With the press, talk show hosts, and politicians flailing away frantically over the shooting in Arizona, Butch Jackson, the Cafe's primary researcher of some local renown, decided to dig in and report, "While there have been approximately 20 assassination attempts against U.S. presidents, four of which were successful, attacks on members of Congress and local judges are much more rare. There have been only five recorded attempts against members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including the attack on Gabrielle Giffords. And two of those five attacks resulted from disputes between representatives (one of which was a duel in 1838). But there are also many more threats voiced against public officials, which should never be ignored. The majority are issued by what we call lone wolves — individuals acting on their own rather than with a group according to the Stratfor Research Group in Austin."
"Now, not only are dumb dumbs blaming people like Palin for the shooting, but they are screaming for legislation to protect our legislators. Even people like Bill O'Reilly can't help but join the noise. He says we just don't have enough US Marshalls to do the job, so let's make government bigger. Typical! What is unbelievable, yet typical, most calling for increasing the government;s size and regulation don't even know who is charged with the task of protecting our Congress-folks. Again Stratfor says, 'A little known fact is that the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) is the agency in charge of safeguarding congressional officials not only inside the perimeter of the Capitol grounds, which includes the House and Senate office buildings and the Library of Congress, but also when those officials are traveling. The USCP has its own protection division to analyze and investigate threats against members of Congress. Based on threat assessments, this division can assign teams for countersurveillance and security whenever and wherever a representative or senator travels. The USCP is also responsible for liaison with local law enforcement in order to ensure some level of security even when there is no identifiable threat.'
'In the case of any scheduled public appearance, protocol should require congressional staff members to notify the USCP, whose liaison unit will then alert local law enforcement, including city, county and state police, depending on the event. At this point, we don’t know why there was no police presence at Giffords’ event on Jan. 8. It appears that the event was announced the day before, according to a press release on her website. The Pima County Sheriff’s office has said it was not given prior notification of the event.'
Stratfor thinks there are security methods that can be effective. 'We need not think of a security detail being a scrum of uniformed police officers surrounding a public official. Instead, plainclothes protective intelligence teams assigned to countersurveillance as well as physical protection can be interspersed within crowds and positioned at key vantage points, looking for threatening individuals. They are invisible to the untrained eye and do not hinder a politician’s contact with the public. Moreover, a minimal police presence can deter attackers or make them more identifiable as they become nervous and they can stop individual attackers after the first shots are fired.' So we have the organization and resources to do the job. Now the people making noise should get out of the way, and those responsible should just make the system work and make changes if needed."
"Good report, Butch," weighed in Billy Roy. "As usual I agree with the Ronald Reagan quote that Sarah Palin used this week, 'We must reject the idea that every time a law is broken, society is guilty instead of the law breaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is responsible for his actions'. Certainly these 'Lone Wolf' situations are not reasons to indict our society and our country. Even Obama, in one of his better speeches since his campaign when he was again going to 'bring us all together', was calling on Americans to change. Why do the acts of a wacko in Arizona call for a change in all of America? Sounds like another one of Obama's 'transformations' to me. You have to hand it to the guy, he never let's up in pushing his agenda that being that America is screwed up and must be transformed by the government."
This report from the Cafe coupled with our sorrow over the loss of the precious nine year old girl in Arizona reminded me of another Reagan quote, “We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.” This week it was reported that we did not protect the lives of 1,400,000 children who were aborted in the year 2008 alone. Also, in that number is the fact that up to 60% of all black pregnancies in urban areas end in abortion. It seems to me that if we could get as concerned about our unborn children as we are about our "rhetoric" that we might find more favor from the Man Above.
Again, it was Reagan who said "that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don't pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we're going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children's children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free."
Fighting for freedom is repealing Obamacare, reducing the size of government, killing cap and trade, protecting marriage, and defeating terrorism. Mark my word, Obama's idea of 'coming together' is starting next week for the Republican House to fall in behind him and the Democratic Senate and compromise away a Free America.
Think about it,
Jim
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Terrorists, Terrorism, and Nut Jobs
Scotty Anderson is the proud father of a football coach at a major university. Father, like son, is a student of strategies, tactics, and competition. The recent tragic shooting in Arizona of a US Congressperson and several other innocent people including a 9 year old girl, has prompted a major debate about terrorists and extreme acts of violence. Scotty came into the Cafe with considerable insight, "It seems to this old country boy that it is good time for folks to look at the big picture of terrorism and terrorists. Seems to me that modern terrorism is really a media event in today's world. Someone or some group with a cause that they would like to advance by drawing attention to this cause design their strategy around gaining access to the huge media outfits that trade on spectacular events of interest. These media companies have 24x7 outlets that can cover an event in a near real time environment. So if I am a terrorist by definition I have a cause and design and implement an event to draw maximum attention. A smart terrorist group will attempt to do this with minimum risks, costs, and maximum effect."
Butch Jackson jumped all over this, "Sounds like real smart talk Scotty but give us an example that we can chew on."
"How about 911, a true terrorist act? A group with a passionate cause, radical Muslim Jihadists with a worldwide intent to wage war and disrupt non-Muslim nations, chose a big operation by hijacking four large planes to bring destruction to the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and probably the White House. They, with the assistance of massive media coverage, can drive fear into all free world citizens, disrupt governments and even world economies (which they did by causing a recession), and even create conditions that lead to our invasion of Afghanistan. A big act of terrorism. Now the strategy can move to smaller incidents with less risks and costs and yet gain massive media coverage advancing the Jihadists cause. Smaller, less costly events like Fort Hood, the shoe bomber, and the NY Times Square incident. Each gaining huge media attention and coverage. Fifty years ago a hostile country would have to attack another nation to gain the media attention and exposure that these guys can gain with several very limited actions."
"So what is the significance of this to us?" came back Butch always probing for significance to the Cafe folks.
"Clearly if we are going to play defense against terrorism, we have to understand their strategy and defend accordingly. For example, if the government paints all terrorists as random acts of unbalanced people and treats them as criminals and a law enforcement problem you do stupid things like reading a terrorist his Miranda rights. I understand the first thing the cops did with the Arizona shooter (I will not dignify nor publicize him by using his name) was to tell him he had the right to remain silent. At the time we didn't know if he was acting alone or a member of a large group in a co-ordinated attack. You don't treat Radical Muslim Jihadists, who have a worldwide movement and strategy, who clearly fit all definitions of the terrorists using terrorism as their weapon the same way you treat a nut job like the guy in Arizona who killed six people. The nut job appears to have no major agenda, movement, nor organization. In fact, Arizona is not a terrorism act in my book," Scotty strived to connect the dots for Butch.
Billy Roy came in late as he is apt to do most of the time, "Scotty, that's good. I think I got it. In fact it helps me understand a group that really drives me crazy. Based on your definitions I would call these groups 'sideline terrorists'. They don't run the risks and costs of creating these media events of terror. They sit on the sidelines and then leap out like Tommie Lewis did in the Cotton Bowl when he tackled Dickie Moegle by coming off the bench on the sidelines and on to the playing field. Example: Gun control activists who wait for a shooting like the one in Arizona and then make every attempt using the media coverage to make the Glock pistol the perpetrator instead of the nut job that plotted the act and pulled the trigger. Same thing with the Socialist haters of Sarah Palin/Rush Limbaugh/Glen Beck/Tea Party who come rushing in from the sidelines to get media attention to their cause which is to control the press by blaming conservative media which they think costs them the November election. In my mind these groups are as sleazy as it gets."
Scotty closed it down, "BM, that summary is better than a Merle Haggard slow dance on a Saturday night. I might add, regarding gun control, the only person I have heard that ran toward the Arizona shooter did it because he was packing. I sure wish a soldier at Fort Hood would have been packing. He would have saved many, many beautiful lives."
Think about it,
Jim
Butch Jackson jumped all over this, "Sounds like real smart talk Scotty but give us an example that we can chew on."
"How about 911, a true terrorist act? A group with a passionate cause, radical Muslim Jihadists with a worldwide intent to wage war and disrupt non-Muslim nations, chose a big operation by hijacking four large planes to bring destruction to the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and probably the White House. They, with the assistance of massive media coverage, can drive fear into all free world citizens, disrupt governments and even world economies (which they did by causing a recession), and even create conditions that lead to our invasion of Afghanistan. A big act of terrorism. Now the strategy can move to smaller incidents with less risks and costs and yet gain massive media coverage advancing the Jihadists cause. Smaller, less costly events like Fort Hood, the shoe bomber, and the NY Times Square incident. Each gaining huge media attention and coverage. Fifty years ago a hostile country would have to attack another nation to gain the media attention and exposure that these guys can gain with several very limited actions."
"So what is the significance of this to us?" came back Butch always probing for significance to the Cafe folks.
"Clearly if we are going to play defense against terrorism, we have to understand their strategy and defend accordingly. For example, if the government paints all terrorists as random acts of unbalanced people and treats them as criminals and a law enforcement problem you do stupid things like reading a terrorist his Miranda rights. I understand the first thing the cops did with the Arizona shooter (I will not dignify nor publicize him by using his name) was to tell him he had the right to remain silent. At the time we didn't know if he was acting alone or a member of a large group in a co-ordinated attack. You don't treat Radical Muslim Jihadists, who have a worldwide movement and strategy, who clearly fit all definitions of the terrorists using terrorism as their weapon the same way you treat a nut job like the guy in Arizona who killed six people. The nut job appears to have no major agenda, movement, nor organization. In fact, Arizona is not a terrorism act in my book," Scotty strived to connect the dots for Butch.
Billy Roy came in late as he is apt to do most of the time, "Scotty, that's good. I think I got it. In fact it helps me understand a group that really drives me crazy. Based on your definitions I would call these groups 'sideline terrorists'. They don't run the risks and costs of creating these media events of terror. They sit on the sidelines and then leap out like Tommie Lewis did in the Cotton Bowl when he tackled Dickie Moegle by coming off the bench on the sidelines and on to the playing field. Example: Gun control activists who wait for a shooting like the one in Arizona and then make every attempt using the media coverage to make the Glock pistol the perpetrator instead of the nut job that plotted the act and pulled the trigger. Same thing with the Socialist haters of Sarah Palin/Rush Limbaugh/Glen Beck/Tea Party who come rushing in from the sidelines to get media attention to their cause which is to control the press by blaming conservative media which they think costs them the November election. In my mind these groups are as sleazy as it gets."
Scotty closed it down, "BM, that summary is better than a Merle Haggard slow dance on a Saturday night. I might add, regarding gun control, the only person I have heard that ran toward the Arizona shooter did it because he was packing. I sure wish a soldier at Fort Hood would have been packing. He would have saved many, many beautiful lives."
Think about it,
Jim
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