave? If, for instance, you consider us to be weak folks and think Sharia law is more appropriate, why did you not seek out a place to land where that is how things are run? Can it be that our ease acceptance of others causes some to think we are weak?

I have lived in other places for extended periods as a consequence of military service - but ultimately I returned home, because I am an American, and being something else required alterations in feelings and custom with which I was not wholly comfortable.

We need not fear unreasoned backlash against any group, but we do need to fear being so politically correct that we are afraid we'll piss someone off. That's cowardice, and it sets our values to whatever outsiders would have, not what we ourselves hold to be true.

Fort Hood was an act of terrorism on American soil. It took advantage of a number of circumstances peculiar to America, and it is time that we stopped trying so damned hard to be 'understanding' and called it what it is, Terrorism. Terrorists are, in my opinion, at their best when three days dead.