Mr. Blow, you look everywhere for why this atrocity happened except for the murderer's own words: he said he did it for ISIS.
69
OMG, a British politician known for supporting immigration and the EU has been killed. Why is still unknown and the Brits don't let US speculate on things like this until the trial is OVER. So there's that coping mechanism.
She and her husband were twitters of pro-immigration policies, so your guess is as off base as mine.
Gee, Rupert, how's that anxiety rack twisting working for you? Do you REALLY think the Scots will split the UK and make you their overlord?
Sorry, aside venting.
She and her husband were twitters of pro-immigration policies, so your guess is as off base as mine.
Gee, Rupert, how's that anxiety rack twisting working for you? Do you REALLY think the Scots will split the UK and make you their overlord?
Sorry, aside venting.
6
The classic Freudian take on persons with homosexual desires resorting to violence against the objects of their desire is that they are holding homosexuals responsible for their own desires and that they see those they desire as exuding a kind of demonic seductiveness. It is a not uncommon literary trope appearing in the works of Hemingway and Tennessee Williams.
20
As usual, in his attempt to present the Democratic Party talking points, Blow glosses over key facts. Omar Mateen was a Muslim, motivated by Muslim teachings that homosexuality is a sin and motivated by Muslim teachings that homosexuality is a sin punishable by death. Omar mateen apparently pledged his allegiance to ISIS. His father also is a homophobe who praises the Taliban. How could Blow miss all that?
Blow talks about "our" "toxic anti-LGBT culture" and argues for eradicating that culture. Great, but Blow then criticizes Trump's anti-Muslim position. What Blow does not address is what happens if we, America, eliminate our supposedly anti-LGBT culture, but fail to eliminate Islam's ban on homosexuality, fail to eliminate Muslim teachings that incite homophobia, fail to attack Muslims for their toxic anti-LGBT culture while welcoming Muslims with those toxic cultures into America. Even Muslims who do not share Omar Mateen's tendency toward violence may have what Blow calls a "toxic male culture and toxic anti-LGBT culture." How does Blow propose to address those cultural toxicities within the Muslim communities? Even if we could eliminate those cultural toxicities in America, given Blow's pro-immigration position, how does he propose to make sure those cultural toxicities don't again invade America?
Blow talks about "our" "toxic anti-LGBT culture" and argues for eradicating that culture. Great, but Blow then criticizes Trump's anti-Muslim position. What Blow does not address is what happens if we, America, eliminate our supposedly anti-LGBT culture, but fail to eliminate Islam's ban on homosexuality, fail to eliminate Muslim teachings that incite homophobia, fail to attack Muslims for their toxic anti-LGBT culture while welcoming Muslims with those toxic cultures into America. Even Muslims who do not share Omar Mateen's tendency toward violence may have what Blow calls a "toxic male culture and toxic anti-LGBT culture." How does Blow propose to address those cultural toxicities within the Muslim communities? Even if we could eliminate those cultural toxicities in America, given Blow's pro-immigration position, how does he propose to make sure those cultural toxicities don't again invade America?
71
I wonder whether it is Mateen's father who is the monster here, whether it was his support of jihadism or deliberate ignorance of his son's violent behavior at home.
31
"While our society surely does not treat L.G.B.T. people as barbarically as some others,...." to the contrary Mr Blow, LGBT are the most targeted for violence in the US according to a study within another article in today's NY Times.
If Mateen is a monster, we are all monsters. It is human to have anger. It's what we choose to do with it that separates the sane from the insane. Unfortunately, because of the easy availability of guns in the US, the insane can act on their warped thoughts and turn them into warped, mentally ill actions, killing innocents. An AR-15 military assult semi automatic rifle has one use: to kill human beings. That they are available for purchase by the public speaks volumes to the lack of mental stability of our society.
If Mateen is a monster, we are all monsters. It is human to have anger. It's what we choose to do with it that separates the sane from the insane. Unfortunately, because of the easy availability of guns in the US, the insane can act on their warped thoughts and turn them into warped, mentally ill actions, killing innocents. An AR-15 military assult semi automatic rifle has one use: to kill human beings. That they are available for purchase by the public speaks volumes to the lack of mental stability of our society.
10
Charles, i think you are correct in questioning the shooter's sexual leanings, discussing if he was conflicted and attacking the community because he may have somehow blamesd it for his inner turmoil over his own sexuality. All very important considerations. But you practically gloss over the fact the he claimed moe than once that he was doing this for Islam and ISIS. That also isa vrey important part of the story. it seems you are picking the aspects of Mateen's psyche that suits your outlook. And to say that there wil be "consequences" from banning muslims is also misleading. There are "consequences" from not carefully examining people of a group that has declared war on us. Yes 99.9% of muslims are peaceful and wonderful people, but the common denominator of the terrorists atackes has been Al ueda or ISIS; to slow down the influx of people, a subset of which want to and have killed us is not irrational, its not racist, it is prudent. it is also leagal, under the enemy alien act.
31
Just heard on NPR that half of those who dies in the Orlando shooting were Puerto Rican. They came all the way from PR to die in America. One moment they were dancing and having the time of their lives, the next moment they were gone. Think of the grieving families, disproportionately Latino families.
11
Perhaps a longer perspective is needed. Some humans - and Mateen was human, as so many have pointed out - have always resorted to violence when frustrated. Such behavior is common to a small segment of humanity, those willing to engage in lethal action. We call such humans anti-social, or uncivilized. When the situation becomes widespread, war ensues.
But most often, we fight whatever war in which we are engaged as if it was like the previous war. President Bush declared a was on "terror", as if there was a way to force an abstraction to cease and desist.
ISIS/ISIL is clearly conducting a war - declared - against enemies of their particular form of Islam. Including not only Christians, Jews, Mormons, atheists and apostates but anyone who does not agree totally with their concept of people who don't need to be killed.
Is this rational? No. Von Clausewitz, in "On War" stated that the only way to end a war is to convince one's enemy that victory is impossible. Sadly, one must contemplate that the only way to defeat ISIS/ISIL is to annihilate so many of them - and most likely a collateral group who are not at war, that no matter who attacks us, our response will be unthinkably huge.
Why unthinkable? Because reasoning with an irrational person or group is ineffective. We possess more weapons of mass destruction - nuclear bombs and missiles - than any other country. It took two such bombs to convince the Japanese that resistance would be futile. How many will convince ISIS?
But most often, we fight whatever war in which we are engaged as if it was like the previous war. President Bush declared a was on "terror", as if there was a way to force an abstraction to cease and desist.
ISIS/ISIL is clearly conducting a war - declared - against enemies of their particular form of Islam. Including not only Christians, Jews, Mormons, atheists and apostates but anyone who does not agree totally with their concept of people who don't need to be killed.
Is this rational? No. Von Clausewitz, in "On War" stated that the only way to end a war is to convince one's enemy that victory is impossible. Sadly, one must contemplate that the only way to defeat ISIS/ISIL is to annihilate so many of them - and most likely a collateral group who are not at war, that no matter who attacks us, our response will be unthinkably huge.
Why unthinkable? Because reasoning with an irrational person or group is ineffective. We possess more weapons of mass destruction - nuclear bombs and missiles - than any other country. It took two such bombs to convince the Japanese that resistance would be futile. How many will convince ISIS?
5
He was a severe injustice collector and severe domestic abuser, a lethal combination.
14
Yes, both hate crime (prejudice) and terrorism (political). We must ask ourselves what these two things had in common. Religion was his prejudice and religion was his politics. As Americans, we must guard against religious intolerance. But what happens when our religious tolerance makes our nation less tolerant?
11
This particular type of slaughter is commensurate with the rise of misandry. Is "toxic masculinity" a cause? Or is the rage to do with some other aspects of American culture? It seems to have begun around the late 80's or 90's, no? And if we were to, say, replace the word "male" with the term for a race...
3
People who are unsure of where they are in life may be especially vulnerable to criticism. We all go through periods of vulnerability. When one is a young adult and unsure of one’s (religious, sexual, or occupational) identity, one may be more sensitive than at other life stages.
A society cannot allow anyone who feels confused or unjustly criticized to easily purchase an assault weapon and start killing people.
While several young white males have done just that, it is Muslim culture which explicitly encourages one to "defend his honor”.
Muslims have an exaggerated sense of honor, and are quick to take offense. Honor killings are common in Muslim countries.
Radical Muslim groups encourage Muslims who live in the West to blame all of their personal problems on Westerners, and, in the name of Islam, to act accordingly.
Omar Mateen tried to secure his honor by blaming Westerners for his personal problems.
A society cannot allow anyone who feels confused or unjustly criticized to easily purchase an assault weapon and start killing people.
While several young white males have done just that, it is Muslim culture which explicitly encourages one to "defend his honor”.
Muslims have an exaggerated sense of honor, and are quick to take offense. Honor killings are common in Muslim countries.
Radical Muslim groups encourage Muslims who live in the West to blame all of their personal problems on Westerners, and, in the name of Islam, to act accordingly.
Omar Mateen tried to secure his honor by blaming Westerners for his personal problems.
20
We now learn that Mateen was posting on Facebook during his assault on Pulse. His comments were scathing diatribes against Western values. I still contend the man was a closeted homosexual. He frequented gay clubs exhibiting his erratic behavior, as though he were torturing himself and must seek personal purification and atonement. Born in New York to Afghani parents, he was imbued with Islamic dogma, its sacred icons and its taboos. The physical abuse of his former wife was a means of acting out against his inner sexual quandary. He takes up with another woman because Islam demands that custom. But note that the women in his life did not observe Muslim clothing restrictions, that they were also "too Westernized?" But Rodgers and Hammerstein won't let us forget that "you have to be carefully tauight," and he could only achieve redemption by massacre. And to be posting to the most widely viewed social medium in the world was largely intended to be seen by fellow Muslims so they would confirm his faithful acts disavowing Western values. Did he not know he was likely to die in this act of terror? Was that part of his atonement, like the suicide bombers that ISIS and Al Queda launch throughout their perceived enemy territories, seeking approval from the most fanatic religious organization since the Christian crusades, initiated by a pope in 1090 and ending some say with the Spanish Armada's defeat in 1588. Alas, we undergo another crusade anathema to our democracy.
8
The late author, James Michener, wrote novels as a way of describing the cultures and histories of different regions. HIs 1963 book Caravans was on Afghanistan. In it, Michener described how interaction between men and women was strictly regulated, and largely forbidden. He also told how men openly patronized dancing boys from the hills, and paid them for sex.
The elder Mateen’s home country was able to maintain its strict codes against mixing of the sexes and against homosexuality because it pretended not to see what it did not want to see - that Afghan Muslims patronized male dancers.
The elder Mateen’s home country was able to maintain its strict codes against mixing of the sexes and against homosexuality because it pretended not to see what it did not want to see - that Afghan Muslims patronized male dancers.
31
Has anyone noted the info-graphic posted here on the Times, showing victims of hate crimes by group? It shows the years 2004 and 2015 with noticeable changes between the years. Most notable, Jews were the highest group in 2004 with LGBTs in second place whereas in 2015 the positions have switched.
Look more carefully at the graphic. What it really shows is that all victim groups, except Muslims and LGBTs, have fallen dramatically in victim numbers. The Muslim numbers remain unchanged, and there is in face a small fall in crimes against LGBTs as well, but not enough for them to remain in second place.
I only mention this because it's easy to glance over the graphic and take in the overall form while missing some vital information.
It's not my intention to downplay in any way the horrible and tragic killings in Orlando. But in fact America is becoming a safer and more tolerant country.
What we need to do is focus on how to identify these anomalies, the people fall over the edge into murderous insanity, BEFORE they act on their sickness.
Look more carefully at the graphic. What it really shows is that all victim groups, except Muslims and LGBTs, have fallen dramatically in victim numbers. The Muslim numbers remain unchanged, and there is in face a small fall in crimes against LGBTs as well, but not enough for them to remain in second place.
I only mention this because it's easy to glance over the graphic and take in the overall form while missing some vital information.
It's not my intention to downplay in any way the horrible and tragic killings in Orlando. But in fact America is becoming a safer and more tolerant country.
What we need to do is focus on how to identify these anomalies, the people fall over the edge into murderous insanity, BEFORE they act on their sickness.
5
Mr. Blow is much too careful in his assessment. Mateen frequented the gay bars often and over a long period of time. He couldn't have just been casing out the joints. Though it probably couldn't be proven in a court of law, his deep homophobia must have been rooted in self loathing. Self hatred is a very powerful energy, one that allowed him to destroy the homosexuality in himself and in 49 others.
As for the rest of the piece, Mr. Blow is spot on. Assault weapons are meant to kill lots of people quickly. As weapons of war, they do not belong on American streets.
As for the rest of the piece, Mr. Blow is spot on. Assault weapons are meant to kill lots of people quickly. As weapons of war, they do not belong on American streets.
24
Indeed this tragedy is seems like a vicious stew of issues plaguing us: misogyny, racism, religious extremism, homophobia, reckless gun culture, blow-back from US imperialism, etc. Our society is sick indeed. There is plenty of blame to go around, but as the "elite" seem to run the place, I will lay some of the blame at their feet: the Supreme Court's radical Heller decision, and President Obama's insistence that we "move forward" rather than holding Bush and his cronies accountable for their war crimes, while not dramatically reversing US imperialist foreign policy. On some level we are all accountable every day, and I try do my best. But our leadership needs to focus on the issues that are leading us to societal ruin, and not just on sustaining business as usual for the wealthy and powerful.
10
Ultimately, Mateen's tortured psyche is irrelevant. The relevant issue is that a man with powerful homicidal desires was able to purchase an assault weapon designed for warfare not civilian life. That is why he was able to kill so efficiently.
Let's focus less on this man's trouble and despicable life and more on reinstating a ban on assault weapons.
Let's focus less on this man's trouble and despicable life and more on reinstating a ban on assault weapons.
24
Given 9-11, San Bernardino, and now Orlando, some people want to ban all Muslims.
And given that the majority of mass shootings are by white males, we also need to ban all white males.
I am hoping Denmark will take me.
And given that the majority of mass shootings are by white males, we also need to ban all white males.
I am hoping Denmark will take me.
20
We can't fix this problem. There is too much money flowing to Congress to keep things exactly they way they are in perpetuity.
What we can do is fix politics. With public campaign financing, Congress would owe its allegiance only to the public and not to every john with cash in hand.
The problem is our government is for sale. We can fix that problem.
What we can do is fix politics. With public campaign financing, Congress would owe its allegiance only to the public and not to every john with cash in hand.
The problem is our government is for sale. We can fix that problem.
9
Yes, Charles Blow, such sad truths that also highlight American denials of its own pestilence in predictably and viciously scapegoating religious, racial or other ethnic minorities. Inevitably it is followed by the shock of discovery that someone from the targeted group has retaliated in fury. How immediate was the assumption that Mateen was an Isis-inspired Muslim immigrant terrorist, whose American entry should have been blocked? He was a native New Yorker -- as American as Timothy McVeigh, Jared Loughner, James Holmes, Adam Lanza, or Dylann Roof -- all mass shooters, and all white men who are Christian -- an inconvenient truth for the anti-Muslim crowd.
12
Not quite as "American" as the murderers you cite. He was socialized by an Afghan father who publicly spoke of his Taliban sympathies. We have no idea of the influence of Mateen's mother, but then again, he comes from an intensely patriarchal culture where women are subordinate to men. His father was quoted as saying that he did not sanction the mass murder of homosexuals. After all, said Mateen's father, Allah will deal with gays. Mr Blow, you make some good points but Omar Mateen is not as American as apple pie.
33
The ideology of McVeigh and Roof was obsessed about. If McVeigh or Roof had pledged alligence to the KKK or Nazis during the attack no one would say that was irrelevant. Well neither is Mateen's stated allegiance towards ISIS
15
Once again, the answer begins with getting money out of politics. That won't solve all our problems, but we can't truly solve anything until we do that.
7
"American Monster"
I have a problem with this word "American" and parts of the discussion of "homegrown" terrorism. Yes, Mateen was born in the USA and carried a US passport.
But he, like many others who have committed grave acts described as "homegrown" terrorism was either a first, or second generation immigrant who had clearly NOT integrated, NOT absorbed any of the values or cultural characteristics of America.
By a strict definition based on citizenship, yes, he was American. But his particular brand of insanity, based in a despicable interpretation of a certain religion, still has its roots firmly set in soil outside the USA. People like him, the San Bernadino killers, the Fort Hood killer, the Tsarnaev brothers, sought for and received their inspiration from outside the USA. Through the use of the internet they placed themselves in front of influences emanating from the centers of this insanity, primarily the Middle East.
There is very little that is "homegrown" about this. I bring this up, not to split hairs, but so that we might understand it better.
There IS a form of homegrown terrorism, seen in the likes of Timothy McVeigh and Ted Kaczynski. I'm not calling it better or worse. But it is different. It does not have its roots in an interpretation of religion. It is focused more directly on political ideas.
I have a problem with this word "American" and parts of the discussion of "homegrown" terrorism. Yes, Mateen was born in the USA and carried a US passport.
But he, like many others who have committed grave acts described as "homegrown" terrorism was either a first, or second generation immigrant who had clearly NOT integrated, NOT absorbed any of the values or cultural characteristics of America.
By a strict definition based on citizenship, yes, he was American. But his particular brand of insanity, based in a despicable interpretation of a certain religion, still has its roots firmly set in soil outside the USA. People like him, the San Bernadino killers, the Fort Hood killer, the Tsarnaev brothers, sought for and received their inspiration from outside the USA. Through the use of the internet they placed themselves in front of influences emanating from the centers of this insanity, primarily the Middle East.
There is very little that is "homegrown" about this. I bring this up, not to split hairs, but so that we might understand it better.
There IS a form of homegrown terrorism, seen in the likes of Timothy McVeigh and Ted Kaczynski. I'm not calling it better or worse. But it is different. It does not have its roots in an interpretation of religion. It is focused more directly on political ideas.
42
What we have to solve, is the question, what happened from 1789, when we became the hope of the world with our constitution, to what we have become today? What is it about human nature that is spoiling this gift our Founding Fathers gave us? There's the profound question we must ask ourselves. We broke off from England, yet, in time, England has become more civilized then we are. If we tackle this question, we may thrive. Until then, we are struggling to keep our head above civilization's water, while dark factors of our make-up keeps dragging us under. Is there a tragic flaw we carry?
1
We've passed through times far worse than this and are far more civilized.
Think of the wars against the native Americans and how acceptable that was to typical Americans.
Think of slavery.
Look at how the freedom our Founding Fathers conceived of now extends from white landowners to men and women of all economic levels alike.
There are so many ways we have expanded on and developed our better natures. Let's keep doing it.
Think of the wars against the native Americans and how acceptable that was to typical Americans.
Think of slavery.
Look at how the freedom our Founding Fathers conceived of now extends from white landowners to men and women of all economic levels alike.
There are so many ways we have expanded on and developed our better natures. Let's keep doing it.
7
If the circumstances of this man’s actions were to silence the demons of his own sexuality, then he was a coward. He was a coward because he gunned down people who knew who they were, were proud to be who they were, and proud to let others know who they were.
The people who lost their lives in that club had the right to be themselves. They had the right to live as pleased, and yet, they lost their lives out of cowardice carried out by a man who did not know who he was. How sad.
The people who lost their lives in that club had the right to be themselves. They had the right to live as pleased, and yet, they lost their lives out of cowardice carried out by a man who did not know who he was. How sad.
3
The nuances of this latest narrative of mass gun violence will be lost on the majority of Americans who have neither the interest nor the patience to follow along and think through this on their own with a clear mind and an open heart. Thus , any actions that will follow will be over reactions. This is the true American monster: a citizenry unable to cross the threshold to see the truth and respond accordingly and politicians who crave power above their duties as representatives in a democracy.
2
Take away the Islamic killing fantasies and this doesn't happen. Allows him to die in "glory" and leave his sad life behind. Gets to kill gays too-two for one.
10
Mr. Blow: Did you miss the fact that your American made monster called 911 to pledge allegiance to a foreign power--ISIS? It is convenient to recognize non-violent Muslims living in American while overlooking core belief systems of Islam which are in direct conflict with American law. All this highlights our cultural shift from America as a melting pot to American multi-culturalism with African Americans, Muslim Americans, gay Americans, etc. without thorough examination of the essential overlaps which must be respected in American law to maintain civility.
33
Latest mass shooter went to Saudi Arabia twice and came back radicalized; told co-workers and wife of violent thoughts and radical jihadi inspirations he had from the internet; then he buys assault weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammo.
I do not need the FBI to see something is very wrong wit this picture.
Where does "a well regulated militia being necessary for the SECURITY of a free state" allow Mateen and other mass murderers to have more constitutional due process rights than the victims?
Of course NRA is answering that question for Mr. trump today and for our electted representatives in a manner that helps them put more guns in the hands of killers. Its just a business. When will civil disobedience be necessary to get elected officials to act?Here in gun friendly Georgia a mentally ill person who was committed can buy a gun if he has no further commitment orders after five years even if totally insane. And guns are sold wholesale at gun shows and elsewhere to traffickers to resell at huge profits up North with NO background checks.
Mr. Blow needs to go much further along with other journalists if they are truly concerned. Time for all of us who are concerned to tell GOP -enough!
I do not need the FBI to see something is very wrong wit this picture.
Where does "a well regulated militia being necessary for the SECURITY of a free state" allow Mateen and other mass murderers to have more constitutional due process rights than the victims?
Of course NRA is answering that question for Mr. trump today and for our electted representatives in a manner that helps them put more guns in the hands of killers. Its just a business. When will civil disobedience be necessary to get elected officials to act?Here in gun friendly Georgia a mentally ill person who was committed can buy a gun if he has no further commitment orders after five years even if totally insane. And guns are sold wholesale at gun shows and elsewhere to traffickers to resell at huge profits up North with NO background checks.
Mr. Blow needs to go much further along with other journalists if they are truly concerned. Time for all of us who are concerned to tell GOP -enough!
11
So Mateen is one-hundred percent American made? ISIS has nothing to do with it? Islamism has nothing to do with it? Do you say the same of the Tsarnaev brothers? Is the idea of using pressure cooker bombs also an American invention? Also, are you accusing the Obama administration of indiscriminately bombing Muslims? You say, “bombing Muslims,” is that Obama’s intent or is it to degrade and kill ISIS fighters?
39
Dear Charles,
Why it is so important for you to divert the story. Isn't words matter? The killer was born in the US into a family that is a Taliban supported. They've immigrated here before we've invaded Afghanistan seeking Osama. He picked the particular club due to his, and the Muslims belief that gay life is wrong, and immoral. He has been following ISIS for quite some time. So why can't we associate him with the Muslim Radicalism that he is part of? Unless we'll recognize the simple fact that we are at war, we'll never win it It took England Churchill to admit war with Hitler, and Nazism.
Why it is so important for you to divert the story. Isn't words matter? The killer was born in the US into a family that is a Taliban supported. They've immigrated here before we've invaded Afghanistan seeking Osama. He picked the particular club due to his, and the Muslims belief that gay life is wrong, and immoral. He has been following ISIS for quite some time. So why can't we associate him with the Muslim Radicalism that he is part of? Unless we'll recognize the simple fact that we are at war, we'll never win it It took England Churchill to admit war with Hitler, and Nazism.
28
That joke is for sale, but my husband demands restitution. It's gonna be costly, so you'll have to carry that burden with me, sisters!
1
"The massacre in Orlando, where 49 people were gunned down at an L.G.B.T. nightclub and dozens of others were wounded, came at the hands of a coward and a monster, but make no mistake: This was our monster."
I love how you are pointing to the fact that Mr. Mateen was indeed a monster born and bread in the United States. Many writers here don't have the medal to admit that this is a problem of Hypermasculine American Expressionism, and not Terrorism.
"The shooter...was born and raised in America. He killed other Americans using at least one American-made gun...that he purchased legally from an American gun store, even after having been investigated twice by America’s top law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for terror-related concerns."
The most painful part about all of this, is that this man was an American, who used American made guns, to commit an act of hatred on American soil. The people who keep saying this is an "act of terror" are using this instance as a red herring, the truth of the matter is that this is an act of hatred. This man was very American, and although he may have been ethnically Afghani, that does not make him a "radical Islamic terrorist." The rhetoric being used with this case is disgusting, and I appreciate Charles M. Blow for being the excellent writer that he is.
I love how you are pointing to the fact that Mr. Mateen was indeed a monster born and bread in the United States. Many writers here don't have the medal to admit that this is a problem of Hypermasculine American Expressionism, and not Terrorism.
"The shooter...was born and raised in America. He killed other Americans using at least one American-made gun...that he purchased legally from an American gun store, even after having been investigated twice by America’s top law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for terror-related concerns."
The most painful part about all of this, is that this man was an American, who used American made guns, to commit an act of hatred on American soil. The people who keep saying this is an "act of terror" are using this instance as a red herring, the truth of the matter is that this is an act of hatred. This man was very American, and although he may have been ethnically Afghani, that does not make him a "radical Islamic terrorist." The rhetoric being used with this case is disgusting, and I appreciate Charles M. Blow for being the excellent writer that he is.
5
The press loves to talk about the "insanity" of shooters and killers. They love to talk about the monster killer. They love to tell us how the victims loved ones react to the slaughter. I'm sick of hearing, reading about and discussing it. The killing by gun must stop. GUNS KILL. Get them off the streets of America by electing leaders who will require that every gun in America be registered on a national database with the Justice Department, be state licensed and be fully insured for liability. We do not want gun lovers' guns. We want them to stop killing us.
13
You know why gun loves are so against gun control, I'm sure most people think because they're crazy about guns. Well half of it, maybe but mostly because they know for a fact a gun ban will not stop any mass killings. they've seen it in Oklahoma, they've seen it in Boston.
4
The media harvests anxiety like a crop, dusters. That they understand it is their bottom line while joining in as we succumb to it's deteriorating affects, I still question why we trust them. All they want to do is cause us anxiety so we will look to them whenever we feel small. HUGE problem.
3
What is happening in Mexico since the average Mexican people are no longer armed and now unable to defend themselves from the criminals or their own government policemen.
6
I agree with this description of Mateen. I also think it quite likely that his well-documented hatred of gays was motivated, in part, by his self-loathing for his own homosexual tendencies.
Let's not forget what almost always exacerbates such self-loathing: religion. This terrible tragedy appears to be yet another one caused by, or made worse by, our sad inability to rise above the destructive power of religion.
Let's not forget what almost always exacerbates such self-loathing: religion. This terrible tragedy appears to be yet another one caused by, or made worse by, our sad inability to rise above the destructive power of religion.
13
The use of the descriptor "monster" to characterize Omar Mateen is a mistake and advances our understanding not a jot. Even though he may have relinquished his own humanity towards others he is still essentially like all of us, a human being. Monsters are the figment of our imagination. Seeing this cold-blooded murdered as a fellow human being, in spite of the horrible crime he has committed, opens us up to wider inquiry and, one hopes, a deeper understanding of the complexity of this man's psyche. From that patient knowledge we can start to consider policies that will make a difference in the future. Had he lived (in Israel the police and army would have been instructed to disable him, not kill him) we would learn more. All the understandable fury and temptation for vengeance is a natural response. But you can be sure that Omar Mateen was all flesh and blood, just like you and me.
3
I've been wondering what were the influences that led him to such hate. This kind of hatred is not inborn. It's learned. Who were his teachers?
Who were the people that taught him to hate his probable homosexuality?
Who were the people who taught him to express his inner conflict by hurting others?
Little boys don't grow up to be men like him on their own. They get plenty of "help" along the way.
Who were the people that taught him to hate his probable homosexuality?
Who were the people who taught him to express his inner conflict by hurting others?
Little boys don't grow up to be men like him on their own. They get plenty of "help" along the way.
4
Omar Mateen was no American. US citizen, yes. American, no.
Conservatives push back on the lack of assimilation of immigrants coming to this country, while, for some reason, Liberals do not.
Mateen's father should have left his national identity behind him and taught his children to be Americans first and foremost. There is nothing more dangerous to the foundations of this country than the continued growth of immigrant communities that are not 100% loyal to America, our ideals, common language, political environment, and liberties.
Islam, as it is practiced by its most extreme adherents, is anathema to American ideals. Personally I'd like to have every American resident swear a loyalty oath to this country. If they refuse, invite them to please return from whence they came.
Conservatives push back on the lack of assimilation of immigrants coming to this country, while, for some reason, Liberals do not.
Mateen's father should have left his national identity behind him and taught his children to be Americans first and foremost. There is nothing more dangerous to the foundations of this country than the continued growth of immigrant communities that are not 100% loyal to America, our ideals, common language, political environment, and liberties.
Islam, as it is practiced by its most extreme adherents, is anathema to American ideals. Personally I'd like to have every American resident swear a loyalty oath to this country. If they refuse, invite them to please return from whence they came.
36
Is this the only situation in which you will split Amercans into US and Out of Heres?
Be careful, what you split on the outside also splits us apart inside.
Be careful, what you split on the outside also splits us apart inside.
3
Abby, we're already split apart and multi-culturalism is the cause.
10
Young men such as the Orlando killer, absorb all of the intolerance implicit in their parents' Islamic culture and religion, when one or the other of their parents are even moderately religious. The fact his father was pro-Taliban, yet living in a non-theocratic country(USA), and enjoying all of the freedoms of such a country, must by definition create confusion in an offspring's mind about what to believe in and what to follow. The Boston bomber's mother exemplifies this example also. Some of the youth of these parents who are living in two worlds simultaneously, figuratively speaking, are inevitably going to act on what they have been indoctrinated in: intolerance and disgust for those who are not believers of their faith. Obviously this occurs in families who are bigoted christians or judaists or hindus or any other religion that draws lines between their group and others, and subtly or not so subtly sends messages to their children that only their 'group' are on the 'right path'. Certainly ex-Catholics, such as myself experienced this to a degree as a young person. The problem with cases such as the Orlando and Boston murderers, is that they act on their parents' message and their on-line indoctrination is just one step further than what they have imbibed all their lives at home. Couple this with the very real message of Islamic jihad and this particular religion is a toxic mix and we will be living through many more Orlandos.
21
Omar Mateen was as much an American made monster as the Paris shooters, the Brussels, shooters, the Tel Aviv shooters, the Sinai bombers of the Russian plane, the bomber of the Argentine Jewish Center, the Bombay India shooters. It is the Radical Islamic Terrorist ideology that causes these events. The bombs or guns that the terrorist uses are objects not the cause of the deaths.
36
Dad dropped Napalm in Nam, so he was hurt when I registered horror watching Apocalypse. Like I'm some angel. I used to watch the flight films which train them to attack East Germany with tac nukes. Dad caught me "simulating" with an F4 half belly roll, then a downward escalating scroll to evade their SAMs.
"Why don't you become a pilot? Women make great pilots."
No thanks, I'd rather stay home and torture my husband.
"Why don't you become a pilot? Women make great pilots."
No thanks, I'd rather stay home and torture my husband.
4
Humor is an advanced ego defense mechanism aside from sublimation and suppression. Now is no time for The Dude to abide. Look at that carpet!
3
We are grasping at straws trying to understand why mass shootings have become a sick new norm of our age and nation.. Homophobia, mental illness, religious fanaticism, racial hatred - have all existed in one form or another in many societies for centuries, and they are probably never going away. We may never understand why in America today young men reach for a gun to massacre their fellow humans. If we wait for the answer and do nothing else we will have to see many more die. The only thing we can actually DO as a society is drastically limit access to guns. Yes, guns are a ton of fun. Our society accepts regulation of many fun and potentially dangerous things. We need to grow up about guns, accept that they are too risky to sell over the counter, be brave about facing down the gun industry, and focus on the prize - fewer firearm deaths next year, and then fewer, then fewer.
10
Lots of talk about guns, Islam, and homophobia when we tall about the toxic stew that was this murderer's mind.
Not so much about mental illness, although that is the common thread running through so many mass killings in our country these days.
There are so many of us who love people with troubled minds, and so many of us looking for help for them, but not enough help available.
WA, where I live, expanded one of their state-run mental health hospitals a couple years ago but still can't open the ward because they can't find enough staff to run it.
So even if someone had tried to intervene, who's to say there would have been help available?
Maybe we debate access to guns, but there's no debate that we need more access to mental health providers. What's the holdup?
Not so much about mental illness, although that is the common thread running through so many mass killings in our country these days.
There are so many of us who love people with troubled minds, and so many of us looking for help for them, but not enough help available.
WA, where I live, expanded one of their state-run mental health hospitals a couple years ago but still can't open the ward because they can't find enough staff to run it.
So even if someone had tried to intervene, who's to say there would have been help available?
Maybe we debate access to guns, but there's no debate that we need more access to mental health providers. What's the holdup?
3
Ella, our state does not have enough money to spend on every priority. As you are aware, Washington State has a vast number of illegal migrants. These people have next-to-no education and are dependent on government assistance. The same can be said of the Central American migrants whom our governor made a point of accepting by writing an editorial in this very newspaper. The Mexicans and the Central Americans receive child care, medical care, education, correctional services, and so on. The governor has decided on his priorities. Mental health is not among them.
7
"Until we rid our society of this rigid and wrongheaded thinking, we apply pressure on citizens not to walk openly and lovingly in their own truths, and we give cover to the darkest possible objections from people like Mateen."
That would be a beautiful thing but I don't think America is going to turn to an atheist majority country like Sweden overnight. Perhaps the best way to accelerate the shift would be to openly and incessantly mock the horrible 'laws' and 'commands' in these religions like Islam, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness. That strategy has worked well with the more progressive flexible Christian faiths; even the Pope seems to be making some baby steps.
That would be a beautiful thing but I don't think America is going to turn to an atheist majority country like Sweden overnight. Perhaps the best way to accelerate the shift would be to openly and incessantly mock the horrible 'laws' and 'commands' in these religions like Islam, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness. That strategy has worked well with the more progressive flexible Christian faiths; even the Pope seems to be making some baby steps.
3
"Omar Mateen was an American-made monster, and America must decide how best to make fewer in his likeness." No Charles Blow. He may been made here in America, but he is a radical Islam-made monster. This is not about guns. This is about radical Islam. It is hard to fight an enemy when you fail to identify who it is. Obama and his leftist's foreign and domestic policy has been a disaster, because they refuse to recognize what the problems are. We don't need to foment hate for Muslims, but we do need to recognize there is a violence and hate element of Islam that is very pronounced. To suggest "that community (Muslim), like any other, also has a small population of weak-minded people prone to violence," as though it is no different than any other culture is liberal political correctness that fails to see and confront the problem for what it is. Perhaps you Mr. Blow need to stop blaming guns and start looking at how your denial contributes to the problem.
28
Truly amazing how we have gone from a 9/11 response of "nothing will be the same again" togetherness to one side wanting to completely obscure the fact that terrorists like killing as many of us as possible, regardless of sexual orientation or politics.
17
We all have our demons, except most of us can keep them in check. Then there are those who can't. What sets America apart with these people is that they can so easily buy and use military grade weapons of mass destruction like the ones used by Mateen all the others in recent times.
Changing people would be a good thing to do, but it's hard and it takes a long time. So let's do it but in the meantime, it would be so easy to take those assassins's guns off the market
Changing people would be a good thing to do, but it's hard and it takes a long time. So let's do it but in the meantime, it would be so easy to take those assassins's guns off the market
5
It seems to me that extremely conflicted identity expressed through psychopathy was motivation, and a legally purchased assault rifle was Omar Mateen's means of release through symbolic destruction of his own irreconcilable fundamentalist religious and unbearably painful psychological, relational and sexual, psychology.
Omar Mateen was domestic violence and eventually, mass murder, waiting to happen, a tragedy in and of himself, made in America, as other mass murderers in this country have, for various reasons contributing to their isolation from American society, proven to be.
So, get rid of legal and illegal assault rifle sales and trade. But also, we must have serious conversations in this country around the making of those who become psychologically and physically lethal in a Nation that has come to stereo-type, "American Monsters," politically and media driven through mainstream mass consumerism and promotion of perpetual global war, resulting in a mass mind set of fear and anger these extremely contradictory, internal and external conflicts, create.
Omar Mateen was domestic violence and eventually, mass murder, waiting to happen, a tragedy in and of himself, made in America, as other mass murderers in this country have, for various reasons contributing to their isolation from American society, proven to be.
So, get rid of legal and illegal assault rifle sales and trade. But also, we must have serious conversations in this country around the making of those who become psychologically and physically lethal in a Nation that has come to stereo-type, "American Monsters," politically and media driven through mainstream mass consumerism and promotion of perpetual global war, resulting in a mass mind set of fear and anger these extremely contradictory, internal and external conflicts, create.
1
A commentator said why Muslims have nothing to say anything about this. I am Muslim and I have written a couple of comments but they were not published so i haven't said anything further.
However, I will say that this has nothing to do with being Muslim. I believe that this guy was closet homosexual and was possibly jilted by his lover. Something happened in that arena. His pledging allegiance to ISIS is just nonsense. Anyone wanting to do something crazy is now doing so and ISIS is very happy to accept such nonexistent pledges.
If we look into the lives of Afghan men, they have a history of sexual liaisons with young boys and homosexuality is rampant there. It is a Muslim country but this exists there and I have seen western documentaries that clearly talk about this quite frankly.
In summary, we will learn more about this fella over time but from what is clear so far, it indicates to gay tendencies, and some sort of fascination with a life in that direction. Perhaps he did this to prove to someone who may have confronted him about this that he is really not gay but rather despises them. We will find out as time goes on.
I can say for myself, that anyone's lifestyle is theirs own and what they choose to do sexually is theirs. I am straight and I have known numerous homosexual men during my life and men with that orientation usually do not proposition straight men. I have never been approached by any gay man.
However, I will say that this has nothing to do with being Muslim. I believe that this guy was closet homosexual and was possibly jilted by his lover. Something happened in that arena. His pledging allegiance to ISIS is just nonsense. Anyone wanting to do something crazy is now doing so and ISIS is very happy to accept such nonexistent pledges.
If we look into the lives of Afghan men, they have a history of sexual liaisons with young boys and homosexuality is rampant there. It is a Muslim country but this exists there and I have seen western documentaries that clearly talk about this quite frankly.
In summary, we will learn more about this fella over time but from what is clear so far, it indicates to gay tendencies, and some sort of fascination with a life in that direction. Perhaps he did this to prove to someone who may have confronted him about this that he is really not gay but rather despises them. We will find out as time goes on.
I can say for myself, that anyone's lifestyle is theirs own and what they choose to do sexually is theirs. I am straight and I have known numerous homosexual men during my life and men with that orientation usually do not proposition straight men. I have never been approached by any gay man.
10
What surprises me is that nobody talks about Omar's father; who seems to be a phony and pompous individual, and twisted, and power hungry. There are no doubts that a difficult upbringing and messed up cultural mores must play a role in this tragedy. A complex society must learn to dig deeper into the complexity of such situation, in order to identify the probable causes. This is a mess of a case, in which cultural ills and evils met sexual frustrations and personal abuse making for an identity crisis that resulted in the most morbid and vicious end.
8
The way that Trump and his followers want to make 'fewer in his likeness' is to ban them from entry, deport them if necessary, and if necessary kill their family members in their home countries (and not just with drones, either; real warfare).
Epic Fail.
Epic Fail.
2
Columnists like Mr. Blow are more dangerous to America than an AR15. Giving press to terrorists is like unloading an ammo wagon. Providing sensationalized, biased press is like unloading crates of machine guns.
10
How about at least a mild acknowledgment of the need to address the issues of the lethal and nearly universal homophobia among Muslims that just might have played a role here?
12
Good to have Charles Blow back to remind us, again, that America must take a look in the mirror and act accordingly if we don't like what we see.
3
Yes, I do in fact intend to hunt deer this fall with my brand new AR-10 (.308") semi-automatic rifle. In fact, I can't wait to go to the range and get my scope aligned. And another thing, the only thing that stops me from using my semi-automatic rifle to keep the vermin out of the garden is the law that prohibits discharge of a firearm within city limits. You see, I am big believer in he rule of law.
Omar Mateen was clearly a troubled individual American. Before the tragedy in Orlando, I thought the solution to mass shootings might lay somewhere within the mental health realm. Maybe access to mental health professionals and access to affordable Health Insurance. I thought it likely that the rash of mass shootings were really suicides where the suicidal person simply wanted to take as many people with them as possible. An attempt to inflict as much pain as they had been forced to endure. It might actually be possible that when Omar Mateen crawled out of that hole in the bathroom wall to engage police, it was to commit suicide, suicide by cop. Lets not forget that the one solution may be a better American mental heath care system.
Omar Mateen was clearly a troubled individual American. Before the tragedy in Orlando, I thought the solution to mass shootings might lay somewhere within the mental health realm. Maybe access to mental health professionals and access to affordable Health Insurance. I thought it likely that the rash of mass shootings were really suicides where the suicidal person simply wanted to take as many people with them as possible. An attempt to inflict as much pain as they had been forced to endure. It might actually be possible that when Omar Mateen crawled out of that hole in the bathroom wall to engage police, it was to commit suicide, suicide by cop. Lets not forget that the one solution may be a better American mental heath care system.
7
You could do most of that with a .22, oversight. Why do you need so much fire power to kill rodents? Miss too often? My FinL told me it's a slow process. Exhale, aim and squeeze. It's over. You need to shoot more than once? You need to take out more than one? Sounds like you are overdone.
9
Let me know when you get Congress to appropriate the money for affordable access to mental health professionals for everyone. Contact me again when you find a way to identify all the potential Omar Mateens and get them to agree to visit those counselors and follow their recommendations. I have not read that Omar was looking for help and couldn't find or afford it.
If you find that your ideas prove impractical, try this one: fewer guns.
If you find that your ideas prove impractical, try this one: fewer guns.
2
I recently read people with mood disorders are still capable of high ordered defense mechanism which diagnoses of insanity use to judge if a person's mind is off base. In other words, people with high anxiety problems still seem capable of mature coping mechanisms when they are actually splitters. Divided by society's valuations on the inside and out.
Re: "What is indisputable is that Mateen specifically targeted the L.G.B.T. community in one of its safest spaces, and did so on a specific night — “Latin night” — and that must remain at the forefront of our inquiry as details emerge and motives are assigned."
Interesting. I'd argue the one indisputable fact is that Mateen claimed this attack for ISIS. We have his words for that. Mr. Blow seems gives this appalingly short shrift.
Interesting. I'd argue the one indisputable fact is that Mateen claimed this attack for ISIS. We have his words for that. Mr. Blow seems gives this appalingly short shrift.
15
The fact that Mateen said that he did it for ISIS does not mean that it was an ISIS-controlled event, or that he was a "member" of ISIS, or that he even understood what he was talking about. He had also previously claimed support for Al Qaeda and for Hezbollah. These are three distinct groups, which are also at odds with each other (for example, one group is of the Sunni camp of Islam, and another is of the Shia camp of Islam--said camps of these extremists groups actively shun/work against the other camp). The investigation is still unfolding; the only thing that is clear is that he had hatred in his heart.
3
Actually these are both indisputable facts. The question is, which fact is most significant.
This is interesting. This shooting has forced me to address my own homophobia, which I never thought that I possessed. I was saddened initially on Sunday when I heard of the shooting, but by Monday I had tired of the interviews of witnesses and victims, and mostly of what I called "over-the-top gay rhetoric." It was no longer an American tragedy, but an LGBTQ tragedy, and that, in my mind, didn't affect me. I found myself changing the channel on my radio when yet another "over-the-top gay man" was describing the scene and breaking down into tears. It makes me sad and embarrassed to admit it, especially as a person who still tears up thinking about 9/11.
So yes, this is a complicated issue for sure, and the conversations are going to be about guns, violence, religion, and, of course, hate crimes.
So yes, this is a complicated issue for sure, and the conversations are going to be about guns, violence, religion, and, of course, hate crimes.
4
I disagree that this was an act of terrorism. What distinguishes terrorism and a heinous crime? Supposedly terrorism is a tactic perpetrated as an expression of some political ideology or goal.
From what we know so far Mateen was mouthing words he's heard everyday in the media about radical Islam, but doesn't seem to have believed in anything other than his own twisted hatted of gays. He didn't attend a 'radical' Mosque, nor is he known to have associated with anyone connected to radical views. Even the media's description of him as "influenced by" radical Islam is simply based on his last phone call to the police made in the midst of the carnage he was perpetrating.
This was a hate crime committed by someone who was more likely influenced by the homophobia that still pervades our culture than any influence of radical Islam. Look around. Homophobia and radical Islam are hardly present in America in equal measure. Gays are the prime target of hate crimes and the transgender bathroom issue has made many politicians apoplectic. They want to turn the concept of equality back to the 19th century. I applaud the many gay rights activists who refuse to go along with this and who have spoken brilliantly about a truly 21st century vision of equality.
Terrorism is being brandied about today as an excuse for increasing the police state we already have, with no evidence that it is increasing our security. Let's not let this horrible hate crime be misused for that agenda.
From what we know so far Mateen was mouthing words he's heard everyday in the media about radical Islam, but doesn't seem to have believed in anything other than his own twisted hatted of gays. He didn't attend a 'radical' Mosque, nor is he known to have associated with anyone connected to radical views. Even the media's description of him as "influenced by" radical Islam is simply based on his last phone call to the police made in the midst of the carnage he was perpetrating.
This was a hate crime committed by someone who was more likely influenced by the homophobia that still pervades our culture than any influence of radical Islam. Look around. Homophobia and radical Islam are hardly present in America in equal measure. Gays are the prime target of hate crimes and the transgender bathroom issue has made many politicians apoplectic. They want to turn the concept of equality back to the 19th century. I applaud the many gay rights activists who refuse to go along with this and who have spoken brilliantly about a truly 21st century vision of equality.
Terrorism is being brandied about today as an excuse for increasing the police state we already have, with no evidence that it is increasing our security. Let's not let this horrible hate crime be misused for that agenda.
2
In "The Time Machine" H.G. Wells wrote of a future in which a meek and peaceful majority would walk, when summoned, like sheep to slaughter to feed the powerful and merciless majority. There was neither hope nor escape. Every so often, it was inevitable that some of the peaceful Eloi would be killed.
If this sounds to you like 2016 America, you don't need a time machine.
If this sounds to you like 2016 America, you don't need a time machine.
2
astonishing that CB, like most op-ed writers in the times, blame the massacre in Orlando on (a) guns, (b) homophobia, (c) Republicans (d) hate in general -- but fail to put blame squarely where it belongs. Radical Islam.
Mateen may have been gay, or conflicted -- but he also cased Disney world and decided it was too hard a target.
Mateen may have been American born -- but to an Afghani father who supported the Taliban. And he visited several Muslim countries.
It wasn't general hate that caused this carnage -- it was a specific hate of the infidel. Perhaps Mateen also hated LGBT individuals, as homosexual behavior is proscribed by the Koran and in several Muslim countries it is punishable by death.
As for guns -- merely a tool. A convenient one, perhaps too convenient and I won't disagree with that. But he could have used multiple semi automatic pistols or revolvers to equal effect. He could have wrapped himself in a suicide vest and blown himself up, he could have committed arson. There are so many ways to do these things. And while I agree that we need greater control of military style weapons, it is naive to think that guns are responsible. Merely a tool.
But nice try CB -- you and the other writers at the Times can twist this event to suit your political aims, you can refuse to invoke the terms radical Islam or Jihad, you can try to make this just another, if not more, American event. But it won't change the known facts.
Mateen may have been gay, or conflicted -- but he also cased Disney world and decided it was too hard a target.
Mateen may have been American born -- but to an Afghani father who supported the Taliban. And he visited several Muslim countries.
It wasn't general hate that caused this carnage -- it was a specific hate of the infidel. Perhaps Mateen also hated LGBT individuals, as homosexual behavior is proscribed by the Koran and in several Muslim countries it is punishable by death.
As for guns -- merely a tool. A convenient one, perhaps too convenient and I won't disagree with that. But he could have used multiple semi automatic pistols or revolvers to equal effect. He could have wrapped himself in a suicide vest and blown himself up, he could have committed arson. There are so many ways to do these things. And while I agree that we need greater control of military style weapons, it is naive to think that guns are responsible. Merely a tool.
But nice try CB -- you and the other writers at the Times can twist this event to suit your political aims, you can refuse to invoke the terms radical Islam or Jihad, you can try to make this just another, if not more, American event. But it won't change the known facts.
18
An unstable potential terrorist when investigated for possible terrorist ties may fool his investigators, but may deepen his her resolve to commit a terrorist attack. it is essential that people such as Omar Matin not be allowed to purchase or carry any sort of gun for at least 5 year after the investigation. ideally it would be best to keep close tabs on them, but there are serious civil rights questions here. At least someone like this should be required to go before a judge to obtain a permit and bring them out in the open.
3
The shooter was not an American. He was the enemy within.
7
So the near 900 women killed annually by their intimate partners are at war with them?
4
We are at war. Our enemies have declared war on us. Our enemies are attacking us at home and abroad. But Mr. Blow is oblivious to this. It's becoming more difficult to deflect blame away from the elephant in the room. No, Orlando has far more in common with events in Beirut, Baghdad, Paris, and Istanbul. This religiously-motivated terror is most certainly not "homegrown."
18
According to the Washington Post, one of the Pulse hostages said Omar Mateen “claimed he carried out the attack because he wanted Americans to stop bombing his country.” Although he was born in the United States, Mateen apparently considered himself an Afghani rather than American. The statement has political relevance due to the current debate over a suspension of Muslim immigration. Mateen’s Facebook postings seem to consist of the usual jihadist rhetoric. He posted: “You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes now taste the Islamic state vengeance.” There seems to be a total absence of anti-LGBT remarks. The prime suspect in the second deadliest attack on a gay nightclub—New Orleans’ Upstairs Lounge—was a gay man who had been kicked out of the bar earlier in the evening. It’s a stretch to think Mateen frequented the Pulse nightclub for years because he was plotting an attack. He probably went there for the same reason other bisexual men went there. The prime suspect in the second deadliest attack on a gay nightclub—New Orleans’ Upstairs Lounge—was a gay man who had been kicked out of the bar earlier in the evening. That’s wasn’t a hate crime either.
8
The murders in Orlando are sad beyond words and understanding. Obama, Blow and countless others have correctly expressed their outrage for these deaths through their speeches, visits, opinion pieces, etc. Mateen and others like him are indeed monsters created by a bizarre combination of colliding forces that may include culture, religion, inability to connect, personality disorders, etc. But where is the outrage and the "call to arms" and the finger-pointing of these leaders and so called intellectuals when it comes to more "mundane" killings such as what happens in our cities - every year, every day? Chicago has seen 141 murders this year, compared with 82 murders at the same point last year. Police reported 677 shootings this year compared with 359 at the same point last year. Chicago alone had 468 murders in 2015. Why does it take a mass killing like Sandy Hook or Orlando to energize the blame game, when Obama, Blow and many others before them, liberals and conservatives, publicly refuse to acknowledge or offer any plan for dealing with the enemy already within us? Guns may be the item used to kill, but the motivation for all this killing speaks to something in America far deeper and more disturbing.
6
Mr. Blow writes, "It seems almost callous and calculating to divert attention to the political dimension of this." He should not apologize. Not for one nano-second.
If we fail to focus on "the political dimension of this" nothing will ever be achieved to stop the madness and mayhem that now taints the American psyche so grievously. Nor will it stop the human tragedy, senseless loss of life and the basic sense of security that should be guaranteed by any sane, civil democratic society.
the domestic statistics are kicking us in the shins as are international comparisons of national gun lethality. Barring a handful of states that should never invite comparison with us, we have become the insane asylum of the world.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
If we fail to focus on "the political dimension of this" nothing will ever be achieved to stop the madness and mayhem that now taints the American psyche so grievously. Nor will it stop the human tragedy, senseless loss of life and the basic sense of security that should be guaranteed by any sane, civil democratic society.
the domestic statistics are kicking us in the shins as are international comparisons of national gun lethality. Barring a handful of states that should never invite comparison with us, we have become the insane asylum of the world.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
3
As long as Republicans and conservative Christians continue to demonize the LGBT community, hate crimes against the LGBT community will continue.
3
For every centimeter you give the camel of religion into your tent, it will take a meter.
3
Pogo's "we met the enemy, and it is us" seems a reasonable assumption in this violent society of ours, so accustomed to reading, and watching, the carnage sophisticated weapons, and the bullets to finish the job, do cause. Not only have we become numb, even stupefied, but view this awful reality as 'normal', something we better get used to, 'love it or leave it' phenomenon, as it seems easier than confront the problem and a solution. The common denominator in all this is the widespread availability of guns, the reckless greed of gun manufacturers, assisted by the N.R.A., in perpetuating the myth that a gun in every pocket will save us. Fat chance! We may be worse than the terrorists, as they do it by conviction...while we allow it to happen by our 'indifference', a killer indeed.
2
Thank you for this even handed, wide ranging, compassionate, and challenging opinion piece, Charles.
3
Despite Omar Mateen pledging allegiance to Isis, attending a radical mosque, making threats and reading Jihadi websites, Charles Blow thinks this has little to do with Islam. Like Obama, Clinton and the rest of the liberal establishment, Mr. Blow is desperately trying to change the subject. He reserves his harshest rhetoric for Americans who have done nothing wrong except to maybe disagree with his politics. The radicals who traffic in Islamist hate, push gays off buildings, throw acid in women's faces, kidnap children, behead people and slaughter innocents all over the world are barely mentioned. We need to fight them, not our fellow citizens.
19
Likewise, it's unacceptable to paint all Muslim's with a single brush for the actions of one, but it's entirely correct to demonize all gun owners for this individual act.
2
In a revealing dialogue in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited between Chiara, Lord Marchmain's lover, and his son's friend, Charles Ryder, she asserts that the Flyte family is full of hate. When anyone hates with such intensity, she says, "it is something in themselves they hate." External rage is proportionate to the internal terror. We will never know for sure if this psychological principle applies to the Orlando Killer. Nonetheless, it has the ring of realism.
The facts seem to indicate that this guy was an angry, violent, closeted gay loser who was pushed over the edge by Radical Islam and enabled by American Liberty. Why Liberals can't accept the role of Islam is beyond many in this country. How about we focus on the truth? Same goes for allowing a guy like this to have a machine gun.
I think we get so politically polarized because when talking heads summarily ignore an obvious point, in this case the role of Radical Islam, then people on the other side feel compelled to make an even bigger deal about it. This isn't an indictment against Islam or Muslims, but an acknowledgement that Islam attracts, supports and enables psycho losers like this.
And while we're at it, how about we acknowledge the pink elephant in the room? The role of repressed homosexuals as jihadists. It would appear that this is a major source of the suicide bomber army. Either by the wide scale molestation of boys in Muslim countries which warps their brains, or by identifying and shaming gay men into killing themselves and taking out their rage upon the world.
But, that would require some honesty.
I think we get so politically polarized because when talking heads summarily ignore an obvious point, in this case the role of Radical Islam, then people on the other side feel compelled to make an even bigger deal about it. This isn't an indictment against Islam or Muslims, but an acknowledgement that Islam attracts, supports and enables psycho losers like this.
And while we're at it, how about we acknowledge the pink elephant in the room? The role of repressed homosexuals as jihadists. It would appear that this is a major source of the suicide bomber army. Either by the wide scale molestation of boys in Muslim countries which warps their brains, or by identifying and shaming gay men into killing themselves and taking out their rage upon the world.
But, that would require some honesty.
6
"Islam" is what imams say it is. Isn't that true of all religions?
Last week I tried to buy a stainless steel water bottle made in the US. I couldn't. I finally found one made in Spain; all the others were from China. I can't find (or afford) sheets for my bed made in the US or dozens of other essentials, but we produce assault rifles, men willing to use those rifles, and Donald Trump.
6
Mr. Blow ~ Why put this killer's name in the title of your op-ed? I have a hard time according "celebrity" to any person committing such a monstrous act.
3
I don't have any answers but I don't think calling Mateen a monster or attributing his actions to radical Islam or self-loathing homophobia is productive.
If the shooting of a member of congress in broad daylight and the slaughter in Newtown can't stifle the market for guns or limit the Second Amendment, I don't think trying to combat the problem at that level is productive in the near term.
The common thread among the perpetrators of these attacks, it seems to me, is a profound mental illness. I'm not an expert on human behavior or treatment so I'm loathe to suggest how we might combat these problems but I'm open to anything.
If the shooting of a member of congress in broad daylight and the slaughter in Newtown can't stifle the market for guns or limit the Second Amendment, I don't think trying to combat the problem at that level is productive in the near term.
The common thread among the perpetrators of these attacks, it seems to me, is a profound mental illness. I'm not an expert on human behavior or treatment so I'm loathe to suggest how we might combat these problems but I'm open to anything.
1
Relying on gun dealers to judge mental competence sure is a hoot.
1
I read here that the man who perpetrated the first mass shooting in Australia since their ban was a very emotionally disturbed man. He was also an abusive husband. These men live in fear they will be discovered to be wounded baby men. We torment them at out own peril, but does it never occur to us to hold out a hand so we may ask what's in the other?
1
Religion has to be considered a factor in this shooting any way you look at it. The comments by some supposed men of the cloth following this terrible tragedy were shocking and hate filled. They went beyond homophobic. In some religions homosexuality is explicitly banned and those who are openly L.G.B.T. are reviled, and this is at the base of some hate crimes in this country. How do you combat religious tenets which are ingrained? Religious fervor is what is driving the horrible war n the Middle East.
Whether or not Mateen was driven to do this by inner conflicts or religious fervor will never be known, but either way, a religion that does not tolerate homosexuality is certainly a part of the picture.
Whether or not Mateen was driven to do this by inner conflicts or religious fervor will never be known, but either way, a religion that does not tolerate homosexuality is certainly a part of the picture.
8
The number of Americans who believe that afterlife is inevitable is shocking.
1
All the terrorism duscussion is just a distraction from the real "motive". It allows certain folk to avoid the problem, a racist, homophobic panic.
2
I suggest you google Sharia Law. Watch some videos and enjoy the carnage.
3
Sometimes I wonder if they aren't just testing to see if anyone will stop them.
2
Terrorism is a distraction? Wow! Please read the many comments addressing the many possible causes of this tragedy.
9
Blow manages to do the nearly impossible: leave out Qur'anic teaching demanding the death of gays. This teaching is a commonality among Sunni and Shiites and joins Iran and Saudi Arabia. To call the killer an "American monster" also misses another piece of evidence: the killer's statement that he did this to avenge his "country," -- and that country in his mind is Afghanistan. He's nothing like a fully acculturated American who holds American values largely because the multiculturalism has replaced the concept of E Pluribus Unum; and now Obama wants foreign-born students to have their early educations in their homeland language. How far are we going to go towards total Balkanization. This is not to minimize the other factors Mr. Blow has cited: all are pertinent. But there is a gigantic hole in the argument -- missing Muslim teaching -- as well as the failure of Americanization.
21
You are missing some important Muslim teaching.
The bottom line and moral of the story is that absolutely nobody has known or will ever know what any abiding personality of nature thinks about human concerns, and all efforts to change this are invariably futile.
The bottom line and moral of the story is that absolutely nobody has known or will ever know what any abiding personality of nature thinks about human concerns, and all efforts to change this are invariably futile.
3
Mr. Mateen was a monster armed by a cowardly Congress in thrall to the NRA which itself represents a tiny minority of Americans. Each bullet fired is an indictment of their collective feeding of fear.
1
Surely the NRA was responsible for Charlie Hebdo as well. Only by your logic. Or lack thereof.
7
This is a great column, Mr. Blow, a broad range of ideas and facts pulled together by cool, righteous anger. I found it both moving and persuasive. But then I read the responses and my heart sank. The letters from the NRA-supporters and Muslim-haters are cold and soulless. They don't sound human but like the words of parrots or robots. That is what we're up against in this country, a resistance to reality like the blindness of the mentally ill. Many of these critics sound as insane as Omar Mateen.
3
Blow writes: "Omar Mateen was an American-made monster, and America must decide how best to make fewer in his likeness."
And, of course, his creation has nothing to with Islam. Nor, presumably, all the other such attacks committed by Muslims throughout the world on other infidels.
As long as there are Charles Blows, there will be Omar Mateens. The Mateens will not be defeated until the Blows are defeated. You must know your enemy.
And, of course, his creation has nothing to with Islam. Nor, presumably, all the other such attacks committed by Muslims throughout the world on other infidels.
As long as there are Charles Blows, there will be Omar Mateens. The Mateens will not be defeated until the Blows are defeated. You must know your enemy.
18
It is shocking to know that there are Christian preachers that can use such a word as kill in a sermon about homosexuality. That homosexuality is unnatural is a truth for them shows how ignorant they are in 2016. "Mother Nature" plays many tricks on us including our vestigial "tail bone" and the apparently useless appendix that causes lots of inconvenience for some of us. Without being gross, I would like to suggest that these preachers contemplate why "Mother Nature" provides for a male organism to occur by a means other than coitus with a female. For example, by a prostate massage to obtain a specimen for laboratory examination or by a prostate massage during rectal intercourse by gay men or with a cooperating female partner.
I am an 84 year old heterosexual male with four children and nine grandchildren. I am also a Biology major college graduate and a retired executive of a microbiology diagnostic company. This occupation alone demonstrates clearly how diverse and adaptable living things are. We need to accept that humans are not necessarily confined to a particular mode of activity as they seek to satisfy their wants and needs. Live and let live is my Golden Rule.
I am an 84 year old heterosexual male with four children and nine grandchildren. I am also a Biology major college graduate and a retired executive of a microbiology diagnostic company. This occupation alone demonstrates clearly how diverse and adaptable living things are. We need to accept that humans are not necessarily confined to a particular mode of activity as they seek to satisfy their wants and needs. Live and let live is my Golden Rule.
2
I believe this tragedy occured for this reason alone--a man, who struggled with his sexual identity because his religion teaches it is an abomination, decided to end his life by inflicting suffering upon innocent people. Did he envy the fact the victims embraced their sexuality? Did he do it because of his religious beliefs? We may never have a clear answer, but Islam and Christianity both condemn homosexuality. Intolerance and hate is not unique to one belief system.
4
Why, Cathy are you sure of one reason alone? Do you know Mateen? Do you have some fact based info to share with the police and us? If so, please do.
4
Monster? This is where you're wrong Mr. Blow. There has never been any act committed by any human being that the entire race is in capable of also committing. Every evil motivation our species has acted upon is rooted in the same neural network, the same instincts. Individually we make our decisions about how to act on the darkest impulses we all have, and those decisions are affected by our environments, upbringings, and the specific personalities we're born with, but the capability for the same cruelty and evil is within us all. What was missing in this equation was the refusal, as usual, to take domestic violence seriously, to believe that what affects one victim affects us all. and the blind willingness to allow such violent people to own even the worst deadly weapons. We make the mistake of thinking killers like this are not human like the rest of us at our repeated peril; they are just like the rest of us. They will continue to do harm because we think whistling past the graveyard is viable policy.
6
Mateen may have been born in America but he was raised in a separate, unassimilated fundamentalist religious community with a violent hatred for gay people.
School records show that despite being born and raised in the United States, he entered kindergarten without English proficiency because his family and community spoke Dari.
Too many people consider this positive multiculturalism and inclusion when it is just the opposite. It divides us instead of strengthening.
Just because someone is born in the U.S does not mean they are American in our basic Constitutional values, rights and freedoms especially if they choose to isolate in these cultural and religious ghettos.
There needs to be less tolerance for those who so openly intolerant of our society's rights and freedoms.
School records show that despite being born and raised in the United States, he entered kindergarten without English proficiency because his family and community spoke Dari.
Too many people consider this positive multiculturalism and inclusion when it is just the opposite. It divides us instead of strengthening.
Just because someone is born in the U.S does not mean they are American in our basic Constitutional values, rights and freedoms especially if they choose to isolate in these cultural and religious ghettos.
There needs to be less tolerance for those who so openly intolerant of our society's rights and freedoms.
19
Multiculturalists like Charles have zero understanding of the word tolerance... or coexist. Especially when they advocate Sharia Law.
5
Canada admits many more Muslims, but has a fraction of mass murders. Go back to your drawing board for a better, non racist solution, please.
1
"that he purchased legally from an American gun store, even after having been investigated twice by America’s top law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for terror-related concerns."
He was investigated and no actions, because of FBI incompetence, were taken. Do you propose sanctions of folks because they were investigated?
Yes, there is a homegrown ISIS component in the US and they are monsters. This occurred on Obama's watch. Way to go...
He was investigated and no actions, because of FBI incompetence, were taken. Do you propose sanctions of folks because they were investigated?
Yes, there is a homegrown ISIS component in the US and they are monsters. This occurred on Obama's watch. Way to go...
8
Think of all the gay people that were allowed to die and suffer because Ronald Reagan nor his Republican colleagues would do a thing for them. Not even mention the name of the disease. They left this group suffering in the streets literally while those in power tended their own selfish lives.
This gun control today would not cost billions of dollars for research, for healthcare, for care giving, as HIV/AIDS. No money to be argued about in the government budget discussions.
Today's Republicans are worried about an organization who does nothing for the common person, who obviously would do nothing to protect our gay and LGBT sons, daughters, friends.
The NRA is a greedy and selfish bunch, and the Republicans who uphold it are despicable. And these are the people we elect? The ring leader of the Party now may become our President who would represent us around the world?
We need more than their conservative phony prayers. We need to wake up and do whatever it takes to overturn this Republican presidential campaign and put Democrats back in the Congress, Senate, state and local,governments.
We do care about gays. We do care about all those afflicted by these hideous assault weapon crimes.
So if we care, take that momentum to the ballot box and prove it, folks. We were powerless in the 80's with HIV/AIDS. Do not let us continue to be powerless over guns. We cannot be that cruel.
This gun control today would not cost billions of dollars for research, for healthcare, for care giving, as HIV/AIDS. No money to be argued about in the government budget discussions.
Today's Republicans are worried about an organization who does nothing for the common person, who obviously would do nothing to protect our gay and LGBT sons, daughters, friends.
The NRA is a greedy and selfish bunch, and the Republicans who uphold it are despicable. And these are the people we elect? The ring leader of the Party now may become our President who would represent us around the world?
We need more than their conservative phony prayers. We need to wake up and do whatever it takes to overturn this Republican presidential campaign and put Democrats back in the Congress, Senate, state and local,governments.
We do care about gays. We do care about all those afflicted by these hideous assault weapon crimes.
So if we care, take that momentum to the ballot box and prove it, folks. We were powerless in the 80's with HIV/AIDS. Do not let us continue to be powerless over guns. We cannot be that cruel.
3
Our toxic culture makes it easy for people on the edge to believe they've been deliberately left out of a glamorous, amorous lifestyle. Mateen is an atypical mass shooter in that he was sexually active though, apparently, not in the way he preferred. I look around me every day and see normal folk of various sizes and flaws. At the gym the TV's offer only gorgeous bodies and lives - unattainable and particularly jarring to those already alienated. Mass shooters see their misery mocked by 24/7 hype. If I could shut down TV, the internet, the multiplex and other outlets, in a few months maybe some of these tortured, deluded souls would see that we are all in this together.
1
Charles Blow has identified many things which need to be investigated and many reasonable steps which ought to be taken in the aftermath of the terrible Orlando shooting.
Unfortunately, on the subject of gun-related violence, reasonableness is in short supply among those Americans who see even a discussion of gun control as a threat to their love affair with the Second Amendment.
One thing we should all be able to agree upon is that the F.B.I. failed us miserably with Omar Mateen. Our F.B.I. Director, James Comey, is very good at telling other people and other agencies how to do their jobs. It is long past time for him to do his or resign.
Unfortunately, on the subject of gun-related violence, reasonableness is in short supply among those Americans who see even a discussion of gun control as a threat to their love affair with the Second Amendment.
One thing we should all be able to agree upon is that the F.B.I. failed us miserably with Omar Mateen. Our F.B.I. Director, James Comey, is very good at telling other people and other agencies how to do their jobs. It is long past time for him to do his or resign.
1
While I stand by my comment submitted this morning about the F.B.I. dropping the ball in the handling of Omar Mateen, I would like to acknowledge that today F.B.I. Director James Comey broke his silence and publicly stated that Donald Trump is wrong, that Muslims do report suspicious activity to the authorities and that it is important for the F.B.I. and other law enforcement agencies to maintain good relations with the Muslim communities around the country. It was a helpful statement by Director Comey, for which all Americans should be grateful.
Omar Mateen is just the latest "monster" in our endless series of mass murders dating back to Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris at Columbine High School. The gun "culture of death" will not stop until and unless weapons of mass killings like the military-style assault weapons are banned as they were before the spree of massacres and as they have been in Australia where they eliminated the problem. This is and has been a national emergency and security issue. We must act to wash the blood off our hands and end the murder of our innocent loved ones.
2
Charles has missed the point on a couple of levels.
It is not American culture and values, or intolerance (of gays), that prompted this act. Most people are ignorant of (or willfully blind to) mainstream Muslim beliefs and values. That is, throwback views regarding separating the sexes, subjugating others, crime and punishment (stoning, death, mutilation), and political domination, are mainstream. What separates mainstream from "radical" is simply a willingness to act out.
This is exactly why Muslims have remained largely silent. The mainstream either agrees with these acts (as called for in the Quran), or they do not vehemently disagree, or they fear being labeled an apostate (punishable by death). Point being, none of these values are compatible with a free society. Moreover, one need only look at the shooter's father to see such views -- there is no question where the shooter's hatred and views come from. Like father, like son.
Until we can stimulate widespread discussion amongst Muslim Americans together with all Americans, and question and do away with this dangerous thinking, we will continue to see Muslims acting out, while the mainstream sits by and watches.
As for assault weapons, people do use them to hunt, so get the facts straight. But, again, gun are not the issue, it is ignorance and willful blindness against the backdrop of what it really going on under the surface.
It is not American culture and values, or intolerance (of gays), that prompted this act. Most people are ignorant of (or willfully blind to) mainstream Muslim beliefs and values. That is, throwback views regarding separating the sexes, subjugating others, crime and punishment (stoning, death, mutilation), and political domination, are mainstream. What separates mainstream from "radical" is simply a willingness to act out.
This is exactly why Muslims have remained largely silent. The mainstream either agrees with these acts (as called for in the Quran), or they do not vehemently disagree, or they fear being labeled an apostate (punishable by death). Point being, none of these values are compatible with a free society. Moreover, one need only look at the shooter's father to see such views -- there is no question where the shooter's hatred and views come from. Like father, like son.
Until we can stimulate widespread discussion amongst Muslim Americans together with all Americans, and question and do away with this dangerous thinking, we will continue to see Muslims acting out, while the mainstream sits by and watches.
As for assault weapons, people do use them to hunt, so get the facts straight. But, again, gun are not the issue, it is ignorance and willful blindness against the backdrop of what it really going on under the surface.
15
To Charles et al, ignorance is bliss.
7
Joe,
You and Charles both miss the point. Each of your favored positions is correct. It's the denial of the other position that is the problem. You two are guilty of it but so are Obama and Trump and our other "leaders".
You and Charles both miss the point. Each of your favored positions is correct. It's the denial of the other position that is the problem. You two are guilty of it but so are Obama and Trump and our other "leaders".
2
There have been massacres by Muslim extremists in Paris, London, Mumbai, Tamil, Buenos Aires, Java, Madrid,Lagos, the Philippines and China, Tunisia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, and many other places across the world. The prevalence of guns in the U.S. is a huge issue, and homophobia remains an issue (though gay people are better accepted here than in many areas). Further our foreign policy, specifically our use of drones, intended to combat threat, can also kindle it. BUT an extremist Islamacist ideology of violence, with killers rewarded by eternal glory, clearly also was a huge factor in Mateen's murderous rampage, It's obvious that non-extremist Muslims are not to blame -- they are victims, too. -- But, I have to wonder at Blow holding only the the U.S. responsible. This kind of perverse, distorted thinking gets us nowhere and only drives right-wing reaction.
12
This tragedy also raises the fraught question of the self hate of a man conflicted about his own desires.
The gay culture has a long and troubled history with the conflicted man who lashes out in what is ultimately self hate. That does not happen just because they are gay, but rather because of what they've been taught about themselves, to hate themselves.
That internal conflict comes from the society around him. For comparison consider the extreme opposite, as in Thailand where gay men are considered a third sex. There is none of this. We need not adopt that extreme to make room among us for gay people to be who they are. It does show that if we did make room, the self hate would not be taught, internalized, acted on.
The solution is not to be found just among gays. It is something for all of us. It is about acceptance. It is about teaching young men to accept themselves.
The gay culture has a long and troubled history with the conflicted man who lashes out in what is ultimately self hate. That does not happen just because they are gay, but rather because of what they've been taught about themselves, to hate themselves.
That internal conflict comes from the society around him. For comparison consider the extreme opposite, as in Thailand where gay men are considered a third sex. There is none of this. We need not adopt that extreme to make room among us for gay people to be who they are. It does show that if we did make room, the self hate would not be taught, internalized, acted on.
The solution is not to be found just among gays. It is something for all of us. It is about acceptance. It is about teaching young men to accept themselves.
3
Omar Matten was born and raised in America, but his anti-American attitude appears to have been shaped by his immigrant father. He probably targeted the Pulse nightclub because it was the club he frequented as a member of the LGBT community. It’s not unusable for radical Islamic terrorists to attack members of their own group. The San Bernardino and Fort Hood terrorists attacked members of their own workgroups. If the Pulse attack were a hate crime, once would expect that given the opportunity the attacker would have vocalized outrage against LGBT people, but in the calls he made to police and news media during the attack, he attributed his motivation to his allegiance to ISIS and jihadist leaders, not to homophobic outrage.
5
Conflicted feelings about his own homosexuality heightened by his having been raised by a stern, controlling father. A willingness to use violence to control a spouse. A need for group and racial identity (ISIS) even as he spewed hatred for other races and groups. These may be some of the elements in the personality of a very confused young man. But what lit the fuse that turned him into a mass murderer may have been his immersion in the Internet, which is full of sites spouting paranoia, hatred of the other, hatred of America, and so on. There needs to be less hand-wringing over this "monster" - an unhelpful term - and more difficult conversation about the impact this Brave New World of unfettered communication is having on fragile, potentially explosive psyches like Omar Mateen's.
72
Yes, but what could be done about it beyond talking? The cat's long been out of the bag with the Internet.
“Until we rid our society of this rigid and wrongheaded thinking, we apply pressure on citizens not to walk openly and lovingly in their own truths, and we give cover to the darkest possible objections from people like Mateen.”
Like Mateen? His act was monstrous in every sense of the word.
Why he acted so is an extraordinarily complex matter that has barely been revealed. Hate crime? Surely. Terrorism? So the perpetrator proclaimed. How much of which in what mix defies any probable calculation. Then there remains the credible possibility this was the act of someone deeply conflicted about their sexuality, a member of the same group he attacked.
Too much moral proselytizing here. We do not live in a kumbiaya world. The so called L.G.B.T. community exists in a society in which many find their sexual proclivities at the least morally or religiously objectionable yet do not resort to directing at them any form of ridicule or abuse.
So should we bring on the thought police Mr Blow. The level of attitude reshaping you suggest invites just that.
As for the weapons, Assault rifles are aptly named for their sole design purpose -- to wound and kill as may people as possible as quickly as possible. All such weapons should be strictly registered and licensed, high capacity magazines (more than 10 rounds) should be outlawed. All of this can be done retroactively without depriving law abiding and sane owners of their 2d Amendment rights.
Like Mateen? His act was monstrous in every sense of the word.
Why he acted so is an extraordinarily complex matter that has barely been revealed. Hate crime? Surely. Terrorism? So the perpetrator proclaimed. How much of which in what mix defies any probable calculation. Then there remains the credible possibility this was the act of someone deeply conflicted about their sexuality, a member of the same group he attacked.
Too much moral proselytizing here. We do not live in a kumbiaya world. The so called L.G.B.T. community exists in a society in which many find their sexual proclivities at the least morally or religiously objectionable yet do not resort to directing at them any form of ridicule or abuse.
So should we bring on the thought police Mr Blow. The level of attitude reshaping you suggest invites just that.
As for the weapons, Assault rifles are aptly named for their sole design purpose -- to wound and kill as may people as possible as quickly as possible. All such weapons should be strictly registered and licensed, high capacity magazines (more than 10 rounds) should be outlawed. All of this can be done retroactively without depriving law abiding and sane owners of their 2d Amendment rights.
"The so called L.G.B.T. community exists in a society in which many find their sexual proclivities at the least morally or religiously objectionable yet do not resort to directing at them any form of ridicule or abuse."
What?? Is this supposed to be a joke? You don't think LGBT people are not subjected to ridicule, abuse and even worse EVERY DAY for living openly and being who they are? You do realize that LGBT, particularly transgender people, are the biggest recipients of hate crimes in this country? It's your sanctimonious denial of reality that perpetuates this myth that LGBT are fine and that any feelings of persecution are fictional. Wrong. The persecution is real and this particular massacre is a byproduct of the radical antigay animus that has been encouraged by our society for generations. Wake up!
What?? Is this supposed to be a joke? You don't think LGBT people are not subjected to ridicule, abuse and even worse EVERY DAY for living openly and being who they are? You do realize that LGBT, particularly transgender people, are the biggest recipients of hate crimes in this country? It's your sanctimonious denial of reality that perpetuates this myth that LGBT are fine and that any feelings of persecution are fictional. Wrong. The persecution is real and this particular massacre is a byproduct of the radical antigay animus that has been encouraged by our society for generations. Wake up!
1
At what point in this piece, Mr. Blow, did you intend to tell us something we didn't already know?
3
Why are conservative males so obsessed with sex and sexual orientations? Engagement in sexual activity accounts for very little of our daily routine. Why such an angry obsession with what people do with an admittedly small fragment of their day to day life? Are underlying homosexual tendencies a factor? Prudishness? Can men BE prudes? Ted Cruz tried to outlaw sexual "toys" while attorney general in TX stating that "There is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.” Huh? We need to get government permission to pleasure our partners in the privacy of our own homes. Why is this HIS or anybody else's business? Why is your sexual orientation anybody's business? Our neighbor has the hateful "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" bumper sticker on his car. We have a lesbian couple living in our neighborhood. How can this hateful sticker make them feel, to witness such an ugly sentiment from a so called "Christian"? I read the sick comments on AOL after this latest slaughter. Some blamed the parents for raising their sons to be gay, like we get to choose the sexual orientation of our children like we do their clothing. I watched the Maddow expose on the terrifying hatefulness of "pastor" Kevin Swanson and was physically sickened. My husband watched awestruck. To have this kind of hatred in America is terrifying. To know that many condone this vileness is worse.
3
Read Blow's toss-off ending one more time: "Omar Mateen was an American-made monster, and America must decide how best to make fewer in his likeness."
Look, folks, he's NOT an American-made monster, he's self-made nut, driven wild by his false reading of Allah's words. We cannot make fewer in his likeness, nor can we unmake his kind.
We can only hope to stop them before they kill again, and in the process, become armed paranoids. What's your choice....
Look, folks, he's NOT an American-made monster, he's self-made nut, driven wild by his false reading of Allah's words. We cannot make fewer in his likeness, nor can we unmake his kind.
We can only hope to stop them before they kill again, and in the process, become armed paranoids. What's your choice....
13
You lost me at the term "hetero-normative". Can we stop with the gibberish and speak English please?
6
I wonder if a NY Times writer has ever met one of those people that live West of the Hudson and East of the 405.
8
yes yes, and yes again. Anyone using the term hetero-normative, and not as a joke...is a joke.
5
Mateen proclaimed his murderous spree to be in solidarity with ISIS. His father openly supported the Taliban. Yet this piece makes no mention whatsoever of the role in radical Islamic ideology in the atrocity. Why is that?
15
Because we have enough of the same like minded carp rolling out of churches in America, too.
1
Obama and his fellow Democrats, especially Democrat-nominee Hillary Clinton, are thriving on this massacre. They just love to divide the people.
8
Division is a tactic to exploit anxiety. Will they pick you or me? Am I getting made or is this the final curtain, Ma?
1
When some conservative Christian parents learn that their children are gay, they resort to conversion therapy. It does not work. The same holds true for adults who try suppress their same-sex desires. Omar Mateen, despite two marriages to women, could not eradicate the persistent desire to be with men. He tried to reassert his heterosexual identity through a different route: ISIS. At war with himself, jihadist ideology allowed him to externalize the self-hatred, and ostensibly turn it into hatred for America. However, Mateen's target remained deeply personal: Pulse, a bar he knew well, thanks to repeated visits over the years. Since he couldn't pray the gay away, he picked up a rifle and killed 49 other people. This reprehensible act was one last attempt to disavow his gay identity. He went to Pulse to kill the thing he most hated about himsel, and to die a martyr to the cause. "ISIS" became the final and convenient cover story -- a deadly manifestation of the closet -- for a deeply conflicted gay man.
7
The Christian Bible imposes the death penalty on homosexuals. About time to repudiate nonsense like that.
4
The reality is the terrorist's own words defy his self identity as being "American", and he pledged support to a terrorist organization. Like San Bernadino and Paris, yes the terrorists lived here. Yet we can't blame America for islamic extremism it is happening in Syria, Libya, Iraq, etc. Awful. Sad. Disheartening.
8
"Even if you believe strongly in the Second Amendment, and are intimate with gun culture (as I am), there is still no reason for a citizen to own an assault rifle unless he is planning an assault"
I am unclear about this sentence. Are you saying you believe strongly in the Second Amendment and also know a lot about gun culture like being a member of a gun club or are you saying that you yourself do not necessarily feel strongly about the second amendment but you know a lot about guns and people who use them.
I am unclear about this sentence. Are you saying you believe strongly in the Second Amendment and also know a lot about gun culture like being a member of a gun club or are you saying that you yourself do not necessarily feel strongly about the second amendment but you know a lot about guns and people who use them.
1
I see the left has agreed upon the phrase of the week: "weapon of war". About as accurate as their other favorite phrase, "Religion of Peace".
15
Tim, any self respecting hunter needs only one shot, so why you need to take out an entire herd is your problemo. Can you hear yourself? You are defending mass murder weapons.
3
More like pieces.
4
No doubt that this blockbuster 'look at me' style of spree killing seems to be something of an American cultural trade mark these days. In the twenties gangs used machine guns to shoot each other down. But a massacre was 7 people and these were turf wars. Today, individuals who feel disenfranchised and voiceless speak out with statement killings. This is something unique to our time it seems. Pinning motive on closeted gay sexuality, and American gun culture does not really go far enough in speaking to why in America are we getting these murder spectacles. Yes. There is hate. Yes there is a statement. Yes people on terror lists should not get access to weapons like this. But what is with this Grand Theft Auto age marquee 'kill em all' style event that just seems to be getting bigger and crazier all the time. Until what? Boom. There goes have the city. I fear all the world is becoming a gruesome stage.
1
I totally agree with you Charles. Trying to pretend that this guy was an ISIS inspired mass murderer doesn't ring true. I saw a small clip of him interviewed for a documentary a few years ago and the man I saw talking was an American young man, cynical about his own work and our society. The little his ex wife has said about this man's father (who has no tie sot the Taliban) was that he was very dominating. I believe that this young man suffered a life of psychological abuse by his father. This is what his ex wife stated. She thought his father would berate him and then Mateen would take it out on her. I have enormous empathy for the victims, but I think this was not a simple crime. The whole ISIS connection seems like a last minute attempt to redeem himself, give him a stature that he could achieve in no other way. Is it that different from imagining that you are a super hero? Most of the mass shooters here have not been the result of foreign terrorists.They are acts by deranged people with guns. Even so as one security expert stated yesterday, the motive doesn't matter from a security standpoint. The problem can only be controlled by limiting access to assault weapons and weapons in general.
1
No, not American monster, but Muslim monster.
I shouldn't need to explain this.
Just another sad example of the Times unwilling or unable to speak the truth.
I shouldn't need to explain this.
Just another sad example of the Times unwilling or unable to speak the truth.
18
I find your need to split people into assigned groups for your resentment a sign your personality may be fragile.
2
He was gay and a patron of The Pulse Nightclub....a PATRON. How does that translate within the Muslim Religion? Answer: it does not. You want a scapegoat. Try Dylan Roof...he was a Muslim, right?
1
Americans can be Muslims and Muslims can be Americans, just like Christians. What a concept.
1
The toxicity this heinous crime, as you accurately states, also resonates in many. parts of American life and culture. While it is absolutely true that total dissecting, analysis and remedy are needed, I hope we do not forget to include America's contributions to this vitrolic environment. We cannot play or pretend innocence. America and western countries have ravaged the world. Let us not forget that Vietnam and other small nations turned to guerrilla warfare, believing their sovereignty and rights were being violated, but not having conventional warfare capacities. Today, we get ISIS and the "lone wolf." I wonder what would happen if America decided to right some of the wrongs she has been instrumental in creating?, including Georgetown University, which is not unique.
This is an incredibly feeble and dishonest article. It's hard to know where to start. As I was reading it, I had the sinking feeling that he was working his way up to the knee-jerk self-loathing of the illiberal left, that this was some kind of blowback, blah, blah, blah. Give me a break. The self-loathing of our columnist was, as it turned out, trumped (pardon the pun) by the self-loathing of the closet gay terrorist who was so conflicted by the intolerable burdens of the extreme strain of Islam he chose to follow that he felt he had to murder all of the people that made him feel that way. Our columnist's floundering, tortuous efforts to locate the homophobia in modern American culture notwithstanding, wouldn't it make a great deal more sense to have a look at the elephant in the room, the Islamic State, the very same entity this monster pledged allegiance to right in the middle of his murderous rampage? The very same one that ties gays to chairs and pushes them off buildings. That one? Does our columnist read newspapers? Does he ever come out of his soft left bubble and have a look at the rest of the world outside of Manhattan?
14
You're writing about the same columnist who advocated for Sharia Law back in November. It's the elephant in the room he won't touch. Yet Blow calls Mateen a coward with no introspection.
5
I wholeheartedly disagree. He is an American hero to some people. He used the American sporting rifle did he not. He also only killed queers, not real Americans. There are many who would celebrate this if he were not a Muslim. Let's be honest. Every day I am more ashamed to be an American, Drumpf for president.
3
Charles did not mention other legitimate reason to own an assault rifle. They can be worn on the chest to demonstrate the wearer's manliness, like a peacock and his fan or a lion and its mane.
3
Re: "Wars and reckless rhetoric are governed by the laws of unintended consequences, so we must tread carefully."
Indeed. "...one of the most powerful laws in the universe is the law of unintended consequences." -From the book "SuperFreakonomics"
The San Bernadino shooters had "...12 pipe bombs... along with three pipe bombs wired to a remote control device, hundreds of bomb-making tools in their garage..." bostonherald.com
Had no guns been available, an unintended consequence might have been:
"200 pipe bombs are found in the home of the bombers who blew up the disability center, killing 50. Also found are 100 pipe bombs and thousands of bomb-making tools."
Remember, the Boston Marathon bombers used pressure-cooker bombs triggered by a device used in remote control toys.
Make it impossible to access guns, and mass killers will use bombs.
Make it impossible to make bombs, and mass killers will use toxic gas.
Let everyone carry concealed weapons, and mass killers will hurl bombs and/or toxic-gas containers as they drive or dash by.
Eliminate guns and there would likely be gun runners coming from or through, say, Mexico to sell to criminals and others who would either keep them for their own use or re-sell them to anyone who wants them.
With each new gun law, try to think like a mass killer. Only by trying to put ourselves in these killers' minds can we best recognize unintended consequences and find our best solutions.
Indeed. "...one of the most powerful laws in the universe is the law of unintended consequences." -From the book "SuperFreakonomics"
The San Bernadino shooters had "...12 pipe bombs... along with three pipe bombs wired to a remote control device, hundreds of bomb-making tools in their garage..." bostonherald.com
Had no guns been available, an unintended consequence might have been:
"200 pipe bombs are found in the home of the bombers who blew up the disability center, killing 50. Also found are 100 pipe bombs and thousands of bomb-making tools."
Remember, the Boston Marathon bombers used pressure-cooker bombs triggered by a device used in remote control toys.
Make it impossible to access guns, and mass killers will use bombs.
Make it impossible to make bombs, and mass killers will use toxic gas.
Let everyone carry concealed weapons, and mass killers will hurl bombs and/or toxic-gas containers as they drive or dash by.
Eliminate guns and there would likely be gun runners coming from or through, say, Mexico to sell to criminals and others who would either keep them for their own use or re-sell them to anyone who wants them.
With each new gun law, try to think like a mass killer. Only by trying to put ourselves in these killers' minds can we best recognize unintended consequences and find our best solutions.
2
"Omar Mateen was an American-made monster, and America must decide how best to make fewer in his likeness."
Finally Charles agrees with Trump.
Finally Charles agrees with Trump.
2
I couldn't read the article past the title. What Omar Mateen did was monstrous and despicable. But when he carried out that horrific, senseless act of violence, he was still human.
Dehumanization accomplishes several things for us. First, it allows us to focus all the sadness, anger, and hatred we feel on one target. It would be inappropriate to despise a human being so much: we recognize human life as valuable. So we make the target into a monster, something grotesque.
Second, dehumanization separates us from the perpetrators of evil. We're human, they're not. Humans aren't capable of such evil. This, of course, is simply not true.
Regardless of the words we use, Omar Mateen was human. He was like us. He didn't see any value in the human life he took away because he didn't see it as human. He had to dehumanize his victims to kill them. And here we are, feeling appalled and angry and morally superior. Yet we're doing the same thing. We're dehumanizing a human being who did a terrible thing. If we can dehumanize a bad person, why not a good person too? When killers witness the dehumanization of the bad, doesn't it facilitate that of the good?
Until we learn as a society, as a global community, to unconditionally respect, recognize, and care for human life, we will continue to witness its intentional destruction.
Dehumanization accomplishes several things for us. First, it allows us to focus all the sadness, anger, and hatred we feel on one target. It would be inappropriate to despise a human being so much: we recognize human life as valuable. So we make the target into a monster, something grotesque.
Second, dehumanization separates us from the perpetrators of evil. We're human, they're not. Humans aren't capable of such evil. This, of course, is simply not true.
Regardless of the words we use, Omar Mateen was human. He was like us. He didn't see any value in the human life he took away because he didn't see it as human. He had to dehumanize his victims to kill them. And here we are, feeling appalled and angry and morally superior. Yet we're doing the same thing. We're dehumanizing a human being who did a terrible thing. If we can dehumanize a bad person, why not a good person too? When killers witness the dehumanization of the bad, doesn't it facilitate that of the good?
Until we learn as a society, as a global community, to unconditionally respect, recognize, and care for human life, we will continue to witness its intentional destruction.
80
Thank you for mentioning possible consequences of the virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric, Charles. Just another factor in turning a disaffected person into an enemy.
1
Even the most devote gun advocate must acknowledge the words in the 2nd that say the "militia" must be "well regulated".
The government does that - through our laws? Right?
That means there is a constitutional right to ban assault weapons.
These weapons were never dreamed of by the founding fathers. They are meant for the battlefield, not the club or school room.
The government does that - through our laws? Right?
That means there is a constitutional right to ban assault weapons.
These weapons were never dreamed of by the founding fathers. They are meant for the battlefield, not the club or school room.
4
You are absolutely right, Nancy Parker, about the clear constitutional right to ban assault weapons. That truth often gets glossed over by those who want to block any gun control at any cost to our society.
The founding fathers never dreamed of the internet so your first amendment rights stop at the quill and the scroll.
2
Although I agree with almost all of the opinions Mr. Blow expresses in this column, I strongly object to his repeated use of the word "queer" which he seems to use as a synonym for homosexual. I am not gay, but I have gay friends and they find the word "queer" extremely offensive.
2
I have long been a supporter of increased gun control. You gloss over the impact of the anti gay sentiment that appears to be very real in Middle Eastern, Muslim countries where gays are demonized and even killed. When people immigrate from these areas, I highly doubt they check their views of gays at the door. I also think it is highly likely that they pass these views down to their kids. I do not pretend to know how to deal with immigrants who hold views that are clearly anti Western in their makeup. But, to ignore the difficulties associated with multiculturalism, and only praise the benefits is a problem.
105
There is nothing uniquely middle eastern about homophobia. There are murderous hate crimes committed against homosexuals in the name of Christianity all the time. We are a little ahead of them on the curve of cleaning this up, but not that much. And the only reason we are ahead of them is because of that multiculturalism you are criticizing.
2
This may well have been a hate crime but I suspect the murderer was thinking tactically too. If I'd wanted to inflict maximum damage without fear of returned fire, I'd certainly not attack a country-western or a hip hop club.
1
No, this was definitely a hate crime. There is a rumor that he scoped out Disney World in early June... timed to coincide with "gay day," which happens every year in early June. Make no mistake, he had clear designs on the gay community.
Hillary said the Trump's ban wouldn't prevented this terror act. (But would prevented San Bernardino).
Then how her proposals would prevented it? -
"Mateen wasn’t on this list, so his purchases wouldn’t have been restricted anyway."
Then how her proposals would prevented it? -
"Mateen wasn’t on this list, so his purchases wouldn’t have been restricted anyway."
3
America didn't make the killer into who he was. Surely his gay hating father did ("God will punish homosexuals"' per his interview). ISIS did. Perhaps his religion did. America gave his family asylum, opportunity, and integration. His father is a successful life insurance salesman with a gorgeous house, a Mercedes and a BMW. He's living better than most Americans. This family was neither marginalised nor impoverished. America did not create this killer.
15
But America, by tacitly condoning the hate speech spewed from our houses of worship and refusing to enact legislation granting equal rights to LGBT, created an environment in which it was okay to say that LGBT were second class citizens or even subhuman and worthy of punishment by death. Guns, bibles, 'Murrica.
1
One is reminded every day in the US that public policy giving credibility or respect to anyone's claims to know what God thinks simply propagates public mental illness.
2
Perhaps he was sexually conflicted, but that would not necessarily explain his scouting out Disney properties and other locations as possible targets.
That he chose a night where the bar would be crowded is not surprising.
It is horrible that he targeted a vulnerable community.
If he had homosexual proclivities, the religion he adhered to was not of much help.
It is odd that the press has been contorting itself like a pretzel to pretend there is no element of religion involved. The religious sect the man proclaimed allegiance to does indeed have it's rather extreme forms. It is a religion that is diametrically opposed to Liberal principles regarding LGBTQ issues, women's rights, etc.
Mentioning religion, however, is taboo. Describing the terrorist as homegrown to deflect from potential foreign influence is clever wordsmithing.
Reprinting administration narratives must be cheaper than news reporting.
That he chose a night where the bar would be crowded is not surprising.
It is horrible that he targeted a vulnerable community.
If he had homosexual proclivities, the religion he adhered to was not of much help.
It is odd that the press has been contorting itself like a pretzel to pretend there is no element of religion involved. The religious sect the man proclaimed allegiance to does indeed have it's rather extreme forms. It is a religion that is diametrically opposed to Liberal principles regarding LGBTQ issues, women's rights, etc.
Mentioning religion, however, is taboo. Describing the terrorist as homegrown to deflect from potential foreign influence is clever wordsmithing.
Reprinting administration narratives must be cheaper than news reporting.
10
When a cop stops a mass shooting, on average about 18 people die. When a mass shooting by an armed citizen, about 2 people die.
Forcing the American people to disarm in the face of people who want to kill us is treason.
http://controversialtimes.com/issues/constitutional-rights/12-times-mass...
Forcing the American people to disarm in the face of people who want to kill us is treason.
http://controversialtimes.com/issues/constitutional-rights/12-times-mass...
4
Right... so 100 people in a crowded nightclub firing their weapons in the dark would not have resulted in any casualties. Got it.
2
Genuinely difficult to stomach the idiocy in this article. The penalty under Islamic law for homosexuality is death. How did Blow miss this point? Simple-- it doesn't fit the narrative.
Here's another angle for you, Charles-- maybe he was just exercising his first amendment rights.
Here's another angle for you, Charles-- maybe he was just exercising his first amendment rights.
18
Right... so Islamic law is SO much different from the Leviticus verse that states that men who lie with men are abominations who should be put to death. Got it.
If this had been a white American skinhead and he had contacted authorities, just before the rampage, pledging allegiance to the Aryan Brotherhood, what would the media say? Unlike the current situation, where everyone is performing Olympic quality gymnastics to avoid associating it with Islam ideology, it would be shouted out as white supremacism plain and simple! There would be no further analysis regarding his sexual orientation, or identity crisis.
It would be asserted that people of his beliefs are all homophobic and that hatred of LGBT is baked into it. Yet, here is a man (not white) that expressly professes his actions in honor of religious beliefs that are inherently homophobic, and people like Charles Blow are driven to apoplexy to divine an alternate rationale to deflect from the truth.
Why, when there are two different belief systems that are both toxic to the LGBT community, it is easy to identify the one's culpability, but not the other's?
The link below lists the ten countries where homosexuality is punishable by death:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/13/here-are-th...
It would be asserted that people of his beliefs are all homophobic and that hatred of LGBT is baked into it. Yet, here is a man (not white) that expressly professes his actions in honor of religious beliefs that are inherently homophobic, and people like Charles Blow are driven to apoplexy to divine an alternate rationale to deflect from the truth.
Why, when there are two different belief systems that are both toxic to the LGBT community, it is easy to identify the one's culpability, but not the other's?
The link below lists the ten countries where homosexuality is punishable by death:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/13/here-are-th...
9
I suppose it may not be PC to say so, but it is also a fact that Mateen's father is an active Pashtun nationalist. Pashtuns are big on "honor killings" of daughters who get out of line. I think this is probably relevant to understanding his mindset.
17
Just as a reminder, when Omar Mateen call 911 he pledged allegiance to ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and ISIL.
18
It seems to me that Mateen might have been acting against gay people because he couldn't come to grips with the fact that he is gay. And being a gay Muslim is a very dangerous thing and frowned upon in the Muslim community. So he specifically targeted the gay community because being gay was something that had 'destroyed' him.
As long as Republicans continue to criminalize gay people by enacting these outrageous bathroom bills that target transgender people, then I feel it'll continue to be open season on gay people. Republicans constantly talk of gay people in a very derogatory tone and treat them like second class citizens. If you read any Internet comment boards, you see a lot of gay bashing among Trump supporters. No surprise, since FOX News and the Republican party continue to talk of gay people as not being human beings.
As long as Republicans continue to criminalize gay people by enacting these outrageous bathroom bills that target transgender people, then I feel it'll continue to be open season on gay people. Republicans constantly talk of gay people in a very derogatory tone and treat them like second class citizens. If you read any Internet comment boards, you see a lot of gay bashing among Trump supporters. No surprise, since FOX News and the Republican party continue to talk of gay people as not being human beings.
3
If the NRA believes in the unlimited right to own and carry guns, why are visitors not allowed to bring them into NRA headquarters?
6
If fences don't prevent people from coming inside, why does the whithouse have one?
3
Hello. I want to hear someone comment about unchecked mental illness (it doesn't seem to have been mentioned much). I'd also like to know more about his parents and his family life as he grew up as a child. I think this is important in order to better understand the man and his motives.
3
Seems to me he could only deploy immature coping mechanisms to manage his emotional schisms. Repression, displacement, raging, splitting humans into distinct groups worthy of rescue and disdain, the same way he treated himself. He could not live with this duality, so he destroyed himself by destroying others like part of him and left his father to pick up after his mess.
Shouldn't have been so strict, father. Couldn't you hug your son, or did you think he was gay?
Shouldn't have been so strict, father. Couldn't you hug your son, or did you think he was gay?
1
Similar to those French monsters in Paris.
11
Why does everyone keep repeating the he was "mentally ill"? There hasn't been a diagnosis.
And in any case, are all you fine liberals now going to argue that being confused about one's sexual orientation constitutes a violence-inducing mental illness? May, may, but the worm has turned!
And in any case, are all you fine liberals now going to argue that being confused about one's sexual orientation constitutes a violence-inducing mental illness? May, may, but the worm has turned!
5
A decade ago we were working, side by side, in the division of water and sanitation in a children's community. Neither my friend, nor I had lunch. We were too busy but at 4:00 p.m., I would get her a pastry and we would have tea at her desk. We talked about learning, how to improve our work, her family, where to shop, a wedding, a colleague at odds with another, how to turn our dreams into goals. All long ago.
She reminds me of The Statue of Liberty. Tall and strong, an oak tree, she could knock me over with a finger. But she is about Love. the one, in the midst of an impossible schedule, who sends word 'How are you?'.
There was the time past 50, she wanted to go to the Sudan on an emergency mission, I threw a fit, she reminded me that she was African, while I added at the end of the day, I would stand behind her choices. We are quiet now, while maintaining a tacit understanding.
My friend, they called us Irish immigrants 'Dirty' and 'White Gorillas' a century ago. This ugly historical Season will also past. Please continue to include me in your prayers, while I hope you are able to drink water during this month of fasting.
This is not 'The America' that brought you here to raise a healthy hard-working family with strong family values. I would never have returned from Europe if I had know we have reached this state of affairs. You asked if I miss New York, and once again, it is you that I miss. Do you understand now why I dislike 'Labels'?
She reminds me of The Statue of Liberty. Tall and strong, an oak tree, she could knock me over with a finger. But she is about Love. the one, in the midst of an impossible schedule, who sends word 'How are you?'.
There was the time past 50, she wanted to go to the Sudan on an emergency mission, I threw a fit, she reminded me that she was African, while I added at the end of the day, I would stand behind her choices. We are quiet now, while maintaining a tacit understanding.
My friend, they called us Irish immigrants 'Dirty' and 'White Gorillas' a century ago. This ugly historical Season will also past. Please continue to include me in your prayers, while I hope you are able to drink water during this month of fasting.
This is not 'The America' that brought you here to raise a healthy hard-working family with strong family values. I would never have returned from Europe if I had know we have reached this state of affairs. You asked if I miss New York, and once again, it is you that I miss. Do you understand now why I dislike 'Labels'?
I have become a fatalists on this issue. Even if we passed "common sense" gun laws, where would we start. There are so many guns out there now and whatever laws would be passed would have more loopholes than our tax code. Not to discourage these efforts, but, putting the gun Genie back in the bottle almost seems impossible.
1
It is factually incorrect to say that assault weapons have no legitimate uses. I bought one (ironically made in CT) for hunting feral hogs and coyotes in Texas--there is no better ranch rifle for the truck. With 8 million already in circulation (along with about 25 million hi capacity magazines), the black market here will be LOADED with them for the foreseeable future. Heck, terrorists got them in France for Pete's sake, where no one can legally own one. Thinking that banning them will stop a terrorist is pure fantasy. Let's double the size of the FBI, ATF, and TSA and do something meaningful to take our country back--those agencies are missing too many opportunities to stop terrorists. Banning assault weapons may have worked before the AR 15 became the most commonly owned long gun in America. The reality is, that ship has sailed.
6
While Omar Mateen was a dreadful human being I feel that it was his father, particularly, who turned him into what he became.
His family were from Afghanistan and in Afghanistan homosexuality is illegal and subject to the death penalty. No doubt his father drilled this point of view into him which eventually resulted in the Orlando Killings.
It makes me wonder how the father was ever admitted to the US? One of the lessons we should take is that Refugees may not share American or European view of LGBT persons. Thus we should be more careful in admitting refugees to this country -- especially ones that come countries with high degrees of intolerance for the LGBT community.
We should not be so eager to accept refugees from the Middle East. Look at the situation in Germany and France and Belgium for examples of refugee conduct in the Western world. Germans are being asked to change their dress and conduct in places where large numbers of refugees live so as to avoid "offending" them. Do we want this for our country? I don't think so.
Just because children of refugees grow up in this country, it does not mean that they accept our view of life. Their parents can teach them that the ways of the "old country" are the correct one. Thus we must be very careful in bringing refugees from the Middle East to this country.
His family were from Afghanistan and in Afghanistan homosexuality is illegal and subject to the death penalty. No doubt his father drilled this point of view into him which eventually resulted in the Orlando Killings.
It makes me wonder how the father was ever admitted to the US? One of the lessons we should take is that Refugees may not share American or European view of LGBT persons. Thus we should be more careful in admitting refugees to this country -- especially ones that come countries with high degrees of intolerance for the LGBT community.
We should not be so eager to accept refugees from the Middle East. Look at the situation in Germany and France and Belgium for examples of refugee conduct in the Western world. Germans are being asked to change their dress and conduct in places where large numbers of refugees live so as to avoid "offending" them. Do we want this for our country? I don't think so.
Just because children of refugees grow up in this country, it does not mean that they accept our view of life. Their parents can teach them that the ways of the "old country" are the correct one. Thus we must be very careful in bringing refugees from the Middle East to this country.
15
Let's suppose, as seems plausible right now, that Mateen's murderous acts were really motivated by a conflicted ambivalence about gayness, that in fact the "Isis allegiance" was no more than a late cover developed in his mind for his acts, as much for himself as others. What if there hadn't been the "Isis allegiance"? If so, unfortunately, I suspect that this latest atrocity might have passed as no more than the weekly, or maybe in this case monthly, horror of this kind in the US. I'm quite sure we wouldn't have heard any extended running at the mouth from Trump on the matter.
Mr. Blow is just plain wrong about the utility of AR-15 style guns for hunting. Lightweight, smaller-caliber, reduced-kick, rapid-repeat-shot sporting rifles are ideal for hunting, because they are easier to carry, easier to use especially by women and seniors, and can humanely drop a deer or a wild hog on the spot from multiple quick rounds, rather than allowing the deer or hog to run off, wounded. They are also useful for taking out vermin like coyotes, especially in locations where you don't want a stray bullet to go off your property.
Mr. Blow may claim to be familiar with gun culture, but his proclamation that there is no reason for a citizen to own semi-automatic sporting rifles reveals serious unfamiliarity with their usefulness for hunting and keeping aggressive wildlife at bay.
Mr. Blow is entitled to his own opinion. He is not entitled to his own facts.
Mr. Blow may claim to be familiar with gun culture, but his proclamation that there is no reason for a citizen to own semi-automatic sporting rifles reveals serious unfamiliarity with their usefulness for hunting and keeping aggressive wildlife at bay.
Mr. Blow is entitled to his own opinion. He is not entitled to his own facts.
7
The Ar-15 causes massive tissue damage. In other words it destroys "meat". The Ar-15 has a 500 meter range.
It can be used to kill bunnies but it was designed to kill people. Speaking of seniors, I've been telling telling my 90 year old friend that she should get a gun, but she refuses because she's blind. I keep telling her that with a semi-automatic, it doesn't matter that much if you're blind, you don't have to see what you're shooting at.
It can be used to kill bunnies but it was designed to kill people. Speaking of seniors, I've been telling telling my 90 year old friend that she should get a gun, but she refuses because she's blind. I keep telling her that with a semi-automatic, it doesn't matter that much if you're blind, you don't have to see what you're shooting at.
1
Wow. Toxic male culture gets blamed, but not ISIS. Tell you what: why don't you just invent the news stories from scratch, rather than waiting for things to happen so you can lie about them.
Did the NRA embrace Mateen's actions? I missed that press report I guess. Did Mateen scream "Bros before hoes!" before pulling the trigger? An underreported detail I suppose.
Your version of the story is a product of your imagination, not the reporting.
And though Mateen once was a U.S. citizen, he lost that privilege when he declared allegiance to a foreign enemy. His citizenship should be formally and publicly revoked.
Did the NRA embrace Mateen's actions? I missed that press report I guess. Did Mateen scream "Bros before hoes!" before pulling the trigger? An underreported detail I suppose.
Your version of the story is a product of your imagination, not the reporting.
And though Mateen once was a U.S. citizen, he lost that privilege when he declared allegiance to a foreign enemy. His citizenship should be formally and publicly revoked.
19
Wow, you almost suggest someone can become a terrorist just by claiming, so which side did you pile into? You seem to be needing this NOT to be about men on man relations.
This comment is full of so much ridiculous rationalization that I don't even know where to begin.
1
First of all, the man is still a citizen. Citizenship is not a prize people win. It is a legal status people have regardless of their behavior. He was born a citizen and it cannot be revoked.
Second of all, anyone can commit any crime and claim ISIS as inspiration. They could just as easily claim Jesus, the weather, or the NY Yankees as inspiration.
Third, there is a pretty good amount of circumstantial evidence that the man had internalized homophobia problems. I do not know why you want to deny that.
Second of all, anyone can commit any crime and claim ISIS as inspiration. They could just as easily claim Jesus, the weather, or the NY Yankees as inspiration.
Third, there is a pretty good amount of circumstantial evidence that the man had internalized homophobia problems. I do not know why you want to deny that.
1
Let's quit falling for the language that so defines our current national debate on this issue.
This was no "terrorist" act. This was good old fashioned murder. Plain and simple. By a guy who could buy an assault weapon any time he wanted to.
If the word terror is to be used, it should be in conjunction with the fear the general population should feel (but don't) at the very fact that buying a weapon - whose only purpose is to mow down humans, is so easy. It should be illegal.
Unless we change the language we use to describe this nothing will change.
Frankly I expect better from the Times and its editors.
This was no "terrorist" act. This was good old fashioned murder. Plain and simple. By a guy who could buy an assault weapon any time he wanted to.
If the word terror is to be used, it should be in conjunction with the fear the general population should feel (but don't) at the very fact that buying a weapon - whose only purpose is to mow down humans, is so easy. It should be illegal.
Unless we change the language we use to describe this nothing will change.
Frankly I expect better from the Times and its editors.
3
American two legged human monster Omar Mateen killed 49 young men and women.
What makes a human a living breathing monster ?
Harambe four legged silver back guerrilla was killed to save this four year old little boy and the boy is back unharmed to his mother`a arms. One precious endangered life was gone and we like to think Harambe was protecting the child because we never saw any evidence otherwise.
What makes a human a living breathing monster ?
Harambe four legged silver back guerrilla was killed to save this four year old little boy and the boy is back unharmed to his mother`a arms. One precious endangered life was gone and we like to think Harambe was protecting the child because we never saw any evidence otherwise.
2
President Obama should join with the LGBT to move Islam to the acceptance of homosexuality. That would move the whole world forward and make us all safer.
8
Good luck with that; we can't budge our Christian Right, either. They have to come to Jesus to understand splitting man into good and bad is no way to build constructive relationships.
I grew up on Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and their after school movies moved me to see the stupidity in religion making children feel foreign to one another.
I grew up on Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and their after school movies moved me to see the stupidity in religion making children feel foreign to one another.
1
Yeah Jimmy, and also to accept Christians, Jews, women's equality, freedom of speech, freedom to choose one's religion, acceptance if not condoning western beliefs and values. The list goes on and on and on.
So much talk, so little facts. First of all, the gun in question was not an "assault" weapon. Weapons, like the .223 used in this murder, are not used for hunting because the bullet is too small. In CT, the minimum size for deer hunting is 6mm (,243). In fact, some rifles, like an AR-10 (.308 caliber) are used and legal for hunting. Finally, in all this talk about "assault" weapons, there is no discussion on the numbers. FBI Homicide statistics, Table 8, show that deaths by rifles, to be less than 300 in a total of 12,000. By comparison, knives were 1,500 and blunt objects (hammers and clubs) were 400. Mr. Blow does not want to discuss all the "other" homicides and what needs to be done to stop them and neither does our President.
12
Surprise!
Another apologist for the gun industry.
They don't even need paid flacks, these days.
Another apologist for the gun industry.
They don't even need paid flacks, these days.
I suppose the liberal media are deliberately underreporting the mass killings of innocents by knife-wielding murderers.
They also fail to report on innocent humans killed by stray blunt objects.
They also fail to report on innocent humans killed by stray blunt objects.
2
Wow--another mass shooting. In a developed country, still the most powerful nation on the planet, and we cannot agree about basic protections for people who want to go dancing on a Saturday night.
Maybe the shooter was homophobic, maybe a distance sympathizer of ISIS or other radical movement, maybe he didn't like Latinos. We may never know the entire story--clearly he was troubled, whatever the back story.
Making all kinds of guns universally available doesn't work--whatever the interpretation of the Second Amendment. The authors of the Constitution were thinking of groups of neighbors organizing into militias to protect themselves against Britain, a very powerful country in the 18th century. Today, it's ok for individuals (crazy and sane, responsible and irresponsible alike) to arm themselves with assault rifles, weapons originally designed for war. Assault rifles are more powerful and more problematic than any musket would be. We are loathe, though, to fully recognize the implications.
I return to my original thought. How can we make sure that on any given Saturday night people can go dancing and not worry about being shot?
Maybe the shooter was homophobic, maybe a distance sympathizer of ISIS or other radical movement, maybe he didn't like Latinos. We may never know the entire story--clearly he was troubled, whatever the back story.
Making all kinds of guns universally available doesn't work--whatever the interpretation of the Second Amendment. The authors of the Constitution were thinking of groups of neighbors organizing into militias to protect themselves against Britain, a very powerful country in the 18th century. Today, it's ok for individuals (crazy and sane, responsible and irresponsible alike) to arm themselves with assault rifles, weapons originally designed for war. Assault rifles are more powerful and more problematic than any musket would be. We are loathe, though, to fully recognize the implications.
I return to my original thought. How can we make sure that on any given Saturday night people can go dancing and not worry about being shot?
5
Terrorism never should have been allowed to become a noun. Then, we might never have been able to have been sold on the Perpetual War on Terror, which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, mostly Muslims, but also includes thousands of American Soldiers...at the cost of several trillion dollars in Treasure...with absolutely nothing gained by our investment in the war except for the opportunity to feel good. Many of us as a result have been enabled to distinguish with profound moral clarity between the Good Guys, and the Bad Guys, and it does feel good to be a Good Guy at forever war:
The current thinking on the forever war is that the militarization of the legal terms murder, extortion and coercion; politicized, and rolled into one big concept, TERRORISM, has allowed us to make war upon an abstraction, which is actually nothing but fear as a prod to capitulation, and abolished the inconvenience of our Congress having to discern among: when and why to fight a war, the strategy and objectives of the war, and when the war on the abstraction "terrorism" has been won...so that victory may be declared. The Unitary Executive now decides all that as: The Decider!
Charles M Blow has identified the murderer Omar Manteen as a monster, but we know little of him or his motivation. Yet, don't stop to think about our own JSOC heros (hitmen), who are now murdering as Special Forces in 75 Countries with impunity. Political murder would make us the terrorists, and therefore the monsters!
The current thinking on the forever war is that the militarization of the legal terms murder, extortion and coercion; politicized, and rolled into one big concept, TERRORISM, has allowed us to make war upon an abstraction, which is actually nothing but fear as a prod to capitulation, and abolished the inconvenience of our Congress having to discern among: when and why to fight a war, the strategy and objectives of the war, and when the war on the abstraction "terrorism" has been won...so that victory may be declared. The Unitary Executive now decides all that as: The Decider!
Charles M Blow has identified the murderer Omar Manteen as a monster, but we know little of him or his motivation. Yet, don't stop to think about our own JSOC heros (hitmen), who are now murdering as Special Forces in 75 Countries with impunity. Political murder would make us the terrorists, and therefore the monsters!
1
Thank you, for your heartfelt thoughts Mr. Blow. You always enlighten me with the perspective and data of your columns. This is what we need now. I am trying to be brave and responsible. I am trying to figure out where my power to change this lies. I know myself much better than many but the sorrow and loss I feet is scary and I feel unmoored. I avoid tv and try to mediate. I find most people either don't want to talk about it or are parroting what they are hearing from the usual sources. "This norm is not normal" indeed.
Being right is not the issue,Donald
Being right is not the issue,Donald
2
There were indeed many factors that contributed to this horror, Mr. Blow. But you left out a big one, and a rather banal one at that: gun profits. Not a devotion to the constitution or the 2nd amendment, not a passion for individual rights, but that most glorious of pursuits, money.
It bothers me that so few commentators are willing to make this observation. Yes, the free market and capitalism are good things. But are they sacred cows? Is being wealthy really the highest state of man?
It bothers me that so few commentators are willing to make this observation. Yes, the free market and capitalism are good things. But are they sacred cows? Is being wealthy really the highest state of man?
4
I wish you and the rest of the press would stop giving publicity to these monsters. They revel in it. He is an American Monster. That's all you had to say. We know who he is.
4
Maybe I can be accused of simplifying, but I believe with C. S. Peirce that the substance of any consideration is its practical outcome. Whatever animated the shooter, we had practical outcomes (acts and expressions) that should have been indicative. Words are powerful Anyone who says things that imply murderous intent should be a candidate for some form of confinement, to protect himself and others. Deeds are indicative. This shooter was flagged as abusive--aka violent. I have always made a practice of taking anyone's suicidal musings as real and I have responded by saying that if they talk that way any more I will do my best to see that they are taken out of society until they can get straightened out. We have the most messed up criminal justice system on earth. We should be offering serious therapy to people who show violent tendencies. That should be the main focus of our system. We do not need to create a laundry list of probable causes and motivations. Revealed intent is enough. Therapy will do the rest.
Mr Blow, sir, you have it wrong, about American monster
Mr Mateen SAID, by report, during his shooting, that we were bombing HIS country and we should stop, that this was a protest, as though night club gays have a voice in bomb targeting
YOU can call him an American HE did not
BUT if we are to have a self-identification test of nationalism, then indeed let us deport all those American-born with elsewhere loyalties, deport to somewhere
Think A-stan would take him back?
-
As for 'assault' weapon, well that is an old and tired piece of disinformation
Mr Mateen SAID, by report, during his shooting, that we were bombing HIS country and we should stop, that this was a protest, as though night club gays have a voice in bomb targeting
YOU can call him an American HE did not
BUT if we are to have a self-identification test of nationalism, then indeed let us deport all those American-born with elsewhere loyalties, deport to somewhere
Think A-stan would take him back?
-
As for 'assault' weapon, well that is an old and tired piece of disinformation
20
He also took up the cause of African Americans after shooting them, he was so greedy in his need to be the oppressed one. Repression is a terrible coping mechanism.
1
Mateen was a Patron of the LGBT bar he attacked...let that sink in...a Patron. Got drunk there on several occasions over several years. Last time I checked there were no such establishments in Afghanistan.
Trumps mother called herself an American as does his wife...they were born elsewhere according to their birth certificates. Deport them?
If you "say"..."I am only temporarily visiting the Planet", what does that make you?
You are looking for a scapegoat.
Trumps mother called herself an American as does his wife...they were born elsewhere according to their birth certificates. Deport them?
If you "say"..."I am only temporarily visiting the Planet", what does that make you?
You are looking for a scapegoat.
The klan has murdered more Americans on American soil the ISIS & Al Quieda combined. Yet, some states like Louisiana and S. Carolina don't have hate crime laws. This creates the false impression there is no terrorist group/klan activity.
We tolerate domestic terrorism anti-government groups that Timothy McVeigh was in, klan and Nazis.
Why aren't they targeted as aggressively as Muslim groups?
We tolerate domestic terrorism anti-government groups that Timothy McVeigh was in, klan and Nazis.
Why aren't they targeted as aggressively as Muslim groups?
2
Is "on the queer spectrum" and "queerness" on the political correct list? I would suggest not. And this coming from the great one who professes political correctness speech. I am offended.
9
Way to toe the line!
For a new twist, we're told that yet another terrorist attack motivated by Muslim Fundamentalist teaching has nothing to do with Islam, but everything to with lax gun control laws!
Perhaps we should ask the French and Belgians about that hypothesis.
For a new twist, we're told that yet another terrorist attack motivated by Muslim Fundamentalist teaching has nothing to do with Islam, but everything to with lax gun control laws!
Perhaps we should ask the French and Belgians about that hypothesis.
18
So, radical claims that homosexuality is a sin is NOT the issue? That is not exclusive to Islam. Any crackpot can call that dance, and many will join in the frenzy.
1
Charles, you say that you want people to, "walk openly and lovingly in their own truths." The "own truths" is what a terrorist walks in every day. We should want people to walk lovingly in universal truths like, "it's wrong to mistreat or kill people just because you don't like them." Why do you have to bring in such a dangerous topic as "personal truth," since that means anyone can believe anything?
If Mateen was not mentally ill, he was probably convinced he could make up his own truth. Oh wait, maybe that's a form of mental illness.
If Mateen was not mentally ill, he was probably convinced he could make up his own truth. Oh wait, maybe that's a form of mental illness.
7
The Guardian has reported from regular Pulse patrons that he sought out men for sex at the club and online. That would contradict your statement about his intentions being unclear.
Mr Mateen was likely a closeted gay or bisexual man deeply conflicted between his desires for sex with men and the Islamic faith he was taught that holds it to be wrong and sinful. One of the most common things heard from formerly closeted people is how it destroys people from within by causing one to deny who they are. This may be a big part of the equation.
Things like these can have more than one cause, but my take is that for whatever other demons preyed on his mind, Mr Mateen was a conflicted, closeted man who was trapped by religious teachings that left him in a quandary. Orthodox faiths of many types teach against Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transexual, Transgendered and Queer people and very few are welcoming with an active outreach to these communities.
Our fellow citizens who oppose the GLBTTQ communities and lifestyle are going to have to learn and take to heart that the open and free democratic society we want requires tolerance of people different from ourselves. Beyond that they need to learn that people different from themselves enrich our lives and our culture. Our national motto is E Pluribus Unum - out of many, one. It is way past time we started living like that is what we believe.
Mr Mateen was likely a closeted gay or bisexual man deeply conflicted between his desires for sex with men and the Islamic faith he was taught that holds it to be wrong and sinful. One of the most common things heard from formerly closeted people is how it destroys people from within by causing one to deny who they are. This may be a big part of the equation.
Things like these can have more than one cause, but my take is that for whatever other demons preyed on his mind, Mr Mateen was a conflicted, closeted man who was trapped by religious teachings that left him in a quandary. Orthodox faiths of many types teach against Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transexual, Transgendered and Queer people and very few are welcoming with an active outreach to these communities.
Our fellow citizens who oppose the GLBTTQ communities and lifestyle are going to have to learn and take to heart that the open and free democratic society we want requires tolerance of people different from ourselves. Beyond that they need to learn that people different from themselves enrich our lives and our culture. Our national motto is E Pluribus Unum - out of many, one. It is way past time we started living like that is what we believe.
3
This monster was a self admitted ISIL radical that is a fact and not Americas fault. If this nation did anything wrong it was too let ISIL grow to the size where it is now in eighteen countries and on our shores also. What we choose to do about it now will determine how many may die at there hands by whatever means they can devise.
17
Hatred is the disease; violence is the symptom; religion is the excuse; access to a military arsenal is the exacerbating factor.
We can do what we can to ameliorate symptoms, dismiss excuses, and reduce exacerbating factors, but until we cure the disease, there will always be the risk of infection. In America, we may already be in an epidemic.
We can do what we can to ameliorate symptoms, dismiss excuses, and reduce exacerbating factors, but until we cure the disease, there will always be the risk of infection. In America, we may already be in an epidemic.
2
"Feel the revenge of the Islamic State"--that seems pretty clear to me.
17
And so if he had said "Feel the revenge for Southern Womanhood"?
But Allen, he didn't.
3
Finally, someone exposes the unfounded leap to Muslim “terrorism” that “The Demagogue” spews for political purposes. While the killer was no doubt investigated by the FBI the facts, once they are fully uncovered – and hopefully covered by the media as here – will reveal that the killer was conflicted beyond what anyone has rushed to conclude and what The Demagogue spews.
If, as now suspected, the killer was in fact gay and “visited” the scene of the shooting as a patron on many occasions (and got drunk), then by definition he was neither a devout Muslim nor was he an ISIL sympathizer despite any other reports. It was his cover to hide his internal conflict.
If what Mr. Blow posits proves to be true then The Demagogue and his hoard, who have erroneously jumped to the conclusion that this has some origin in the Muslim Community should, themselves, be placed on the Terrorist Watch list.
If, as now suspected, the killer was in fact gay and “visited” the scene of the shooting as a patron on many occasions (and got drunk), then by definition he was neither a devout Muslim nor was he an ISIL sympathizer despite any other reports. It was his cover to hide his internal conflict.
If what Mr. Blow posits proves to be true then The Demagogue and his hoard, who have erroneously jumped to the conclusion that this has some origin in the Muslim Community should, themselves, be placed on the Terrorist Watch list.
1
Very excellent column, Mr Blow.
9
An Afghan made in America.
3
Trumps Mother is Scottish and his (current) wife is Slovenian. That is what is on their birth certificates. Are they American? If not, should we deport them or put them on a watch list? How many Americans are in America?
1
Trump had a previous wife who was also from eastern Europe. They still speak English with a heavy accent. How American is that, Mr Trump? As long as his wife is "white", he is ok with those kinds of immigrants.
1
Why put his name in your title? We keep giving these disenfranchised madmen what they want, fame.
7
Why should we just restrict suspected terrorists' access to guns? Many of the most recent mass shootings were done by Americans who would not be defined as terrorists by today's definitions. Yet I would argue that the men who committed the horrific crimes in Newtown, Roseberg, and Colorado Springs could also be defined as terrorists.
Assault weapons should be banned, Period.
And gun ownership should be a privilege not a right.
Assault weapons should be banned, Period.
And gun ownership should be a privilege not a right.
7
In the face of this tragedy everyone has thrown their oar in, especially the gay community and the gun control crowd. Very little attention has been paid to ISIS and its appeal to some young Muslims for independent acts of terrorism.
These self radicalized terrorists can cause mayhem without firearms - a can of gasoline can (and has) inflict a higher death toll in a nightclub - and there is nothing anyone can do about that.
We must eliminate the appeal of ISIS. Unfortunately our military and diplomatic efforts in the area are a muddle, but unless we effectively diminish ISIS like we did Al Qaeda the problem will only get worse.
These self radicalized terrorists can cause mayhem without firearms - a can of gasoline can (and has) inflict a higher death toll in a nightclub - and there is nothing anyone can do about that.
We must eliminate the appeal of ISIS. Unfortunately our military and diplomatic efforts in the area are a muddle, but unless we effectively diminish ISIS like we did Al Qaeda the problem will only get worse.
8
It's likely that the shooter just threw in an "I'm with ISIS" as an after thought, or momentary self-justification. As Mr. Blow points out, this troubled man struggled with many issues, and affiliation or sympathy with ISIS was way down on the list, if it factored at all.
1
You have no way of knowing any of that and are just speculating on his issues. All we have was what Mr Mateen declared - loyalty to ISIS. Saying that you must be nuts to commit mass murder in the name of ISIS is not enough.
2
Thank you, Mr. Blow. This is the most reasonable and accurate assessment of this horror I have read. The way that homophobia and lack of gun control have been erased from the narrative is shocking, but I guess to be expected. Thank you for honoring the dead by telling the truth.
4
I disagree. It's normal now. We've become accustomed to hearing and reading about this. It's been happening every month or more. Many thought that after Newtown something would be done. We thought that after San Bernadino something might be done. This is what is done: reporting, statements by horrified politicians, statements claiming that owning a gun is a God given right in America, a news conference by Obama (who has grown more horrified and impatient with Congress), vigils, and statements of solidarity. None of this gets at the heart of the problem: no one needs to or should own an assault weapon, period.
No one should have to be afraid that going about daily activities or dancing the night away in any nightclub is a ticket to death by assault rifle. The Second Amendment has the words "a well-regulated militia" starting it. The NRA is not a well regulated militia. Nor are any of the people who want to be able to carry their guns openly or in concealment. Hunting is another story and hunters are horrified about this. It's a fairy tale that good people with guns can stop bad people with guns. The truth is that the bad people can outgun the good people, the bad people probably won't hesitate to shoot to kill, and that shooting in a public space and hitting the target is hard even for experienced police officers.
No one should have to be afraid that going about daily activities or dancing the night away in any nightclub is a ticket to death by assault rifle. The Second Amendment has the words "a well-regulated militia" starting it. The NRA is not a well regulated militia. Nor are any of the people who want to be able to carry their guns openly or in concealment. Hunting is another story and hunters are horrified about this. It's a fairy tale that good people with guns can stop bad people with guns. The truth is that the bad people can outgun the good people, the bad people probably won't hesitate to shoot to kill, and that shooting in a public space and hitting the target is hard even for experienced police officers.
16
Analyze it all you want. Look at it from every angle and motivation. The bottom line is, the massacre could not have happened if the shooter did not have the weapon. These military style weapons may not be the motivator, but they are the enabler.
High power, rapid fire rifles with high capacity detachable magazines are the ones used in these attacks. It is true that other more conventional weapons have been used, but nothing has the killing power of these weapons, which can be openly purchased.
We can't put the monster back in the cage, but we can defang him. Our open society creates monsters. That is a downside of freedom and personal liberty.
But we don't have to let our monsters have this much killing power.
There come a point where individual liberty robs all of us of our collective liberty. Flooding society with military grade weaponry has pushed us way beyond that point.
High power, rapid fire rifles with high capacity detachable magazines are the ones used in these attacks. It is true that other more conventional weapons have been used, but nothing has the killing power of these weapons, which can be openly purchased.
We can't put the monster back in the cage, but we can defang him. Our open society creates monsters. That is a downside of freedom and personal liberty.
But we don't have to let our monsters have this much killing power.
There come a point where individual liberty robs all of us of our collective liberty. Flooding society with military grade weaponry has pushed us way beyond that point.
329
Charles , I know that you know that we know all these statistics and we know how insane are gun policies and foreign policies AR. of course that doesn't mean you need to stop speaking about them, because it is the right thing to do.
The statistic that keeps popping up in my mind is the one that every 17 minutes , someone is murdered by a gun in the United States. But the conversation between gun owners and those who , even though gun owners themselves , would seek some reasonable safety mea sures always end up and a big fat fight.
I find it ironic that in States like Texas with the loosest laws still restricts the use of guns in bars. there's nothing better that booze and a gun in hand to settle disputes very quickly.
Liberals have been waiting a long long time for their conservative friends to wake up and smell the roses. The hope involved in waiting pretty quickly dissolved with Newtown. Since Sunday, we have fallen into our traditional postmortem period of mourning and calls for action to do something--anything-'-to correct our political gun problem.
I will never understand how legislation aimed at tightening background checks or eliminating the one class of weapon used in m ost mass murders is quickly translated by the NRA and gun owners as confiscation of guns.
Questions nobody questions car safety regulations as being the first step towards confiscation of automobiles. Why not? (and don't tell me it's just because cars aren't a constitutional right. )
The statistic that keeps popping up in my mind is the one that every 17 minutes , someone is murdered by a gun in the United States. But the conversation between gun owners and those who , even though gun owners themselves , would seek some reasonable safety mea sures always end up and a big fat fight.
I find it ironic that in States like Texas with the loosest laws still restricts the use of guns in bars. there's nothing better that booze and a gun in hand to settle disputes very quickly.
Liberals have been waiting a long long time for their conservative friends to wake up and smell the roses. The hope involved in waiting pretty quickly dissolved with Newtown. Since Sunday, we have fallen into our traditional postmortem period of mourning and calls for action to do something--anything-'-to correct our political gun problem.
I will never understand how legislation aimed at tightening background checks or eliminating the one class of weapon used in m ost mass murders is quickly translated by the NRA and gun owners as confiscation of guns.
Questions nobody questions car safety regulations as being the first step towards confiscation of automobiles. Why not? (and don't tell me it's just because cars aren't a constitutional right. )
26
We only need to arm criminals and terrorists and all will be well. when will you go after them?
5
Mr. Blow's article is riddled with unsubstantiated conjecture.
41
Oh, really? He offers facts to back up everything he says. What exactly is unsubstantiated?
1
Can you be a bit more substantially specific?
1
These are Opinion Pages. See Mark Foley for a reality check.
I want Charles to know the Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology cites Dennis Hastert in the chapter on Reality Negotiations falsely claiming the Dems exposed Foley's harassment of that Page and endorsed his excuses for having done so: He's homosexual, he's an alcoholic and he was also sexually abused...so that makes perpetuating it OK, Right? Textbook blaming of homosexuality for all his perversions!
How about that? Published in 2009, Hastert had yet to be cited for being a sex offender of youth and demonstrate again why he and Foley deserve to be let off the hook. Has to hurt, huh, Dennis?
I want Charles to know the Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology cites Dennis Hastert in the chapter on Reality Negotiations falsely claiming the Dems exposed Foley's harassment of that Page and endorsed his excuses for having done so: He's homosexual, he's an alcoholic and he was also sexually abused...so that makes perpetuating it OK, Right? Textbook blaming of homosexuality for all his perversions!
How about that? Published in 2009, Hastert had yet to be cited for being a sex offender of youth and demonstrate again why he and Foley deserve to be let off the hook. Has to hurt, huh, Dennis?
1
I am surprised how few Muslims are contributing to this discussion in this comment section. There are over 8 million Muslims in America. Don't any of them subscribe to the NY Times?
11
If you read about Islam, I don't think you will find this surprising. I certainly don't.
Hi. I am a Muslim . Unlike Mateen, I don't drink, go to clubs, beat up my wife, hate the LGBT community or believe that killing innocent people will somehow earn me paradise.
6
@juris,
How do you know?
Need they identify themselves?
How do you know?
Need they identify themselves?
3
"...it seems moral and right to deprive this shooter of the attention he surely craved..." Dear God! The man is dead! How can he crave anything?
Language is gasping out its last breaths in America, abused and strangled by battalions of writers, polemicists, and advertisers. It's impossible to have a proper discussion when there are no agreed meanings. CB wants to make sure the debates is honest and true, yet refers to an act of "domestic terror?" Of course it was freakin' terror! But does he mean "terrorism?" There's a world of difference. A raging lion can create a lot of terror.
Language is gasping out its last breaths in America, abused and strangled by battalions of writers, polemicists, and advertisers. It's impossible to have a proper discussion when there are no agreed meanings. CB wants to make sure the debates is honest and true, yet refers to an act of "domestic terror?" Of course it was freakin' terror! But does he mean "terrorism?" There's a world of difference. A raging lion can create a lot of terror.
7
He said "craved." That's past dense, Mr. Johnson.
Uh...you may find it of advantage to find out what a past tense is. You know...as in "cravED?"
Marilyn and Robert: He craved. Now that he's dead, we shouldn't give it? Try to progress from simple grammar to rhetoric.
Mr. Blow,
You are so right. Reading this piece made me realize that there is probably no hope for this country. We are, indeed, numb to the violence that has become the norm. Most violent deaths are not even reported anymore. It takes a higher and higher body count to draw any attention at all.
I do believe we love violence here. We associate it with "freedom" and "manliness," and the culture of the gun is part of our national identification. The Orlando massacre has sickened me to the point of hopelessness. Nothing will be done to save us from what we have become. But I and my family can do something - we can get out of here as soon as possible and go live in a place where sanity and respect for human life bests the barbarity of the American marriage to human carnage.
You are so right. Reading this piece made me realize that there is probably no hope for this country. We are, indeed, numb to the violence that has become the norm. Most violent deaths are not even reported anymore. It takes a higher and higher body count to draw any attention at all.
I do believe we love violence here. We associate it with "freedom" and "manliness," and the culture of the gun is part of our national identification. The Orlando massacre has sickened me to the point of hopelessness. Nothing will be done to save us from what we have become. But I and my family can do something - we can get out of here as soon as possible and go live in a place where sanity and respect for human life bests the barbarity of the American marriage to human carnage.
27
Don't look at this hand, look at this hand. The reality is, the terrorist Mateen had traveled repeatedly to Muslim countries. His own words of his loyalty and self identity defy Mr.Blow's description of him. Meanwhile, today there are armed conflicts around the world. Nearly every one is Sunni or Shia against each other, or Sunni against Alawite or Jew or other. Mr.Blow moans that we bomb muslims. Sadly, millions of muslim will die at the hands of other muslims this year due to secular and religious strife. Paris, San Bernadino, Orlando, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc. So sad, heartbreaking violence. Meanwhile the suppression of women and gays and Christians continues in Muslim countries. And yet, in Mr.Blow's spin, it's all our fault.
45
The left is in a serious pickle with this particular terrorist attack, as the hypocrisy of their support for both gays and Muslims is exposed. That's why the NYT has stopped calling Orlando a terror attack and is now soley referring to it as a mass shooting. Obama is doing the same.
12
His words of loyalty? To ISIS, al Qaida, and Hezbollah all at the same time? Do you not know these are lethal enemies? It shows only that he was irrational, and if a "radicalized Muslim" certainly a very confused one, since loyalty to one of these groups is a death sentence to the others not to mention very different ideologies that can not possibly meet a universal standard that would permit allegiance to all three.
No, his claim of loyalty to "Radical Islam" was only to sensationalize his cowardly act for maximum effect, to invoke fear onto those who fear easily and senselessly and elevate his act beyond mere murder. And I'm willing to bet we'll learn that this was purely a hate crime against gays due to his own latent fears of being a closeted gay himself who was repeatedly rejected by a gay Latin man.
I'm not defending radical Islamists or suggesting that domestic Islamic radicals don't exist, but these are sick people that commit these acts and we don't know the boundaries of their sick minds. It's entirely plausible that politicizing their acts as terrorism instead of cowardly murder gives them motivation due to the mass fear that the very suggestion of "terrorism" seems to inspire.
No, his claim of loyalty to "Radical Islam" was only to sensationalize his cowardly act for maximum effect, to invoke fear onto those who fear easily and senselessly and elevate his act beyond mere murder. And I'm willing to bet we'll learn that this was purely a hate crime against gays due to his own latent fears of being a closeted gay himself who was repeatedly rejected by a gay Latin man.
I'm not defending radical Islamists or suggesting that domestic Islamic radicals don't exist, but these are sick people that commit these acts and we don't know the boundaries of their sick minds. It's entirely plausible that politicizing their acts as terrorism instead of cowardly murder gives them motivation due to the mass fear that the very suggestion of "terrorism" seems to inspire.
We are always going to have people in this country governed by rage, insanity, religions, repressed sexuality or thwarted desires. But we don't have to give them the tools and means to kill us. That is ALL our fault.
You are absolutely right. Islamic terror is also a genuinely American and European problem. The Tsarnaevs were thoroughly americanized. The terrorists responsible for the carnage in Paris and Brussels coordinated their attacks in French, the only language they were fluent in. And, of course, Matteen was American through and through.
Most of these men were radicalized because they faced Islamophobia and were made to feel like foreigners in the own countries. They were also almost exclusively young men with troubled biographies, who were either petty criminals or had failed to achieve the life the aspired to. They all hated their lives and took ISIS's bait to go down in a blaze of glory as martyrs in attacks that really are classic murder suicides.
Yet, there is also a theological problem that Islamic communities need to tackle more aggressively and that's the notion of martyrdom in battle. It is still too frequently evoked for "good guys" fighting a "Satan" like Assad, but Western Muslims must disavow the idea of martyrdom through murder altogether. If this idea persists and is considered legitimate in some contexts but not in others, deeply disturbed young Muslim men and women will see a mass murder as a shortcut to paradise to free themselves of their miserable existence.
This issue is analogous to the murders of abortion providers by evangelical radicals, who are encouraged by a murderous rhetoric, or the racist murders committed by white supremacists.
Most of these men were radicalized because they faced Islamophobia and were made to feel like foreigners in the own countries. They were also almost exclusively young men with troubled biographies, who were either petty criminals or had failed to achieve the life the aspired to. They all hated their lives and took ISIS's bait to go down in a blaze of glory as martyrs in attacks that really are classic murder suicides.
Yet, there is also a theological problem that Islamic communities need to tackle more aggressively and that's the notion of martyrdom in battle. It is still too frequently evoked for "good guys" fighting a "Satan" like Assad, but Western Muslims must disavow the idea of martyrdom through murder altogether. If this idea persists and is considered legitimate in some contexts but not in others, deeply disturbed young Muslim men and women will see a mass murder as a shortcut to paradise to free themselves of their miserable existence.
This issue is analogous to the murders of abortion providers by evangelical radicals, who are encouraged by a murderous rhetoric, or the racist murders committed by white supremacists.
8
Almost all Muslim leaders HAVE denounced such violence, over and over again, and the fact of "Islamophobia," is a cheap excuse, not a reason, for shooting 49 people to death.
3
It is more than the "glory of the battle." This guys wife was raised in a very typical small town in the Bay Area. Lots of normal people matriculate of all backgrounds from the local HS and into the real world. Yet this girl was seemingly raised as if in "old country." She-- and he-- were raised in a faith that is not truly American. By that I mean a faith that wants to cosset and isolate their young people, tethering them to 10th century ideals, instead of unleashing them into the larger society of our country. Had she been truly "americanized" during her youth"-- through scouting, student government, the soccer team, etc-- it is very doubtful that she would have had two bad marriages in such a short life, nor been been complicit in a mass murder committed by husband number two. This is not something we should take lightly.
The F.B,I, and the Obama administration failed to defend the public against this
killer. There is no strategy or model that has been developed after the
shootings at San Bernardino, Chattanooga, Fort Hood, or Boston. Passing laws
against gun ownership will not prevent future killings. Rare events happen in
the medical world, but strategies are described. Maybe, law enforcement should visit diseases like Tay-Sachs to develop new strategies and new thinking. Old strategies have failed.
killer. There is no strategy or model that has been developed after the
shootings at San Bernardino, Chattanooga, Fort Hood, or Boston. Passing laws
against gun ownership will not prevent future killings. Rare events happen in
the medical world, but strategies are described. Maybe, law enforcement should visit diseases like Tay-Sachs to develop new strategies and new thinking. Old strategies have failed.
8
Since Tay-Sachs kills you by the time you're about three years old, I can't for the life of me figure out what in the world you expected our President to do.
Nor do I understand what you think the FBI shoulda done, especially given the constant right-wing attacks and budget chops, not to mention Congress' sneering at the notion that gee, maybe we shouldn't let suspected terrorists buy assault rifles.
Nor do I understand what you think the FBI shoulda done, especially given the constant right-wing attacks and budget chops, not to mention Congress' sneering at the notion that gee, maybe we shouldn't let suspected terrorists buy assault rifles.
The real monsters are some of our elected officials whose support for the Second Amendment is stronger than their support for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Those are the people who let the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expire and fail to support its re-institution.
The ban was supported by such unlikely allies as presidents Carter, Ford and Reagan. They urged congress to support "a ban on the domestic manufacture of military-style assault weapons. This is a matter of vital importance to the public safety. Although assualt weapons account for less than 1% of the guns in circulation, they account for nearly 10% of the guns traced to crime."
The trio went on to say, "While we recognize that assault weapon legislation will not stop all assault weapon crime, statistics prove that we can dry up the supply of these guns, making them less accessible to criminals."
All of us who feel likewise have a responsibility to act by writing to our elected representatives or by signing petitions such as the one from organizations such as Moveon.org (http://petitions.moveon.org/).
Those are the people who let the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expire and fail to support its re-institution.
The ban was supported by such unlikely allies as presidents Carter, Ford and Reagan. They urged congress to support "a ban on the domestic manufacture of military-style assault weapons. This is a matter of vital importance to the public safety. Although assualt weapons account for less than 1% of the guns in circulation, they account for nearly 10% of the guns traced to crime."
The trio went on to say, "While we recognize that assault weapon legislation will not stop all assault weapon crime, statistics prove that we can dry up the supply of these guns, making them less accessible to criminals."
All of us who feel likewise have a responsibility to act by writing to our elected representatives or by signing petitions such as the one from organizations such as Moveon.org (http://petitions.moveon.org/).
24
There is a direct, measurable increase in mass shootings in America which can be traced to GOP'ers letting the assault weapons ban that Clinton signed into law in 1994 expire in 2004, when GOP'ers controlled all the political levers in D.C.:
https://www.google.com/search?q=mass+shootings+in+america+statistics&...
Restoring the assault weapons ban is Step One in sensible gun regulation.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mass+shootings+in+america+statistics&...
Restoring the assault weapons ban is Step One in sensible gun regulation.
148
2
R. Law: I fully agree, but would suggest that there are other things necessary as parallel projects: e.g., the education of Americans and the spread of a culture of humanism.
1
The Democrats are as much responsible for this as are the GOP'ers.
1
Homophobia is an acquired taste, most commonly learned at religious institutions.
While it's true that Muslims in the Middle East treat homosexuals much worse than Americans (with legalized death penalties), American Christians are no slouches when it comes to wanting to punish and kill homosexuals.
America ?
Pastor Roger Jimenez of Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento celebrated the Orlando massacre by preaching religious hate to his flock this past Sunday:
“I wish the government would round them all up, put them up against a firing wall, put a firing squad in front of them, and blow their brains out.”
https://goo.gl/468SQ6
Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe celebrated the Orlando shooting rampage by reminding Christians that the Bible says that homosexuals should be put to death in Leviticus 20:13.
"Obviously, it’s not right for somebody to just, you know, shoot up the place, because that’s not going through the proper channels. But these people all should have been killed anyway, but they should have been killed through the proper channels....they should have been executed by a righteous government that would have tried them, convicted them and saw them executed.” said Pastor Anderson.
Obviously these two lunatic pastors are extremists, but they are two of many pastors preaching 'Christian' homophobic hate and murder 'in the name of the Lord'.
American 'Christian' homophobia is an ongoing hate crime against humanity.
While it's true that Muslims in the Middle East treat homosexuals much worse than Americans (with legalized death penalties), American Christians are no slouches when it comes to wanting to punish and kill homosexuals.
America ?
Pastor Roger Jimenez of Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento celebrated the Orlando massacre by preaching religious hate to his flock this past Sunday:
“I wish the government would round them all up, put them up against a firing wall, put a firing squad in front of them, and blow their brains out.”
https://goo.gl/468SQ6
Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe celebrated the Orlando shooting rampage by reminding Christians that the Bible says that homosexuals should be put to death in Leviticus 20:13.
"Obviously, it’s not right for somebody to just, you know, shoot up the place, because that’s not going through the proper channels. But these people all should have been killed anyway, but they should have been killed through the proper channels....they should have been executed by a righteous government that would have tried them, convicted them and saw them executed.” said Pastor Anderson.
Obviously these two lunatic pastors are extremists, but they are two of many pastors preaching 'Christian' homophobic hate and murder 'in the name of the Lord'.
American 'Christian' homophobia is an ongoing hate crime against humanity.
550
Christian homophobia? The guy was a MUSLIM! It is MUSLIM HOMOPHOBIA that motivated this man.
There's not one mainstream Christian denomination that advocates or condones killing homosexuals. Conversely, in both main sects of Islam - Sunni and Shia - and in ALL five mainstream schools of Muslim jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali, and Zahiri), homophobia is institutionalized and criminalized!
The only thing that can account for you deflecting from Muslim institutional homophobia to Christianity, is that you're a bigot shilling for the bigotted left.
There's not one mainstream Christian denomination that advocates or condones killing homosexuals. Conversely, in both main sects of Islam - Sunni and Shia - and in ALL five mainstream schools of Muslim jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali, and Zahiri), homophobia is institutionalized and criminalized!
The only thing that can account for you deflecting from Muslim institutional homophobia to Christianity, is that you're a bigot shilling for the bigotted left.
4
Christians are instructed to hate the sin and love the sinner. By none other than Jesus Christ. Anyone preaching differently either doesn't understand scripture or is deliberately taking certain Biblical verses out of context.
2
You admit those two are "lunatic extremists" but you imply that "Christian homophobia" is widespread. Could it be that you are preaching hatred for Christianity?
7
If only, we as a country would examine the messages of our politicians, media outlets and bloggers. We foment this hate. The GOP wants to blame Obama because he refuses to use 2 words. How absurd. So where did the chain of hate begin? Is it Iraq? If so blame Bush and Cheney. Was it 9-11? Blame the madrassas and Wahabism or was it the U.S. Decision to have westerners on Saudi soil partly to protect American oil interests and a stifling royal family. Was it the Iranian overthrow of the Shah? If so our overthrow of an elected leader of Iran to protect American oil interests may be the start. I know Moslems in this country. They think that Americans are hypocrites because of our claim to promote freedom when we really promote business over respect for other countries' sovereignty. We confuse and frustrate them. We think we are blameless and we are not. While we are not entirely to blame. we are part of the cause. Our policies act like like throwing gas on the fire of a madman's delusions.
76
A dissent: it is too easy to call someone a "monster" and label an event "terrorism". The first ignores causes and all the many definitions of terrorism I've read include a political aim in some form, which is not apparent here.
19
Small points are critical as we heal, understand and rebuilt. First, the healing and rebuilding is done inside out. The pain and tears, and fears, have been unleashed within us. Looking inward has to become a part of the outward process, rather than morose discussions of unanswerable questions about unpredictable circumstances. The contrast between the local Orlando reports and the national feeds emphasized the devastation and humanity of the community vs. the policy issues of security and second guessing its failures.
Our fear is not for the random act, it is for the calculated act. We don't fear getting into our cars or the extra piece of pie, random acts that feed statistics overtime. It is the calculated act, the deliberate,methodical decision by individuals who see death as some sort of stagecraft, complete with calls within the incident (a surreal looping), ritual preparations, and cryptic clues left for investigators, that is our deadly fear. These incidents, small and large, are emerging from every corner, and the false separations we put up artificially divide this emerging, full-blown death collective. We concentrate only on its parts and not its shared whole and core. We must identify commonalities missed in divided details.
Calculation is such one factor. Whether 64 shot in Chicago, 103 shot/killed in Orlando (9 in Charleston), 147 killed at a Kenyan university, these deaths are calculated, pre-planned, and carried out as a defiant moment of self-definition.
Our fear is not for the random act, it is for the calculated act. We don't fear getting into our cars or the extra piece of pie, random acts that feed statistics overtime. It is the calculated act, the deliberate,methodical decision by individuals who see death as some sort of stagecraft, complete with calls within the incident (a surreal looping), ritual preparations, and cryptic clues left for investigators, that is our deadly fear. These incidents, small and large, are emerging from every corner, and the false separations we put up artificially divide this emerging, full-blown death collective. We concentrate only on its parts and not its shared whole and core. We must identify commonalities missed in divided details.
Calculation is such one factor. Whether 64 shot in Chicago, 103 shot/killed in Orlando (9 in Charleston), 147 killed at a Kenyan university, these deaths are calculated, pre-planned, and carried out as a defiant moment of self-definition.
12
As horrific as were his actions, it seems imprudent to me to label someone an "American Monster" while simultaneously conceding that his motives and mental status are unclear. Better to collect and thoroughly analyze the evidence before pronouncing a verdict. Otherwise, how can we achieve the critical objective of trying to prevent this from recurring?
94
Didier, you put me in mind of General Turgidson (played by George C. Scott) in Dr. Strangelove: "And while I hate to judge until all the facts are in, Mr. President, it does in fact appear that General Ripper has exceeded his authority."
Please, Mateen killed 49 innocent, sentient beings because he was sexually conflicted!
What would you call him? Troubled?
What would you call him? Troubled?
3
By his own mouth he was Afghan, not American, no matter how much you on the regressive left may want to call him otherwise.
95
By my own mouth I'm Scottish, though my family has been in the United States since 1850 or so. He was born in America and therefore American, no matter what came out of his mouth.
I would also point out that by tagging many of us as being on "the regressive left" you are being part of the problem, not the solution. Looking at others through a lens with only setting is exactly what this killer did. Time for everyone to grow up and learn, at the very least, to tolerate the differences in others.
I would also point out that by tagging many of us as being on "the regressive left" you are being part of the problem, not the solution. Looking at others through a lens with only setting is exactly what this killer did. Time for everyone to grow up and learn, at the very least, to tolerate the differences in others.
21
So, John, how many Americans live in America?
11
He was born in the US, so that would make him a US citizen, no matter how much the idiotic right may want to call him otherwise.
3
Anytime masculinity and dominance is perceived to be threatened, violence results.
Religious conservatives have channeled this base instinct into political violence like HB2 and the now-defunct Amendment 1.
But Omar Mateen was not even that sophisticated. He was hyperaggressive when in the gym, blocking others' way, wearin' out those mirrors, constantly telling one and all his vile opinions about gay men, women and African Americans.
My opinion is that he was at war with himself, secretly gay, hanging out on grindr (no straight man hangs out on grindr) and finally had to kill the thing he perceived as a threat to his masculine dominance.
I doubt he really knew anything much about 'radical Islamic terrorism.' He kept saying he was part of one Islamic group after another, some of whom are at war with each other.
I think he was severely damaged by religion and culture, so much so that he could not accept that he was gay. He couldn't even see two men being affectionate with each other in public without flying into a rage. No man who is secure in his own masculinity would do this. He ended up killing 49 others, mostly gay men and committing suicide-by-cop in what he probably thought was a blaze of glory so that he could cleanse from himself the gay and go to Muslim heaven and meet the 70 virgins. Sure, honey.
There's nothing weaker and more cowardly than a guy who refuses to acknowledge that he is gay.
I'm waiting on a guy to announce that he had sex with Omar Mateen.
Religious conservatives have channeled this base instinct into political violence like HB2 and the now-defunct Amendment 1.
But Omar Mateen was not even that sophisticated. He was hyperaggressive when in the gym, blocking others' way, wearin' out those mirrors, constantly telling one and all his vile opinions about gay men, women and African Americans.
My opinion is that he was at war with himself, secretly gay, hanging out on grindr (no straight man hangs out on grindr) and finally had to kill the thing he perceived as a threat to his masculine dominance.
I doubt he really knew anything much about 'radical Islamic terrorism.' He kept saying he was part of one Islamic group after another, some of whom are at war with each other.
I think he was severely damaged by religion and culture, so much so that he could not accept that he was gay. He couldn't even see two men being affectionate with each other in public without flying into a rage. No man who is secure in his own masculinity would do this. He ended up killing 49 others, mostly gay men and committing suicide-by-cop in what he probably thought was a blaze of glory so that he could cleanse from himself the gay and go to Muslim heaven and meet the 70 virgins. Sure, honey.
There's nothing weaker and more cowardly than a guy who refuses to acknowledge that he is gay.
I'm waiting on a guy to announce that he had sex with Omar Mateen.
261
Did you see him in the gym? How do you know these things? But I like your last line.
Very thoughtfully written. I still can't believe that all this denial led to being so abusive and in the end murderous. Is this common ? Need more data but thanks to the author for the most informative writing on this so far.
It wonderful to know that you clearly base you opinions on proven fact and not on the conjectures that would make you feel better and fit in with your preconceived notions about the killer. well done
1
"Around 33,000 people die each year in gun-related deaths in this country....."
I have only this to say. The statistic Mr. Blow notes is a battle-field level stat. Any rational military commander would be re-examining his/her tactics in the face of such carnage happening to the rank and file. Yet our civilian leadership class, and I use the term "leadership" very loosely in this case, remain feckless in the face of the tsunami of blood coming out of their constituencies. Military commanders have been removed for less. So, too, should all those intransigent civilian leaders who see this yet refuse to budge on the logic of it. It is that simple.
John~
American Net'Zen
I have only this to say. The statistic Mr. Blow notes is a battle-field level stat. Any rational military commander would be re-examining his/her tactics in the face of such carnage happening to the rank and file. Yet our civilian leadership class, and I use the term "leadership" very loosely in this case, remain feckless in the face of the tsunami of blood coming out of their constituencies. Military commanders have been removed for less. So, too, should all those intransigent civilian leaders who see this yet refuse to budge on the logic of it. It is that simple.
John~
American Net'Zen
123
Mr. Blow knows that 20K of those 33K gun shot deaths are suicides. He mentions suicides as an aside, as though they're an insignificant number. This allows him to inflate the numbers for gun shot deaths on the one hand, and also deflect attention from the fact suicides constitute the VAST majority of gun shot deaths, on the other. It's an important and disingenuous ploy.
The other important detail he leaves out is the number of times per year that a law-abiding citizens thwarts a crime with a gun, or prevents a crime from happening by brandishing a firearm. Best estimate on the low end is ~200K crimes stopped or prevented by the use of a firearm, and on the high more than a million!
Mr. Blow's credibility on the issue, if he had any, is now officially zilch. This is nothing more than red meat for the partisans. And if the partisans think they are safer waiting for police response while a criminal who does not obey gun laws shoots them up, they are welcome to disarm themselves.
Interestingly, if we take these terrorists at their word that they are at war with us, then it borders on insanity to disarm their targets.
The other important detail he leaves out is the number of times per year that a law-abiding citizens thwarts a crime with a gun, or prevents a crime from happening by brandishing a firearm. Best estimate on the low end is ~200K crimes stopped or prevented by the use of a firearm, and on the high more than a million!
Mr. Blow's credibility on the issue, if he had any, is now officially zilch. This is nothing more than red meat for the partisans. And if the partisans think they are safer waiting for police response while a criminal who does not obey gun laws shoots them up, they are welcome to disarm themselves.
Interestingly, if we take these terrorists at their word that they are at war with us, then it borders on insanity to disarm their targets.
7
As horrific as this act was, the words "monster" and "coward" add nothing to intelligent discourse.
20
Your deflection to "proper" language to describe killers adds nothing to the problem at hand.
20
Charles and the "educated" left have nothing to contribute except name calling.
1
OH - and are we supposed to refer to Mateen as a "poor, misguided victim of issues beyond his control?"or some similar psychobabble? Nonsense. He was a monster and a coward. Those terms are entirely appropriate. What made him into a monster can be explored at length but the fact remains he was indeed a monster. Let no sympathy be directed toward him. He was a loathsome person and merits none. Forgive him if you will (and you are a better person than me if you can do so) but do NOT excuse him or present him as a victim.
The politicians that line their pockets with money from the NRA are equally responsible for the murder of innocent Americans. Instead of focusing on this monster, the media should publish the names of those who have taken money from the gun lobby, it should publish the amount of money and the many votes they have cast against gun laws.
214
I agree, but good luck with that idea.
List starts with every teapublican. Investigation would add some Democrats. I wounder if NRA money has gotten to the justice level.
2
You can find that info on line.
Primarily Republicans on the list.
Primarily Republicans on the list.
His voice yells out I do this evil deed for my crazy view of my ISIS crime-religion. But his deed of killing 49 and wounding another 50 is work of hate, maybe self-hate, against rainbow love. Mateen appears to be disturbed, intolerant and confused about his religious idenity. He praises Islamic cults that hate one another. His brain was sick and dangerous and America's gun world is an illness of obessionland dangerous.
20
Which is more likely? He would not have killed anyone,anywhere because of his innate monsterness, if he didn't have the easy access to guns in Florida OR He would not have killed anyone anywhere if there were no ISIS.
7
France has strong gun control and yet suffered the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the Paris massacres last September, all carried out with assault weapons. I support gun control, but we mustn't be naive in thinking that sensible gun control laws would be a fix-all against terrorism.
1
FL isn't called the "gunshine" state for nothing!
My buddy says that the number of 80+ seniors, who can't see, wondering around with Glocks is astounding and scary!
My buddy says that the number of 80+ seniors, who can't see, wondering around with Glocks is astounding and scary!
1
Gun control laws did not stop murders in Europe.
"Our monsters" have committed terrible slaughters in America. We mourn, examine, curse, maybe even rationalize in rare cases, and as a nation, we strenuously object, but to what end. Is there another killer in the bent fringes of our society planning the next attack? Very sadly, the answer is yes and our options are few. That is the tragedy we continue to confront.
6
The media have tried mightily to connect this massacre to 9/11 by calling it the worst massacre since 9/11. That way we can pretend that the Oklahoma City bombing and Timothy McVeigh never happened. That particular media packaging guarantees that we can blame Islam for influencing Mateen. That's akin to saying that McVeigh's Catholicism influenced him. There were no calls to deport or bar the immigration of Catholics at the time. And there was certainly no profiling of young white men. Maybe there should have been, considering that Columbine, Aurora, Charleston, and Newton followed. Let us force Congress to do its job to ban the sale of weapons of war to civilians and the easy access to them. Register to vote and then vote. Badger your congressmen. And banish Trump to the trash heap of history.
424
He said he was doing it for ISIS a couple of times in the post 2am phone calls. Sounds pretty specific to me.
4
And would the banning of assault weapons have stopped Timothy McVeigh? I am all for strict gun laws in this country. We need universal background checks. But mass killings will still occur. The recent mass killings in Europe (very strict laws) provide the evidence. Deaths from gun violence in the US have dropped about 50% since the mid-90s and gun ownership has skyrocketed. So you tell me: what's the correlation? Don't be naive.
2
Did McVeigh say he acted in the name of Catholicism? Conversely, Mateen took time out of his busy slaughter schedule to call 911 and tell them he was "doing it for ISIS... doing it for the Islamic State!"
I don't remember McVeigh telling anyone he did it for Christianity, Catholicism, or even the Pope!
I don't remember McVeigh telling anyone he did it for Christianity, Catholicism, or even the Pope!
2
Mateen was a human being, not a monster. Until we accept that what he did is human--that it is human to become mentally ill and act out in tragically violent ways--then no progress will be made towards understanding how to address this aspect of our nature in sensible, constructive and effective ways. We will go on living blinkered to the possibility that someone we know, someone we work with, someone we live with, might be the next Omar Mateen. Because the next Omar Mateen will be a human being other human beings know, work with, live with. Not a monster.
125
Anyone who slaughters innocent people for whatever reasons is a monster and beyond redemption.
8
Maybe so, however he he committed a monstrous act, monsters commit monstrous acts.
3
Well said!
The only words that sufficiently describe him for me are craven coward.
15
A. Stanton: a man who goes knowingly and willingly to his death is a "coward?" Bill Maher lost a show for pointing out this nonsense, Thing is, if you mislabel your enemy, it get harder to defeat him.
3
Yup, he knew the place had a no guns rule, so he knew he was never going to be challenged on his asinine roster of resentments. Wife beaters are supreme cowards, that's why they only attack spouses and children, and as we've seen for decades, the law has failed to protect them, too.
2
Maybe your piece,Charles, is all over the place because this problem is an all of the above problem. As we have seen from our president, our candidates, our " news" and columnists like you, Mateen presents a smorgasbord from which each can pick his/her favorite dish to share with the public. I don't see much leadership from anyone. Too much risk to power and purse to say out loud that we have a gun problem as well as a terror problem ( and yes, some is fueled by some elements of Islam) as well as mental health problems as well as how to deal with ISIS ,et al, problems, as well as competence problems(FBI),as well as homophobia and other bigotry problems, and on and on.
Yes, Mateen was born in the USA. And this is an American problem. But, it is not solely an American problem. And,there is no single cause nor single solution.
Yes, Mateen was born in the USA. And this is an American problem. But, it is not solely an American problem. And,there is no single cause nor single solution.
21
I guess it’s time for me to become politically incorrect again, but this time, which is quite rare for me, in response to an offering by Charles Blow.
Omar Mateen was an “American” in name only. He was the first generation of his family born in America, and clearly wasn’t very effectively assimilated or even acculturated. He was a deeply disturbed man, with lots of issues about belonging. Just as clearly, he identified more with religious excessives half a world away than he did the people who surrounded him, just trying to live American lives. And why? Because those far-off and murderous excessives offered a preferable ethnic and religious identity to him than just being an American of Middle Eastern descent who worships as he pleases so long as he doesn’t spray gay bars with semi-automatic gunfire. And probably because they offered a rationale for expressing a murderous violence that he desperately needed to express anyway.
If I committed this craziness, or Charles did, we’d definitely be American “monsters”, because we’re acculturated Americans. Look to how this man was raised and with what religious and ethnic ideas he was molded.
As a general matter, seeing something like this in a nation of over 300 million highly diverse people with different backgrounds isn’t surprising to me – you don’t see it in a FAR more homogeneous Iceland, or even France. Omar Mateen was an “American-made monster” only in that we tolerate diversity and the frictions it makes inevitable.
Omar Mateen was an “American” in name only. He was the first generation of his family born in America, and clearly wasn’t very effectively assimilated or even acculturated. He was a deeply disturbed man, with lots of issues about belonging. Just as clearly, he identified more with religious excessives half a world away than he did the people who surrounded him, just trying to live American lives. And why? Because those far-off and murderous excessives offered a preferable ethnic and religious identity to him than just being an American of Middle Eastern descent who worships as he pleases so long as he doesn’t spray gay bars with semi-automatic gunfire. And probably because they offered a rationale for expressing a murderous violence that he desperately needed to express anyway.
If I committed this craziness, or Charles did, we’d definitely be American “monsters”, because we’re acculturated Americans. Look to how this man was raised and with what religious and ethnic ideas he was molded.
As a general matter, seeing something like this in a nation of over 300 million highly diverse people with different backgrounds isn’t surprising to me – you don’t see it in a FAR more homogeneous Iceland, or even France. Omar Mateen was an “American-made monster” only in that we tolerate diversity and the frictions it makes inevitable.
150
"...you don’t see it in a FAR more homogeneous Iceland, or even France.
Could the sale of automatic weapons being banned in Iceland and in France have something to do with it?
Could the sale of automatic weapons being banned in Iceland and in France have something to do with it?
113
No automatic weapons were used in Orlando. They were in France, you know the country with the tough gun laws.
28
What tangible evidence do you offer that the killer was not assimilated?
24
The motivation of the shooter is surely important, but that may never be known. The motivations we have to examine are those of the enablers who manufacture and distribute these hideous weapons and insist on selling them to the greatest possible number of people.
Is the NRA really just about money? I think it’s more than that. Why would someone want to make massacres like this possible? The lies of the industry, from self defense, to ‘freedom’ are so transparent that a child could see through them. Walk into a gun shop and see the fear and arrogance in the eyes of some of these ‘freedom fighters’. You’ll see some terrifying truths. I once had a gun collector mention that the figures on the targets he used were black, “But,” he added with a wink: “that’s just a coincidence”. Black, or brown or pink…it’s not just coincidence.
If a rational debate is truly beginning, at long last, then let’s understand that these people, from manufacturers to street level vendors, are acting in as psychopathic a way as the shooters themselves, and should be held as responsible.
Is the NRA really just about money? I think it’s more than that. Why would someone want to make massacres like this possible? The lies of the industry, from self defense, to ‘freedom’ are so transparent that a child could see through them. Walk into a gun shop and see the fear and arrogance in the eyes of some of these ‘freedom fighters’. You’ll see some terrifying truths. I once had a gun collector mention that the figures on the targets he used were black, “But,” he added with a wink: “that’s just a coincidence”. Black, or brown or pink…it’s not just coincidence.
If a rational debate is truly beginning, at long last, then let’s understand that these people, from manufacturers to street level vendors, are acting in as psychopathic a way as the shooters themselves, and should be held as responsible.
50
Time to dismiss the NRA argument. Over 100 million people own guns, the NRA represents 5 million. We the people want to protect ourselves, and I am a democrat.
25
Yes, we the people want to protect ourselves from the NRA and others who prefer murder over peace when it lines their pockets.
6
I am an elderly single woman who lives in a changing neighborhood (meaning becoming more gang ridden). I have never and will never own a gun. I think it is actually more dangerous for me to own a gun than not own a gun. Both my mother and my sister were injured in
separate robberies and both of them have never owned guns.
separate robberies and both of them have never owned guns.
6
As long as this country sees guns as the solution for violence and not the cause, the death march will continue. And as we head to the cemetery, the gun industry heads to the bank.
629
"this country sees guns as the solution for violence and not the cause".
This is part of America's insanity about guns but far far larger components are the double delusions that guns increase masculinity and provide power.
We all know that owning a bigger gun is equal to - well - having a bigger gun. Both allow Americans to perform better
Bigger and faster guns make their owners more important, just like cars.
After all our movies and TV shows tell us this so it must be true.
This is part of America's insanity about guns but far far larger components are the double delusions that guns increase masculinity and provide power.
We all know that owning a bigger gun is equal to - well - having a bigger gun. Both allow Americans to perform better
Bigger and faster guns make their owners more important, just like cars.
After all our movies and TV shows tell us this so it must be true.
4
"...and America must decide how best to make fewer in his likeness".
Mr. Trump has a plan and if his plan was in effect, Mr. Mateen's Afghan parents wouldn't have been allowed in the country. Unfortunately, his plan also would've barred any number of doctors, college students, businessmen, etc. who happen to be Muslim from entering the country.
Mr. Trump's "solution" would've just allowed pure blooded, home grown, American nutcases, like Adam Lanza in my home state, killer of 6 year olds, to have weapons and use them on innocent people.
Because, according to the NRA and the gun manufacturers they shill for, that's what the founding fathers wanted in the 2nd Amendment.
Time to vote the people who support such sick logic out of office.
Mr. Trump has a plan and if his plan was in effect, Mr. Mateen's Afghan parents wouldn't have been allowed in the country. Unfortunately, his plan also would've barred any number of doctors, college students, businessmen, etc. who happen to be Muslim from entering the country.
Mr. Trump's "solution" would've just allowed pure blooded, home grown, American nutcases, like Adam Lanza in my home state, killer of 6 year olds, to have weapons and use them on innocent people.
Because, according to the NRA and the gun manufacturers they shill for, that's what the founding fathers wanted in the 2nd Amendment.
Time to vote the people who support such sick logic out of office.
136
Omar Mateen, Orlando killer, "American monster", "American phenomenon"?
The only American phenomenon I see is that the more prominent and controversial, especially violent, an American becomes, the less the person, for all individuality in America, appears allowed to demonstrate an identity of his or her own--especially an identity formed in words (literature, psychological acuity, spoken defense of self in words)--and instead is given an identity by others, particularly by politics or law enforcement or mental health establishment, which is to say there is a mad rush by the public to apportion blame for the person's thoughts and actions and every sector defends its stance as the method by which a healthy, normal, psychologically sound American is formed.
A good social science, psychology test, on the public would be one where various groups (political, religious, etc.) are fed files or dossiers on this and that person (life history, interests, hobbies, this or that proclivity and political position, etc.) and the results are compared to see just how distorted and misunderstood a person becomes in the eye of this or that group and how little really a person in America, for all individuality, rights and free speech has agency of own. I certainly do know the more a person commits a violent act in America the less the person's explanation counts for anything (you have no say--even lawyers speak for you in court) and even in our regular lives words are increasingly regulated.
The only American phenomenon I see is that the more prominent and controversial, especially violent, an American becomes, the less the person, for all individuality in America, appears allowed to demonstrate an identity of his or her own--especially an identity formed in words (literature, psychological acuity, spoken defense of self in words)--and instead is given an identity by others, particularly by politics or law enforcement or mental health establishment, which is to say there is a mad rush by the public to apportion blame for the person's thoughts and actions and every sector defends its stance as the method by which a healthy, normal, psychologically sound American is formed.
A good social science, psychology test, on the public would be one where various groups (political, religious, etc.) are fed files or dossiers on this and that person (life history, interests, hobbies, this or that proclivity and political position, etc.) and the results are compared to see just how distorted and misunderstood a person becomes in the eye of this or that group and how little really a person in America, for all individuality, rights and free speech has agency of own. I certainly do know the more a person commits a violent act in America the less the person's explanation counts for anything (you have no say--even lawyers speak for you in court) and even in our regular lives words are increasingly regulated.
1
Radicalized Muslim, check. Self-loathing, closeted gay, check. Homophobe, check. I wonder why no one mentions that he must've been profoundly mentally ill. Only an insane person can do what we did. Or does that let him off the hook in some way? Which certainly isn't my intention for commenting.
Motives are almost irrelevant at this point. We must ban assault weapons. Period.
Motives are almost irrelevant at this point. We must ban assault weapons. Period.
154
I'd bet ANYTHING he was on some kind of happy pills.
Violence, hatred, meanness, murder are not the result of "mental illness". Mental illness does not make someone a killer. "Insane" is a legal term, not a diagnosis. And, this killer has not yet been declared "insane" and therefore not culpable for his actions. It would be a terrible injustice and tragedy were he to be excused from his mass murder because he is deemed "mentally ill". He was a hate-filled killer with an assault weapon.
8
Assault weapons are already banned. The AR15 is NOT an assault weapon. People who know nothing about guns assign the name assault weapon to them because they look like something we see in pictures of soldiers carrying
weapons.
weapons.
4
Respectfully, Mr. Charles, your tone here is off-putting.
You see it as your duty to intimately examine the motives of the young killer; most of us would not bother now to give him the time of day. You are feeding the terrorist's goal. He was a nobody, just capable morally of pulling the trigger. Why feed his needs, whatever they were?
The FBI failed. That's your story. Go investigate?
We don't need increased surveillance against Americans, don't need a police state, and unless someone has told you your community wants to be victims: I doubt the Puerto Ricans (Americans) I know, are stepping up to play that role. They are a tough people, take care you do not pigeonhole the men who died, and the few women too, as sharing anything more with this killer than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Gay bars are dying out. People congregate together now, to celebrate and dance and drink. The dead were not outsiders, but much loved Americans, who worked, played, loved and lived in the growing Latino community surrounding Orlando. The schools are bulging at the seams, or were when my friend and her children moved there 10 years ago. Valencia is a good community college, and UCF too. Those strivers outnumber your "monster" 100.000+ to 1.
Terrorism makes people like yourself overreact. You want to self-flagellate, and blame yourself (and the rest of us). I won't let you do that to me...
Seek facts.
Should the police learn to go in sooner?
Why did the FBI fail?
You see it as your duty to intimately examine the motives of the young killer; most of us would not bother now to give him the time of day. You are feeding the terrorist's goal. He was a nobody, just capable morally of pulling the trigger. Why feed his needs, whatever they were?
The FBI failed. That's your story. Go investigate?
We don't need increased surveillance against Americans, don't need a police state, and unless someone has told you your community wants to be victims: I doubt the Puerto Ricans (Americans) I know, are stepping up to play that role. They are a tough people, take care you do not pigeonhole the men who died, and the few women too, as sharing anything more with this killer than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Gay bars are dying out. People congregate together now, to celebrate and dance and drink. The dead were not outsiders, but much loved Americans, who worked, played, loved and lived in the growing Latino community surrounding Orlando. The schools are bulging at the seams, or were when my friend and her children moved there 10 years ago. Valencia is a good community college, and UCF too. Those strivers outnumber your "monster" 100.000+ to 1.
Terrorism makes people like yourself overreact. You want to self-flagellate, and blame yourself (and the rest of us). I won't let you do that to me...
Seek facts.
Should the police learn to go in sooner?
Why did the FBI fail?
39
Reports from Orlando police procedures stated the cops there are trained to "go in" immediately and NOT wait.
1
He's no more monstrous than any psychopath with easy access to guns. All believe in imaginary "enemies" and all act out their rage..
The numbers and the "motives" may change, but sickness remains sickness.
The least we can do is prevent them from obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
The numbers and the "motives" may change, but sickness remains sickness.
The least we can do is prevent them from obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
44
If we get such people onto the federal gun buyer check site those guys will not BE armed. But doing so takes actual leadership, and golf is easier.
13
Your reference to golf is a sneer at Obama, who has been very vocal about the need for gun control, so I don't understand your rant.
31
@David: The person has nothing of any quality to add to the discussion. Better to ignore than to even attempt to engage with someone like this.
14
A rather disjointed column today from Blow that is all over the place on homophobia, homegrown Islamist terrorists and gun control.
Just as all white Americans are not Aryan Nation white supremacist, so all Muslim Americans are not ISIS/ISIL jihadist.
Yet, looking at Omar Mateen's background and history, it bears also looking at the same for the 2009 Ft. Hood mass killer, Major Nidal Hasan. These are two American born Muslims who some where along the line went haywire and fell under the sway of Islamic extremism. The signs of their extremism were evident, but they were either overlooked or downplayed.
Part of the problem is our PC culture and squeamishness to actually accept when stereotyping may be right. The following statement by Blow on Mateen's first wife's feelings typifies such an attitude: "... although even her suspicions relied on homophobic stereotypes." There is no reason for Blow to dance around the issue – Mateen was a closeted gay man with a LOT of anger issues so his ex-wife was totally right in her suspicions, homophobic as they may have been.
It was the same with Hasan's rampage at Ft. Hood, where many signs of his extremism were there, yet it was not PC for his Army colleagues to confront and call them out.
If we're not going to do anything about gun control – which we will not – then we're going to have to be more invasive about profiling, monitoring and curtailing the activities of possible extremist of all hues and nature in our midst.
Just as all white Americans are not Aryan Nation white supremacist, so all Muslim Americans are not ISIS/ISIL jihadist.
Yet, looking at Omar Mateen's background and history, it bears also looking at the same for the 2009 Ft. Hood mass killer, Major Nidal Hasan. These are two American born Muslims who some where along the line went haywire and fell under the sway of Islamic extremism. The signs of their extremism were evident, but they were either overlooked or downplayed.
Part of the problem is our PC culture and squeamishness to actually accept when stereotyping may be right. The following statement by Blow on Mateen's first wife's feelings typifies such an attitude: "... although even her suspicions relied on homophobic stereotypes." There is no reason for Blow to dance around the issue – Mateen was a closeted gay man with a LOT of anger issues so his ex-wife was totally right in her suspicions, homophobic as they may have been.
It was the same with Hasan's rampage at Ft. Hood, where many signs of his extremism were there, yet it was not PC for his Army colleagues to confront and call them out.
If we're not going to do anything about gun control – which we will not – then we're going to have to be more invasive about profiling, monitoring and curtailing the activities of possible extremist of all hues and nature in our midst.
35
Of course, individuals who have a Muslim background, and become socially dysfunctional, with control issues, ego issues, anger management issues, and paranoia, are likely to find a home in radical Islam to rationalize their behavior and to provide an excuse to act out violently. But individuals with a Christian background are likely to chose an evangelistic Christian rationale to justify their mass killings. Isolated whites with a racist background will find the KKK. So we can all be profiled, monitored, and prevented from flying.
Without assault rifles, even if we slip through the profiling, our rampages will only kill 10% as many. And the danger to our first responders who even conservatives praise would fall by an even larger fraction since the tactical situations would be much less complicated. Seems what reasonable people would chose.
Without assault rifles, even if we slip through the profiling, our rampages will only kill 10% as many. And the danger to our first responders who even conservatives praise would fall by an even larger fraction since the tactical situations would be much less complicated. Seems what reasonable people would chose.
66
Did you read the piece? This is just more evidence that no matter what is said or written people hear or read what they want to hear or read.
3
Charles, the more that I read about Mateen's behavior, the more complicated this story becomes - and the more plausible I find the angle that the shooter was a self-loathing, closeted gay or bisexual person trapped in a 7th century ethical worldview.
The gun angle is, of course, also relevant - although this story would not be less appalling had Mateen instead blown himself up with a suicide belt. Given our lax gun regulations, the assault weapon was likely merely more accessible than the suicide belt; but it is the homicidal shame that we need be most concerned about.
The perniciousness of fundamentalist forms of religion is that it seeks to tether modern men to the ethical concerns of antiquity - without attempting to vigorously deconstruct the biological and cultural conditions that might have led to an ethical prohibition's original establishment.
In a punishing physical environment in which famine, plague, or death at the hands of marauders are constants, there might have been understandable reasons why ancient ethical traditions appear to have uniformly discouraged relationships that did not lead to childbirth. But these conditions no longer exist. If fact, I would argue that it is overpopulation in an era of climate change that presents the greatest threat.
Fundamentalist forms of religion all take the words of their scriptures with regard to sex as eternal and infallible - when they may have been little more than attempts to forestall extinction.
The gun angle is, of course, also relevant - although this story would not be less appalling had Mateen instead blown himself up with a suicide belt. Given our lax gun regulations, the assault weapon was likely merely more accessible than the suicide belt; but it is the homicidal shame that we need be most concerned about.
The perniciousness of fundamentalist forms of religion is that it seeks to tether modern men to the ethical concerns of antiquity - without attempting to vigorously deconstruct the biological and cultural conditions that might have led to an ethical prohibition's original establishment.
In a punishing physical environment in which famine, plague, or death at the hands of marauders are constants, there might have been understandable reasons why ancient ethical traditions appear to have uniformly discouraged relationships that did not lead to childbirth. But these conditions no longer exist. If fact, I would argue that it is overpopulation in an era of climate change that presents the greatest threat.
Fundamentalist forms of religion all take the words of their scriptures with regard to sex as eternal and infallible - when they may have been little more than attempts to forestall extinction.
400
I have been thinking the same recently. The old call to procreation only made sense when humans were a vulnerable species trying to establish themselves. We have been a little too successful. Population control has been needed for over 50 years now. I believe that many of these struggles we are facing in the name of ideology are really about access to resources and survival.Religions preaching procreation are still trying to us this old way of survival, ways detrimental to the planet. However, they are doing this because some societies are hoarding resources for themselves. This is the reality.
2
So, basically what you are saying is that ethics are situational? And we must adjust our ethics to the times we are living in based upon what the problems the ethics were designed to prevent. Ethics then become like laws designed to address specific problems. For example, I believe that it is unethical to pass a clearly hungry person asking for money to buy food, if you believe that the person will actually buy food with the money given to them and you can comfortably afford to give them money.But since my ethic may have derived from an era before governments had social programs designed to feed hungry people like food stamps, my ethic would be considered unnecessary and out dated.
4
The real key is the federal site checked by all dealers and nearly all gun shows before people can purchase guns. All the mentally incompetent, the immigrants with a known criminal past, the sympathizers with enemies with whom we are at a declared war ALL need to be there despite privacy concerns.
Had we declared war against the terrorists - an Obama idea - it would have allowed this Mateen to be locked up and denied permission to buy guns - as well as have access to a gun for work.
But we do not serve Truth when we use poor terms. An ''assault rifle,'' like a spanking or a diet, has too many variable to be used in a debate.
is it automatic or does it only fire once with a pull of the trigger? Does it have a light or a laser pointer? Does it have a silencer like special forces soldiers may need? We have to define our terms.
We TRIED an assault weapons ban. The female Senator actually just looked at pictures and the scarier-looking ones were banned for ten years, resulting no change in crime statistics by itself.
What REALLY helped crime stats was the Clinton crime bill that liberals are called upon to complain against every day at the appointed hour. Admit that it was a good idea because there are a lot of people alive today because of that law.
And why does Mr. Obama insist that local and state cops NEVER be told of immigrants' criminal pasts by ICE, etc?
Had we declared war against the terrorists - an Obama idea - it would have allowed this Mateen to be locked up and denied permission to buy guns - as well as have access to a gun for work.
But we do not serve Truth when we use poor terms. An ''assault rifle,'' like a spanking or a diet, has too many variable to be used in a debate.
is it automatic or does it only fire once with a pull of the trigger? Does it have a light or a laser pointer? Does it have a silencer like special forces soldiers may need? We have to define our terms.
We TRIED an assault weapons ban. The female Senator actually just looked at pictures and the scarier-looking ones were banned for ten years, resulting no change in crime statistics by itself.
What REALLY helped crime stats was the Clinton crime bill that liberals are called upon to complain against every day at the appointed hour. Admit that it was a good idea because there are a lot of people alive today because of that law.
And why does Mr. Obama insist that local and state cops NEVER be told of immigrants' criminal pasts by ICE, etc?
26
If we're not willing to run NRA enabling Congresspeople and Supreme Court Justices out of town on a rail, then this is clearly the country we want and deserve.
The electorate is Frankenstein, and Omar Mateen is our monster. We must truly love Omar more than we love ourselves. Because we empowered Omar to live his wildest dreams.
The electorate is Frankenstein, and Omar Mateen is our monster. We must truly love Omar more than we love ourselves. Because we empowered Omar to live his wildest dreams.
160
Wow, deep
2
When you say "we" you don't mean the people who comment in The Times. You mean the Red State people. I am tempted to call for another Civil War but it would be too bloody. We should aim for a two state solution.
4
Sadly, it seems that Americans are willing to live with the threat of imminent chaos and gun death as the standard background noise of civilian life.
It might be that "overwhelming numbers" tell pollsters they support sensible gun control and that the gun-lobby puppets Congress block such control.
But Congress did not fall out of the sky. It was elected by the people.
So large numbers of people who support gun control must be voting for gun-lobby puppets, again and again and again.
Until the populace take the gun issue seriously and exact a political price from their representatives for aiding and abetting the slaughter, then I am afraid that we, the people are complicit in America's gun death-cult as well.
It might be that "overwhelming numbers" tell pollsters they support sensible gun control and that the gun-lobby puppets Congress block such control.
But Congress did not fall out of the sky. It was elected by the people.
So large numbers of people who support gun control must be voting for gun-lobby puppets, again and again and again.
Until the populace take the gun issue seriously and exact a political price from their representatives for aiding and abetting the slaughter, then I am afraid that we, the people are complicit in America's gun death-cult as well.
244
"But Congress did not fall out of the sky. It was elected by the people."
They might as well have fallen out of the sky. The candidate on the ballot has been chosen for you by a small number of die-hard political activists with very narrow agendas. The candidate you might really want to vote for has already been 'weeded out' by the political process. If people truly want good candidates they have to get down and dirty with the process at the local level. As a friend often reminds me, "you can only complain so much, you then have to either do something about it or shut up.
They might as well have fallen out of the sky. The candidate on the ballot has been chosen for you by a small number of die-hard political activists with very narrow agendas. The candidate you might really want to vote for has already been 'weeded out' by the political process. If people truly want good candidates they have to get down and dirty with the process at the local level. As a friend often reminds me, "you can only complain so much, you then have to either do something about it or shut up.
6
Congress was not, in any way, represented by, "the people," Sure, they got the most Republican Representatives and the majority in the Congress, but most votes, by far, go to Democrats. The districts have been Gerrymandered so that a few Democratic candidates win by huge numbers and the Republican districts are simply more plentiful. Each Congressperson gets one vote, and there are simply more Republicans then Democrats.
It's a completely flawed system, rigged for the Republicans, helped immensely by the Republican Supreme court and Citizens United.
It's a completely flawed system, rigged for the Republicans, helped immensely by the Republican Supreme court and Citizens United.
6
I am reminded in this essay of some of the dubious dictators we've supported over the years when such ostensibly served a larger purpose: "he's a S.O.B, but he's OUR S.O.B!" And we have to own him as much as we do his victims.
18
But don't you wish ''our bad guy'' was still in charge of Egypt, Libya, and Yemen? Hillary and Barack made ugly lawless terror training places of these countries, spurring the immigrants creating havoc all over Europe now.
23
Egypt? The current leader of Egypt is our "bad guy" after a brief experiment in democracy ended with the wrong people winning the election and a subsequent coup re-installing a military strongman.
So much for the vaunted Arab Spring.
So much for the vaunted Arab Spring.
6
Oh I agree with you completely. Saddam Hussein is the best example. He served his purpose as long as we wanted a balance of power between Iraq and Iran. When we thought we could do better without him, out he went. And what a fool decision based on hubris THAT turned out to be!
7
"This was our monster"
Is it the Americaness of Omar Mateen that is the predominant factor here?
Some of the Paris and Brussels attackers, e.g. Salah Abdeslam, French national born in Belgium, Omar Ismail Mostefai, born in France and others, were locally born. Is their Frenchness or Belgiumness the predominant factor in their actions?
I think the answer is clear. A "small population of weak-minded people prone to violence" could describe just about any population group anywhere, anytime. This seems to beg the issue. It is foreign Islamic (!) terrorists who prey on these people, and these people are Muslims, and they succeed not because they are "weak-minded". Many are just the opposite, very strong-minded.
And I am not so sure that the answer to the phenomenon, Mr. Blow, lies only in what "America must decide" re its home-grown domestic terrorists.
Is it the Americaness of Omar Mateen that is the predominant factor here?
Some of the Paris and Brussels attackers, e.g. Salah Abdeslam, French national born in Belgium, Omar Ismail Mostefai, born in France and others, were locally born. Is their Frenchness or Belgiumness the predominant factor in their actions?
I think the answer is clear. A "small population of weak-minded people prone to violence" could describe just about any population group anywhere, anytime. This seems to beg the issue. It is foreign Islamic (!) terrorists who prey on these people, and these people are Muslims, and they succeed not because they are "weak-minded". Many are just the opposite, very strong-minded.
And I am not so sure that the answer to the phenomenon, Mr. Blow, lies only in what "America must decide" re its home-grown domestic terrorists.
34
One can never forget that the most lethal terrorist attack in America was by Tim McVeigh, a white, Christian. This is not a problem of Islam. It is a problem of America.
562
I thought that the most lethal terrorist attack was 9/11.
43
So Stephen, explain Paris, explain Belgium, explain your own London tube, explain Spain......
26
Charles, you touch on the immediate "cultural causations" that reflect the toxcity of our American life. And for further meditation and cause for deep concern is our popular culture that promotes and glamorizes violence through every form of mass media entertainment. We have commercialized, popularized, and indeed globalize death and destruction in our entertainment industry, so that now, the average consumer of our popular culture is exposed to hundreds of simulated violent deaths each year. The psychological effects on the emotional lives of vulnerable children's development is a factor when considering the rise of brutal criminality.
251
Absolutely. Look to how "Hollywood" presents Special Forces, snipers, swat teams, etc. etc.
Look to our TV shows about the police. Watch as they fight and shoot and kill their way through each episode.
It's not so much desensitizing people to violence as much as it glorifies the act of violence.
Look to our TV shows about the police. Watch as they fight and shoot and kill their way through each episode.
It's not so much desensitizing people to violence as much as it glorifies the act of violence.
5
We tactically employed our own Gangster Movies to teach the Indonesians how to thug around for our cause. This was in the fifties, after that phase of our obsession was waning and being redirected against communism.
But behind that old scene, Vito Genovese took out a commie journalist for his fascist friends on American soil, and then when we hit the beach in Sicily, he was there to manage the coupons, clippers.
We regularly engage with criminals to get our way, so don't call it Carlitos'!
But behind that old scene, Vito Genovese took out a commie journalist for his fascist friends on American soil, and then when we hit the beach in Sicily, he was there to manage the coupons, clippers.
We regularly engage with criminals to get our way, so don't call it Carlitos'!
2
But it isn't "real" violence so being entertained by simulated murder and violence must be OK, Right? Whether its real or faked- being entertained by violent material is plain sick. Oops
I just heard a 1000 Hollywood screenwirters, cinematographers, direrctors and plenty of actors protest.
I just heard a 1000 Hollywood screenwirters, cinematographers, direrctors and plenty of actors protest.
3