Monday, June 13, 2016

SOME SANITY Gunman's Ex-Wife Reacts to Orlando Shooting

The shooter at the Orlando, Florida gay bar where 50 have been killed and 53 injured has been identified as Omar Saddiqui Mateen. 

WaPo has already talked to the ex-wife of Mateen. She said that he had beat her.

In a new interview, CBS talked to her and what appears to possibly be her new husband. They appear absolutely rational and get it.

They both tell CBS that the killings were not about ISIS or gay hate, but that Mateen was simply a very disturbed man.

What is really going on here is that the inflammatory rhetoric between ISIS and the US is getting these guys that are on the edge, mentally,  juiced up. And they are using ISIS hate of America, and of gays, to do what they have an inclination to do anyway. It provides the moral cover they seem to require for their disturbed actions.   

With Trump giving anti-Muslim speeches and painting the idea that there is a vast hate among Muslims of America, he is just goosing up red-blooded Americans to hate Muslims, which is something of a feedback loop that will result in more Muslims hating Americans.

The number of nutjobs on both sides willing to kill the other side will expand.

Stirring the us versus them mentality is Trump at his worst. It is the type of hatemongering F.A. Hayek warned about in Chapter 10, Why the Worst Get On Top,  of the Road to Serfdom.

It is in connection with the deliberate effort of the skillful demagogue to weld together a closely coherent and homogeneous body of supporters that the third and perhaps most important negative element of selection enters. It seems to be almost a law of human nature that it is easier for people to agree on a negative program—on the hatred of an enemy, on the envy of those better off— than on any positive task. The contrast between the “we” and the “they,” the common fight against those outside the group, seems to be an essential ingredient in any creed which will solidly knit together a group for common action. It is consequently always employed by those who seek, not merely support of a policy, but the unreserved allegiance of huge masses. From their point of view it has the great advantage of leaving them greater freedom of action than almost any positive program. The enemy, whether be internal, like the “Jew” or the “kulak,” or external, seems to be an indispensable requisite in the armory of a totalitarian leader. 
Both sides need to ignore and condemn the hatemongers.

  -RW

8 comments:

  1. It's a bit of a stretch to pin this just on Mr Trump. He's just a byproduct of a real underlying anger that seems to be floating around. I would blame first years and years of war, the surveillance state, and the Federal Reserves manipulations before I would blame anyone in the current election cycle. In fact, Hillary in her multiple years as an office holder has helped to strengthen the powers that be that are bringing all this violence to our doorstep.

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    1. Bingo. Like any good actor (or apprentice, maybe) Trump is an empty vessel that TPTB are funneling the public's inchoate anger and dissent into. He is a reflection not an impetus. The purpose he and his over the top personality serves is to discredit all anger and dissent as "extreme" and "rayciss."

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  2. So AJO you are saying a good new hashtag would be #everyone is doing it why not Trump?

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    1. Haha, that will work. Or how about #blameTrump or #at least Hillary can't motivate the plebes

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  3. Oh, Trump is to blame? I see, thanks for the edification, Mr Wenzel.

    Lets bring all the Islamic State fighters here and have them mowing lawns and flipping burgers. No problem there because they are just economic units, not people with thoughts and beliefs. Hail the libertarian New Man!

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    1. And let's not forget that these animals want their religion to be the state. They can have their caliphate in Mecca, and it's time we sent them there.

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  4. So I guess "sanity" means a diagnosis from a non-professional(not that I have faith in the professionals) based on years ago events because it fits in with the view that infinity immigration is not the problem.

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  5. Ron Paul tapped into this "us vs them" mentality masterfully. With him, it was always us vs the state. It's probably the reason a lot of Ron Paul supporters also came to support Trump. Trump's battle is us vs. the Man, the Washington Elite, the status-quo and not the state itself.

    For the general population, who have no theory of the state, the two campaigns are nearly indistinguishable. They are cheerleaders for whoever is down with the establishment.

    Maybe this is why so many libertarians refuse to support Gary Johnson. His messaging is more of inclusion - 'hey, we social liberals and fiscal conservatives should team up' - than the battle between society (its individuals and customs)and the state.

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