News from the Big Apple

[oselle]

I've been hearing conservative media talk an awful lot about how terrifying and dangerous it is for New York that terrorists are being tried here in New York City and I just want to tell you what New Yorkers are saying about it:

Nothing.

The most crybaby pantywaists about this stuff are the people who are furthest removed from it. I remember that not long after 9/11 one of the biggest hand-wringers about the terrorist threat that I knew was a girl who lived in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Warwick, Rhode Island.

I remember her being in a panic over the first anniversary of 9/11 and telling her that hi, I had to get up and get in the subway that day and get on with my life, along with the other 7,999,999 New Yorkers who were equally sanguine about it.

I love how conservatives are all about guns and God and acting like they have big brass all-American balls until the shit hits the fan and then they're all hiding under the bed wetting their didies. Typical.

Comments

[vshendria.livejournal.com]

I truly believe that conservatives are people who walk around afraid of everything...of change, of difference, of anything the least bit unconventional.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Yes but very real threats like climate change are something Al Gore made up to sell books. LOL!

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Whenever I hear a stranger going on about being fearful about everything, I usually guess (rightly) that he/she is a conservative.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

What's funny though is how unafraid they are of real threats. They manufacture these boogeymen under every bed and then ignore or dismiss every terrifying reality that doesn't happen to fit their political or religious beliefs.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I remember them being that way after 9/11 too. New York was pretty calm even the same day.

I remember during the big blackout there were a bunch of posts I saw on lj saying hey, it was okay if New Yorkers were so scared because they thought it was a terrorist attack. I was completely offended--wtf in New York was terrified during the blackout?

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I think, I KNOW, there are people out there who think America, and especially places like New York, would benefit from a "healthy" dose of being scared shitless all the time. How that's supposed to be a patriotic interpretation of the American character is beyond me.

[hezio2.livejournal.com]

I think you've missed the point. People don't want the terrorists tried in a court in New York because they are not American citizens and do not have the same rights as American citizens. Also, the way the trial is conducted inhibits the U.S. Military action in the war on terror. Most of the diatribe about the trials is not about the safety of the city.
Giving a stage to the terrorists is a frightening concept since a stage seems to be what they want.
They should be 'tried' as war criminals since they believe themselves to be warriors.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I think you haven't been paying attention. I see Fox News anchors going bug-eyed with fear over these guys being "OMG on American soil!" and I hear actual members of Congress raving about how terrorists are going to be taking jurists' families hostage and abducting Mayor Bloomberg's daughter and foaming at the mouth with all other sorts of fever-dreams that sound like spec scripts for 24 or the latest Michael Bay epic. That's baseless, idiotic fearmongering pure and simple, nothing else -- although I do agree that it doesn't reflect any genuine concern about the safety of New York or New Yorkers. This isn't about "giving a stage to terrorists," it's about acting like a civilized nation that follows the rule of law. We tried the "Blind Sheik" here in New York for the 1993 terror attacks and there was none of this bedwetting nonsense back then but the country hadn't collectively gone insane yet, and I don't think Fox News existed to fan this sort of hysteria as only they can.

[sixth-queen.livejournal.com]

Their newest argument is that KSM is going to go to some supermax prison and "convert" all the other prisoners to his terrorist ways.

They also want to continue the "act of war" meme so that they can continue the "time of war" meme, which of course allows then to continue the "feed contracts to defense contractors" meme. The bug-eyes at Fox don't know this -- they are just reading the memo from Talking Point Central.

(There is an actual Talking Point Central -- it's some wingnut Congressman's office. That's why we hear different Repubs using the exact same words on the TV.)

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I will say this much for conservatives -- they are much better at getting their Talking Points out there than we are. But then again the simple, bold brushstrokes they use -- BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID! -- are easier to get across and easier for people to absorb.

I've heard about the conversion thing. Do they have any idea what supermax detention is like?

Actually, my favorite fearmongering yet has been some conservative organization that's been trying to fan flames of panic over Gitmo detainees being housed in Michigan -- but meanwhile, that part of Michigan is so flat-broke and desperate that they're BEGGING for those detainees so that at least some of the people in town will be able to get a goddamn corrections job. LOL, there's the real terror in America 2009 -- financial ruin, hunger, homelessness and despair, brought to you by eight years of "fiscal conservatism." LOLOLOLOLOL! What a country!!

[oxer12.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm sure he's going to convert everyone to terrorism immediately! LOL

He probably has way more a chance of getting shanked in prison than converting anyone to his terrorist ways. Even criminals have their standards, and I'm thinking a dude who helped bring down the Towers isn't high on their "love" list...

[oselle.livejournal.com]

If they really do send him to supermax, he'll never even have contact with another prisoner for the rest of his life. If we've begun investing terrorists with supernatural powers of mind-control, then I suppose he could reach out to other prisoners via ESP, but otherwise, I think we're okay.

[oxer12.livejournal.com]

Well, there IS that whole "supermax" part about a supermax prison, I suppose...how dare you bring your Earth logic into my argument! :D

[sixth-queen.livejournal.com]

If I remember, wasn't Ted Bundy(?) killed by other inmates because the even they didn't like the whole cannabilism thing?