tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post4072802521350195248..comments2024-03-28T15:05:10.372-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: Defeating ISIS one mom at a timeNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-44477674402982175702015-01-15T16:59:53.328-06:002015-01-15T16:59:53.328-06:00So your animus against Muslims is not based solely...So your animus against Muslims is not based solely on their religion. What a guy.<br /><br />If you're not saying Muslims support terrorism, then what are you saying? That they're...indifferent to it? Not outraged enough by it to suit you? <br /><br />Go "questioning the Muslim community" about this if that's what you want to do. I suspect they'll be more polite to you than I would.Bitter Scribenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-72613772021488300592015-01-14T19:57:30.193-06:002015-01-14T19:57:30.193-06:00I still don't trust that mother. Would she hav...I still don't trust that mother. Would she have reported him if he wasn't caught? What of the dad? Also, how are her kids buying tickets with what card and the parents weren't even aware???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-5322626104829107652015-01-14T17:55:22.162-06:002015-01-14T17:55:22.162-06:00Anonymity may well undercut my points, but I'v...Anonymity may well undercut my points, but I've read the remarks offered by countless people using their real names on comment boards elsewhere which demonstrate that identifying themselves does nothing to elevate them from their roles as crackpots...Jakashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-58220444877195783602015-01-14T16:11:02.265-06:002015-01-14T16:11:02.265-06:00Some of Steinberg's analogies may be simplisti...Some of Steinberg's analogies may be simplistic, but all the heated commentary seems to be the opposite, shedding more heat than light. I thought it a sensible column and am not sure what all the fuss is about.<br /><br />Tom EvansAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-8562827939328608302015-01-14T15:19:54.357-06:002015-01-14T15:19:54.357-06:00I don't have too much trouble with crackpots, ...I don't have too much trouble with crackpots, and while anonymity does undercut their point, that's okay by me too. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-10705825823546312372015-01-14T12:57:11.027-06:002015-01-14T12:57:11.027-06:00Yep, here's Thomas Friedman today responding t...Yep, here's Thomas Friedman today responding to Mr. Steinberg far better than I have. Quoting leading Arab journalists on the need for Muslims to confront terrorism. Writing "the truth is there is a huge amount of ambivalence toward this whole jihadist phenomenon — more than any of us would like to believe — in the Arab-Muslim world, Europe and America." Yes, it's worth making the obvious point that the vast majority of Muslims around the world are not terrorists and do not support terrorism. That ALONE does not mean there's no problem here, let alone that an analogy to other Western groups' reaction to violence (John Wayne Gacy!) is apt. As they say, read the whole thing: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/world/europe/new-charlie-hebdo-has-muhammad-cartoon.html?_r=0Anon-not-Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-8489538382834104112015-01-14T11:32:24.918-06:002015-01-14T11:32:24.918-06:00Neil, is there any way to change the way commenter...Neil, is there any way to change the way commenters are identified? It seems the majority of commenters are labeled either "Anonymous" or some variation on that word. Ideally, people who care enough to comment on stories would make the effort to figure out the current system to put at least a unique screen name (if not their actual name) on their posts, but though I didn't have much trouble, it would seem the current system must be more cumbersome than most or there wouldn't be so many anonymous commenters. <br /><br />It would help to sort out the tiresome, the crackpots and loonies from the thoughtful and well-informed commenters who appear to be in the majority.<br /><br />Thanks either way. I don't comment much but I rarely miss the posts and make a point to catch up whenever I do miss a day (or two or three...)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13903643950737781638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-41315096462729413242015-01-14T11:10:15.704-06:002015-01-14T11:10:15.704-06:00You don't have to remember my comments of Janu...You don't have to remember my comments of January 9. My post today made the same "they don't support ___ but do support ____" point in response to your attempt to analogize to John Wayne Gacy (!).Anon-not-Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-18219907353811519142015-01-14T10:12:19.370-06:002015-01-14T10:12:19.370-06:00Your comments of Jan. 9 perhaps linger with you lo...Your comments of Jan. 9 perhaps linger with you longer than they linger with those who read them. You can fault them for that if you like. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-3583619153440547982015-01-14T09:58:14.161-06:002015-01-14T09:58:14.161-06:00Well said, anon not anonWell said, anon not anonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-78133826084842777372015-01-14T09:22:36.078-06:002015-01-14T09:22:36.078-06:00I looked up the csmonitor article and the final se...I looked up the csmonitor article and the final sentence gets it wrong I think, "And we can start by recognizing that Muslims throughout the world want peace as much as Americans do."<br /><br />In fact, without resorting to statistics, the most casual observer would realize that Americans are the least motivated to seek peace. We have suffered less, lost fewer lives, and been generally less affected by terrorism than virtually any other nation in the world. We also have a huge, well-equipped and competent army that enjoys the support of the overwhelming majority of American citizens at this time (as opposed to the Vietnam era). It's sad that we have so few places we can drop bombs on to kill our enemies.<br /><br />John tatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-14234789335023651772015-01-14T09:18:56.280-06:002015-01-14T09:18:56.280-06:00Mr. Steinberg, please read for comprehension, as y...Mr. Steinberg, please read for comprehension, as you have been consistently attributing to me statements/positions I explicitly disclaim. As I wrote before (Jan 9th) I acknowledge that most Muslims DO NOT support terrorism. I called those who do a "fringe." So please stop with the straw man. The point I'm making is that while that direct support may be lacking, there are other widely held opinions that create conditions which permit terrorism to grow. Tom Friedman has made this point several times through the years about how critical the kind of thing this mother is doing is. He's hardly an anti-Muslim Islamophobe or even Bill Mahler type. <br /><br />And as I wrote several months ago, it would be wrong to simply attribute such attitudes to something about the Islamic religion, that there were cultural and geopolitical aspects at-play. The problem with your writing on this subject (and on immigration) is that everything is black and white. I don't know what the proper level of questioning the Muslim community about terrorism and the community and leaderships' response to it is, but it's not "never/nothing." <br /><br />Finally, the only way your "600 murders" example would be remotely analogous would be if the majority of murderers around the globe were Chicagoans AND a widespread response of Chicagoans to the murders was "I don't think the victims should have been murdered, but I do think they did wrong." <br />Anon-not-Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-37799237997540172882015-01-14T06:49:41.277-06:002015-01-14T06:49:41.277-06:00>>Normally, I consider demands for Islamic c...>>Normally, I consider demands for Islamic condemnation of terror something of an insult to the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims. Chicagoans weren’t called upon to denounce John Wayne Gacy, to prove they weren’t in sympathy.<<<br /><br />If Chicagoans produced an inordinate number of child rapists/killers AND polls showed a majority of Chicagoans who thought, well, it should be ok for people to do certain physical acts to kids, just not rape or kill them (because -that- is going too far) I suspect there would indeed have been such calls. There would have been such calls to Jews had their response to the revenge killings last year was largely a shrug and "you have to understand what motivates it" blather. Anon-not-Anonnoreply@blogger.com