The Conservative Paranoid Mind

[DonViejo]

by Michael Tomasky Apr 22, 2013 4:45 AM EDT

There’s a common thread linking conservatives’ positions on gun control, immigration, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: the constant need to stoke fear. By Michael Tomasky.

Liberals and civil libertarians shouldn’t yet be saying that there’s utterly no way that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be declared an “enemy combatant.” The post-9/11 law, whatever one’s opinion of it, does say that an American citizen affiliated with al Qaeda, the Taliban, “or associated forces” engaged in hostility with the United States can be declared an enemy combatant. It doesn’t seem like he’s that, but who knows, he may shock everyone when he comes to by saying that he and his brother were precisely that.

But it isn’t liberals who are jumping the gun here. As usual, conservatives are rushing to judgment, shredding the Constitution, using the bombing as an pretext for derailing immigration reform, and generally seeking any excuse to reimpose their paranoid and authoritarian worldview, which needs fear like a vampire needs blood, on the rest of us.

The cry, which I’m sure will pick up steam this week, was led over the weekend by the usual suspects—John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte, and Peter King. On the basis of what evidence? On the basis of no evidence at all. They know nothing! We’re starting to piece together a portrait of these guys, although it’s more of Tamerlan than of his younger brother. It’s a grim portrait. He evidently did become a radicalized Islamist. But if he and his brother were acting alone, even if the bombing was 100 percent politically motivated, they can’t be called enemy combatants. Period.

At most, they should say: “If the facts connect him to al Qaeda or any other designated groups, then he should be declared an enemy combatant.” Some would disagree with that, but no one could really criticize that as a legitimate posture within the parameters of U.S. law. But to call Dzhokhar a “good candidate” for enemy-combatant status now, as they did, is appalling. Moreover, the Supreme Court said in the Hamdi decision that U.S. citizens who are named enemy combatants still have their due-process rights, so it’s not clear exactly what these four want to happen unless they want the Justice Department to contravene the court.

full column
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/22/the-conservative-paranoid-mind.html

[Avalux]

1. White House: will not be tried as enemy combatant.

So, expect the usual suspects to completely lose their minds over the decision.

[pansypoo53219]

2. without fear, the GOP has no reason to be elected anymore.

they milked the communists, USSR, 9/11, islamists, war for decades.

[Cali_Democrat]

3. Reptilian brains. n/t

[AverageJoe90]

6. Haha, maybe.....

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. It's how you manipulate Right Wing Authoritarians:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarianism

Excerpt:

Right-wing authoritarians are people who have a high degree of willingness to submit to authorities they perceive as established and legitimate, who adhere to societal conventions and norms, and who are hostile and punitive in their attitudes towards people who don't adhere to them. They value uniformity and are in favour of using group authority, including coercion, to achieve it.

[polynomial]

5. The enemy combatant could be anybody

From my view, thinking out of the box is special when it relates to an issue like this terror stuff. Seems the frequency is picking up in an unusual way. Begging the question why now?

The media mask is working full blast, or maybe many can call this filibuster breaking news specials to media swamping out any thoughts of Senate scandal goodies. Especially Republican Mitch Mc Connell where a recording done secretly about his strategy to smear opponents, poses serious problems for his re-election.

Then poof two possible terrorist mules appear that could be mirrored by the real thing. Many can isolate the reasoning these two young men where terrorist mules, straw men, running parallel to sophisticated activities linked to radical revolutionaries from another country.

The really stinky stuff is the same as before mail in poison to Congress and the President at the same time. This whole scenario displays that possibility the government data base on strategic terror is compromised. Heck if a young man like Specialist Manning could offer up secret files to wiki leaks perhaps other have that we don’t know about because it would be an embarrassment.

These kinds of things sometimes run parallel to national or international issues or catastrophes like wide open murder in crowds. It seems to be a Republican mantra to call this Dzhokhar Tsarnaev an automatic push to secret military hanging. That is not paranoid; it is intended crowd creep control that has the capability to throw anyone into jail. Worse, if Wahhabi related Allah twisted minds really do have an American data base of legions of persons that can be triggered into mule action running parallel to the real professions that place anyone in that data base as a victim, we America are in big trouble.