EL PRESIDENTE
Username Retired in Honor of Lanny.
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Its on really late. Midnight I believe on Fucks News.
http://www.dailygut.com/?i=4837
Tonight's "Gregalogue"
Article in question:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-12-06-column06_ST_N.htm
http://www.dailygut.com/?i=4837
Tonight's "Gregalogue"
So Tom Krattenmaker wrote a piece this week for USA Today, about Portland, Oregon being targeted by a Muslim terrorist. This gist: How could they bomb Portland! We're just a quirky place everyone loves!
Or at least, doesn't take seriously.
After the cliched warning to not rush to judgement, Tommy says, and I quote,
Why would Portland, of all places, be the site of a terror attack? The "People's Republic of Portland" - so dubbed for its liberal ways - seems so utterly different from New York, Mumbai, London, or the other places that one associates with terrorist attacks. Portland is so much smaller, light years from the figurative front lines.This is a laid-back city where the red-hot rhetoric around terrorism, Islam, the "ground zero mosque," and the like runs cooler.
So, because Portland's a leftwing haven with homemade fliers for guitar lessons stapled on every Peet's Coffee wall - terrorists should skip us, and focus only on the big, boring cities without all those great organic cafes. Heck, they probably don't use cloth bags or read Chomsky (stuff jihadists care about).
And since Portlanders find red meat topics like terrorism so unseemly - our enemies should totally dig us! We love Bill Moyers!
Damn, these folks are dumb. They think their behavior is at the root of other people's actions. And that, if you're nice, terrorists won't kill you.
These jacknuts don't get that no matter how liberal you are, you represent everything terrorists hate, and your touchy-feeliness only makes them hate your sogginess more. Your clogs don't help.
Trust me - terrorists have more respect for the "red-hot rhetoric" of Dick Cheney than a naval gazing goof like Tom. And closing your eyes to Islamic jihad, in favor of contemplating the dent in your consciousness is why the terrorists may come for you first.
Because you're annoying.
Article in question:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-12-06-column06_ST_N.htm
For several good reasons, many of us Portlanders are having a hard time wrapping our minds around the horrific thought of a 19-year-old from the local suburbs wanting to kill and destroy. Why would Portland, of all places, be the site of a terror attack?
The "People's Republic of Portland" — so dubbed for its liberal ways — seems so utterly different from New York, Mumbai, London, or the other places that one associates with terrorist attacks. Portland is so much smaller, light years from the figurative front lines. This is a laid-back city where the red-hot rhetoric around terrorism, Islam, the "ground zero mosque," and the like runs cooler. It's a place where a live-and-let-live spirit extends ample latitude to anyone who might otherwise stand out — whether it's for wearing a Santa hat and pedaling around on a unicycle playing bagpipes (which my wife actually witnessed last year), covering every inch of your arm with tattoos, or wearing a head scarf and praying at a mosque rather than a church or synagogue.
That image resonated strongly with comments my brother-in-law posted on Facebook right after the news broke, just a day or two after he had returned to New Jersey after visiting for Thanksgiving. His first thought, like mine: Portland? Really? He went on to voice deep regret about a situation in which a disturbed young man receives not constructive intervention from adults in his life, but instead is given the means — the feigned means, as it turns out — to put his destructive thought into action.
No doubt, appreciation is owed to the FBI agents, and law enforcement in general, for their efforts to stop terrorism. I am glad that they are working diligently to keep real bombs from going off at Pioneer Courthouse Square or any other place. Thank you.
Also churning in my head is regret over the stress that the incident is causing for our Portland-area Muslim community. The suspect, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, " ruined it for everybody," is how one Somalian man, Ahmed Ali, put it in comments to The Oregonian newspaper. "Our religion says we cannot kill innocent people. This is the reason we left Somalia."
