Did Maj. Hasan suffer a “personal meltdown,” or was he “a homegrown Islamic terrorist”? Argues Debra Saunders of the San Francisco Chronicle (at Real Clear Politics): “In the end, it may turn out that both views are correct — in that Hasan would not be the first unstable person to immerse himself in an extremist ideology before he turned his rage on his fellow man. Perhaps that is how seemingly benign men become terrorists.”
I think she’s got it about right, based on what I can see from the same media reports everyone else is seeing. Nevertheless, non-liberals detected a reticence to acknowledge Hasan’s religion in “mainstream” media (”MSM”) coverage. Notes Saunders: “I watched the story as it broke Thursday, and I understand why news anchors hesitated before coming to conclusions on the shooting. After all, early reports got it wrong — it was reported Hasan was dead.”
The commentariat is awash with condemnations of excessive “correctness” in the wake of the massacre. As much is reflected in Saunders’ remark: “If the Fort Hood shooter had been a white man who yelled the N-word before firing, I don’t think you would see military brass warning against a rush to judgment that the shooter was a racist.” Indeed, liberals’ first instinct in such a situation is to adopt a defensive pose against anti-Muslim innuendo and reprisals. Saunders notes that the Army Chief of Staff has warned against jumping to conclusions. “That’s his job; he must work to prevent a backlash against Muslims serving their country in the military, often at great personal sacrifice. Let me add that to view all Muslim troops as suspect — or otherwise attempt to isolate them — would be to reward Hasan’s attack.” It is to be hoped that everyone can agree with that last statement.
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, violent reprisals against American Muslims were anticipated in some circles. By and large, such fears were not realized, although I am sure some incidents took place. That lack of reprisal redounded to the country’s credit — but, to that end, it had to be mentioned in public that Americans ought not to retaliate against their innocent Muslim neighbors. Any such statement carries overtones of “political correctness,” which annoys American whites — and, since most of the electorate is still “palefaced,” I tend to look askance at commentators who insist on playing with a stacked deck in this respect.
Nevertheless, few Americans are disposed to feelings of charity or forgiveness toward Maj. Hasan, who lives in a military hospital in San Antonio, federal investigators undoubtedly near his door. What took place inside his cranium remained something of a mystery. In any case, if it was out of excessive “correctness” that responsible authorities looked the other way at the red flags that, if media reports are accurate, would seem to have been cause for considerable alarm, we may hope that heads will roll….