Race - Dolezal, Dylan roof, white supremacy groups - some comments

IMO, all murder is hate crime .

Quote: reno

Their worst enemy is Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the rest of the right-wing media noise machine.

LOL, what a barrel of horse manure.

Quote: reno

But let me play devil's advocate: vandalizing a Jewish synagogue with a swastika? On paper, that's just vandalism & trespassing; in most states those are misdemeanors, sometimes just infractions. The punishment for vandalism just isn't commensurate with the crime of defacing a synagogue with a symbol intended to terrorize a community. Similarly, a KKK klansman who hangs a noose from a tree in the front yard of a Southern black family, or lights fire to a cross? Those crimes warrant a serious punishment, even though on paper the crime is just vandalism & trespassing.

Fair enough point. There are statutes about "making terroristic threats" and stalking laws could possibly fit.

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Even without convicting Dylann Roof of "hate," the punishment for going on a killing spree is already adequately severe. The punishment for certain lesser crimes (swastikas, burning crosses) might not be, hence the need for hate crime legislation.

But the thing is, those that push hate crime legislation point out the major crimes. Take in the NAACP hit-piece on George W Bush. Three guys dragged a black guy to death, a total racial crime. (i.e.: it was random, not some kind of OC payback or beef he was in.) Two got the death penalty, yet the NAACP "blamed" Bush for not supporting and signing hate crime legislation. They later wondered why Bush would not show at their annual convention! Two got death, the third I presume life. So while I get your point, I do not see the legislation used that way.

Also, when is the last time you heard a minority charged with a hate crime? Blacks attack whites more than whites attack blacks, yet who gets the hate crime charges?

I will concede one other point. There is the thing of making it "life plus 100 years" instead of "life" or "100 years" or even making it "150 years" instead of "50" due to ever-changing parole laws and wanting to keep an awful human being locked up. But I do feel there are better ways of doing it. "Hate Crime" laws just end up dividing us.

Quote: reno

Fox News needs viewers, and the Republican party needs voters.

What the GOP does not need is a shlock network devoted to "the base."

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The Republican party's worst enemy isn't the Democrats. Their worst enemy is Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the rest of the right-wing media noise machine.

I think the hardcore right-wing "Republican" base comes merely in second place, that's why they try harder.

Rush's listener base is dwindling fast. Rush's job has always been to be the jester for the right, saying those things that other's don't dare. The world has moved on, and Rush is no longer as important as he used to be, but he's never been the 'problem' for the right. He's a lightning rod.

The Republican's problem will be to avoid eviscerating each other before they go to the polls with a single candidate, and to propose something that's sufficiently coherent for the middle ground voters to be swayed over to. I doubt that topic includes Obama Care or Gay Marriage, bete noirs of the right. Romney should have won last time on the economy, but somehow (liberal media conspiracy... hahaha) the needle didn't shift. I suspect Romney was not the right leader for that message.

Quote: TheCesspit

Rush's listener base is dwindling fast. Rush's job has always been to be the jester for the right, saying those things that other's don't dare. The world has moved on, and Rush is no longer as important as he used to be, but he's never been the 'problem' for the right. He's a lightning rod.

The Republican's problem will be to avoid eviscerating each other before they go to the polls with a single candidate, and to propose something that's sufficiently coherent for the middle ground voters to be swayed over to. I doubt that topic includes Obama Care or Gay Marriage, bete noirs of the right. Romney should have won last time on the economy, but somehow (liberal media conspiracy... hahaha) the needle didn't shift. I suspect Romney was not the right leader for that message.

Rush is a has been.
Major advertisers left years ago after Rush called a Georgetown student a prostitute and slut simply due to her political views.
Its not the money maker it once was.
Many of the stations that carry him in major cities are basement dwellers.

Back to race.
Is Dylann Roof a terrorist?
If he was Muslim would he be considered a terrorist?
He said his aim was to start a race war.
In my eyes, Dylann Roof is a terrorist.

Quote: terapined

Its a subject that can be touchy but its also a subject I have been fascinated with my entire life due to my personal race which is biracial. I was born in Taiwan, my mother is Chinese and my father is white.

I thought my overly lengthy purloined post from Krivo's blog about race solved the issue for you. Or should I say solved the non-issue for you.

You are part Chinese, part Overseas Chinese, and part of what you call white which spans a heck of a lot of geography.

You are partly an errant province of mainland china and partly the true representatives of teh mainland people who were defeated after the Long Retreat, er uh... Long March.

Above all, you seem overly concerned with the thoughts and ideals of a nut case who just shot down several unarmed people for singing too loud.

race? You sure you ain't got better topics to concern yourself with? Or does that guy with the soup bowl haircut really hold some sort of sway over your imagination?

There were a lot of things said early on in the Charleston situation which were questionable. I like the focus on Fox News and not on the one state house member who blamed the whole thing on Fox News...

Fox News didn't do it.

It was a vile racist, terrorist crime.

Did Roof's parents know he was a racist and that he talked about killing or starting a race war?

Quote: terapined

Rush is a has been.
Major advertisers left years ago after Rush called a Georgetown student a prostitute and slut simply due to her political views.

Advertisers still line up for the show. It was not her political views, it was that she demanded others pay for her birth control pills because she was too cheap to do so herself. She was a liberal stunt who had no standing to testify in the first place, all she ever was is a nobody law student.

Quote:

Back to race.
Is Dylann Roof a terrorist?
If he was Muslim would he be considered a terrorist?
He said his aim was to start a race war.
In my eyes, Dylann Roof is a terrorist.

The Obama Administration will not call the Ft. Hood shooting terrorism, so based on that one might say "no." Terrorism is defined as "the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims." Based on that one might say "yes." IMHO he will be tagged as one so the media and other elements can say, "look, white boys can be terrorists too!" next time a muslim commits a terror act.

Quote: AZDuffman

The Obama Administration will not call the Ft. Hood shooting terrorism, so based on that one might say "no." Terrorism is defined as "the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims." Based on that one might say "yes." IMHO he will be tagged as one so the media and other elements can say, "look, white boys can be terrorists too!" next time a muslim commits a terror act.

The Fort Hood shooting has been called "Workplace violence". I agree with you, it definitely meets the standard for terrorism, but no one wants to call it such because in my opinion, they don't want to alienate soldiers that are Muslims and loyal to the United States and their fellow service members. I served with several Muslim soldiers during my 21 year career in the Army and I would trust them with my life. I'm sure there is a percentage that is secretly sympathetic to radical Islamic causes and a few have acted on those beliefs. The larger percentage are loyal, otherwise there would be a lot more attacks like the Fort Hood shooting occurring. A lot of people comment about how the Obama administration won't call it a terrorist act, but on the flip side, you may hear the rank and file in the military say it was a terrorist act, but the Brass at the Pentagon don't. At least not openly. Calling it "Workplace violence" does a disservice to the personnel that were killed and injured. It denies benefits to surviving family members of those that were killed.

Everyone knows Muslims don't have a corner on the market for terrorism. The IRA used terrorist tactics as did Bader Meinholf and the Red Army faction in Germany and they were certainly white. Timothy McVeigh was the original domestic terrorist in my book, he just wasn't motivated by race.