The Face of a Terrorist: A Little Perspective.

[TrollBuster9090]

Prior to 9-11, the biggest terrorist attack against Americans on U.S. soil was carried out by THIS guy. Killing 170 people and injuring 600 more by blowing up a federal government building in Oklahoma with a truck bomb in 1995. People immediately jumped to the conclusion in MUST be Muslim extremists, and local mosques started getting vandalized, and started receiving death threats.

Then, when it was confirmed that the terrorist was actually a white, anti-gubmint wingnut, everybody breathed a sign of relief, as if the possibility of being blown to bits by somebody of the same race and religion as you is not nearly as scary as being blown up by a middle-eastern Muslim.



A little perspective:
McVeigh's attack on the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City was a well planned, well organized, and well executed terror plot that was hatched by American anti-government extremists who spewed the same kind of rabid hate speech that has now become the mainstream of acceptable political thought in the GOP. Why did he blow up a federal building full of innocent people? Because he was swallowing the same paranoid B.S. that is still the staple diet of the far right today. He did it because he believed that his own government was evil, tyrannical, was unconstitutional, and was coming to take our guns away. The usual...

Here are some quotes from him. It's pretty standard 'Patriot Movement' stuff.

"The government is afraid of the guns people have because they have to have control of the people at all times. Once you take away the guns, you can do anything to the people. You give them an inch and they take a mile. I believe we are slowly turning into a socialist government. The government is continually growing bigger and more powerful and the people need to prepare to defend themselves against government control

"Taxes are a joke. Regardless of what a political candidate "promises," they will increase. More taxes are always the answer to government mismanagement. They mess up. We suffer. Taxes are reaching cataclysmic levels, with no slowdown in sight. [...] Is a Civil War Imminent? Do we have to shed blood to reform the current system? I hope it doesn't come to that. But it might

"Those who betray or subvert the Constitution are guilty of sedition and/or treason, are domestic enemies and should and will be punished accordingly.

It also stands to reason that anyone who sympathizes with the enemy or gives aid or comfort to said enemy is likewise guilty. I have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic and I will. And I will because not only did I swear to, but I believe in what it stands for in every bit of my heart, soul and being. I know in my heart that I am right in my struggle, Steve. I have come to peace with myself, my God and my cause. Blood will flow in the streets, Steve. Good vs. Evil. Free Men vs. Socialist Wannabe Slaves. Pray it is not your blood, my friend.

The point is, radical, right-wing extremists are a larger systemic threat to Americans than foreign terrorists, and we rarely give it a second thought. Worse yet, since the extremists have taken over the GOP, the Department of Homeland Security is not even allowed to keep track of them.

[madinmaryland]

1. He is truly the personification of today Republican/Tea Party. You could take any of the quotes and

find them in quotes from the current KKKlown KKKar running for the RepubliKKKlan Party's nomination.

[melman]

2. 'when it was confirmed that the terrorist was actually a white, anti-gubmint wingnut

everybody breathed a sign of relief'

Really? I don't remember that happening.

[TrollBuster9090]

3. That was a subjective comment on my part, but that was definitely the impression I got from people

..the impression I got from people all the time.

I think it's a fairly human reaction, given that if you're talking about extremists from your own race and religion, you can 'understand' what motivates them. Whereas, if it's somebody from a different country, culture, race, and religion, people tend to panic over the fact that they can't 'understand' what motivates them. (When in fact it's usually quite simple, and the same motivations people from your own race and religion might have to do things.)

In any case, the country didn't go into a 24/7 panic spiral over trying to figure out what motivated them, what to do to combat this 'radical ideology,' what policies to change etc as we do with foreign terrorists. That part was objectively true. Most of the country have already moved on from the racist who shot up the church in Charleston. But if he'd been an arab muslim who'd burst into a Christian church and shot people up in the name of a perceived holy war, rather than a perceived american white vs black race war, I guarantee the country would still be obsessing over it, politicians would still be grandstanding and debating over what to do about it..etc.