Thursday, November 05, 2009

Re: Fort Hood Shooting    [Andy McCarthy]

Jonah's right, we don't want to get ahead of the facts. There's the Fort Dix Six precedent, but there's also Oklahoma City, where people guessed reasonably but guessed wrong.

Two observations are in order about news coverage, though. First, the question on everyone's mind, the 800-pound gorilla in the middle of the room that we are supposed to ignore or be ostracized from polite society is: Was the gunman (or gunmen) Muslim? Under the circumstances of the war against us by Islamist terrorists, it is bizarre that this perfectly natural question can't be asked.

Second, for all the reluctance the press exhibits about asking the "M" question, how easily "post-traumatic stress syndrome" trips off the journalistic tongue. I've heard it again and again in the reporting — even after it was reported that there were two other people in custody. Now, we don't know at the moment why the other two people are being held: They could be suspects, or they could just be thought potential witnesses who have insight about the shooter. But it's at least possible (if not likely) that they are suspects. When was the last time you heard of a conspiracy to commit post-traumatic stress disorder?

11/05 06:13 PMShare