Media and Pundits!! When someone walks into a church and kills

[maxrandb]

And maims over 50 people... including children... IT'S FUCKING TERRORISM!!

Doesn't matter if the shooter is white, black, Asian, Hispanic, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist...

It's Fucking TERRORISM!!!

The reason you won't call it terrorism is because of the weapon of choice.

It doesn't matter if the shooter was a religious fanatic, a Nazi a Green, a disgruntled employee, former spouse or a nut job who is mad because they changed the altar wine.

We need to start calling these semi auto rifles what they are...WEAPONS of TERRORISM!!!!

[Hoyt]

1. Personally, I think anyone who has a semi-auto AR type rifle or hi-cap magazine should be suspect.

We would be better off without semi-auto rifles or pistols.

Yes -- gunners -- I know revolvers and lever-action rifles are deadly, but they do not embolden gun-fanciers like semi-autos.

[Trust Buster]

2. The right wing doesnt see it that way.

*If the shooter was a non-Christian, then the right will definitely call it terrorism.

*If the shooter was black, then the right will call it Black Lives Matter terrorism.

*If the shooter was Hispanic, then it will be terrorism by way of immigration policy.

*If the shooter was the mythical ANTIFA, then it will definitely be terrorism.

*But, if the shooter was a bitter white male, then they say he was just a good ole boy afflicted with a mental illness. Could happen to anybody.

[Initech]

9. I really wonder how the Christian right is going to spin this one?

Every mass shooting, they tell us that the victims deserved it, because that's what Jesus would say. But this was in a church. These are their people! What are they going to say about this one?

[Igel]

3. It's a massacre.

But we have a commonly accepted definition of "terrorism."

If your goal is just to kill people, it's a massacre.

If your goal is to scare people into obeying you and yours, then it's terrorism.

There's sometimes a fine line between the line, but it's a line.

The German guy who crashed the plane a couple of years ago? Not terrorism. He apparently just wanted to die. And took a bunch of people with him.

The guy who shot up a Sabbath-keeping church a number of years ago up north someplace just wanted revenge against that congregation.

The guy who ran down the folk on the bike path last week in NYC had an agenda.

There's a distinction. It's sometimes a useful one and therefore it's worth preserving.

But "terrorism" has a certain connotation, people fear it, people get upset about it, we're conditioned to stop it "by any means necessary" and to reflexively bobble our heads when a solution is mooted. So it's a good rhetorical idea to say that any killings we don't like are terrorism if they further our agenda because of the knee-jerk conditioning we've had. But it's really sucky when it comes to logic, understanding, policy, and prevention.

I won't call it terrorism--at least not yet--because I don't know the motive and background of the killer. Without knowing the motive and politics, I don't know if the definition fits. But I have words for either eventuality and don't see any valid reason to erase the distinction.

[SnowCritter]

19. Excellent explaination

Thanks for your post.

[shanny]

27. Can I start calling the NRA terrorists? nt

[dpd3672]

4. Terrorism refers to the motive, not the weapon, target, venue, or body count

If it's intended to influence politics, it's terrorism. Otherwise, it's just (mass) murder.

It sounds like semantics, but it's important to separate the two types of crimes, for all kinds of reasons.

[Calculating]

5. nailed it

If the attack has a non-political motive it's not terrorism.

[zentrum]

17. Bingo.

[malaise]

6. One of the pundits actually said he doesn't appear to have been Muslim so it was not

terrorism. They are all fugging mad

[maxrandb]

12. That's exactly what I was referring to

I heard the same thing. Guy said; "well he fled the scene, so it's not likely Islamic terrorism because he didn't stay and be martyred."

Nearly knocked me out of my chair.

It was as if the "only" type of terrorism is from Muslims.

These Fucking semiautomatic rifles need to be designated as weapons of terrorism.

This shooting is horrific, but imagine if all the guy had was a 6 round revolver.

We may now be talking about 1-2 dead and 2 injured, instead of 24 dead, 36 wounded and rising.

FUCK the NRA!

[malaise]

13. Same here

I wondered is they are lobbyists for the NRA


Yep - FUCK the NRA

[snowybirdie]

14. I'm afraid that

when I heard him say that, I yelled a nasty expletive at my tv. On a Sunday, too

[maxrandb]

21. Another pundit was talking about how we need security at churches

Ya' know, the whole "good guy with a gun" shit.

I wanted to scream to the host; "ask the fucker how much fucking security he thought was at a fucking outdoor concert in Las Vegas?"

Didn't help there. Besides, I'm not sure which little old fucking lady I want packing heat at my church

[cwydro]

25. Apparently, a neighbor of the church DID come out with a gun.

He seems to have caused the shooter to drop his rifle and run away.

This guy may have saved some lives.

[sanatanadharma]

7. It is nar-ahh-ter-ism

NRAterrorism

Mass murder by "WTF" guns in the USA is terror brought by the NRA
Terror that exists only because of NRA political propagandizing and payola

All other causes are minor by comparison
The NRA worships guns
The NRA sees guns as God's gift
The NRA promotes guns as the answer to gun violence
The NRA obstructs the good guys without guns
The NRA is a political terrorist group that uses propagandized lone-wolves, magazine readers, or is it clip loaders

[uponit7771]

8. Yeap, wmds are used to kill massive amounts of Americans M$M wont call it terrorism

[MountCleaners]

10. What is most likely

...it being a small community and an obscure church and all, is that someone had a beef with the church, which would most certainly make it "terrorism".

[cwydro]

26. Im gonna go with some sort of marital/family problem.

Just my opinion.

[roamer65]

11. Time for a ban and turn in of all assault weapons.

You will have one year to turn them in or you will be charged with a felony.

Only shotguns and hunting rifles, with highly restricted handguns allowed.

[Delmette2.0]

18. This!

Thank you.

[George II]

15. Weapons of mass destruction! Killing and injuring 600 people in nine minutes is mass destruction.

[Cryptoad]

16. Domestic Terrorism no mater how u slice it!

[thbobby]

20. Terrorist is a propaganda term

For the right wing. The definition of terrorist is meaningless. It is the same as "communist" in the McCarthy era or black violence since way before I was born. Or Mexican rapists. Just terms to promote fear in susceptible people. A technique straight out of the Goebbels - Nazi playbook.

[maxrandb]

22. The God damned guns

Are what needs to be categorized as Weapons of Terror

[thbobby]

23. Exactly!

I couldn't have said it better. God Damned Gun is not even profanity in this context. America! The land of the God Damned Guns and the home of the slaughtered.

[world wide wally]

24. The NRA should be required by law to sign a form accepting responsibility for any

murders committed while using that gun when purchased.