There has been a multiple shooting at a shopping centre near the German city of Munich. Nine people are dead, with many more injured. This was the work, apparently, of one lone gunman who later shot and killed himself. No motive for the attack has been established. But the suspected attacker was an 18-year-old who held German and Iranian nationality, which is all that The Usual Suspects need to go into rant overdrive.
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And that means someone, somewhere has decided that the Scary Muslims (tm) are the ones Wot Done It. Some of those thus pronouncing are especially vulnerable to the inevitable paranoia, coming as it does on the back of the deeply paranoid mood at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, OH. Their number includes pro-am motormouth Katie Hopkins, whose state of mind was already precarious.
We could see this earlier in the week, as she frothed “We are about to grant visas to the Turks due to the state of their peace-loving, democratic nation *takes head for a wobble*”. That’s why we aren’t, and many Turks are having their passports withdrawn. Then a little incitement to murder: “6th & 7th arrests made in connection to Nice truck- twat. 'Lone wolf'?! Like I said, these animals hunt in packs. Put them down in packs too”.
Her rage at the Nice attack had only one target: “Mohammed. But his wife will be amazed as he was a peace loving guy. And his friends will say he wasn't a real Muslim”. He wasn’t. And as for Channel 4 and Fatima Manji, well, “Sod off. Quick [sic] complaining about an article and complain about another Islamic nut-job driving a truck into children”.
Every incident that could be used to demonise Muslims was used: “Mother + 3 kids stabbed by a man - Mohammed - for being scantily clad in France and still news agencies say; motive of the attack unclear’”. Her solution to anything called terrorism? Simples: “Shut down the border. Send in the military. And clear the bastards out”.
All of which brings us to the RNC, which Hatey Katie attended. It was right up her street, all the talk of instant law and order: “We must suspend immigration from any country infiltrated by terror. #RNCinCLE Sadly, that now includes the weakened UK”. We’ve been “weakened”? How did that happen? Who knows, and indeed, who cares? But she does know the Muslims are coming for her: “It [sic] accept it may happen. And my killer will be a 'lovely guy who was well liked at the mosque’”. And so to the Munich attack.
Who might have done it? Forget analysis: “Munich. At what point will Germany hold Merkel accountable for welcoming terror into their shops, trains and homes. Sod your hashtags”. And just to make sure, Ms Hopkins had a poll where her devoted followers could confirm that they believed what she wanted them to. “Munich. No one can agree if shooter(s) shouted ‘F*ck foreigners’ or ‘Allahu Akbar’ Let's play Own The Terror”. Just fancy that - 62% decided, without any evidence, that it was The Muslims Wot Done It.
Paranoia and post-truth politics come together in Katie Hopkins, but the worst thing about it is that people pay her money to come out with this rabble-rousing hate speech.
Anyone who thinks Nazism or its equivalent could never happen in this country......Check out the insanity of Hopkins and the Murdoch-Rothermere axis of evil, plus continuing attacks on Jeremy Corbyn - in fact on anyone who has the courage to question the status quo.
ReplyDeleteI said months ago things were going to get much worse.
You've seen nothing yet.
Over in the USA, current campaigning ur-fascist and racist loony Trump threatens to destabilise far right Establishment intentions. A bit like George Wallace did over three decades ago. Which means Trump better be on his guard against another Arthur Bremer, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray, Sirhan Sirhan, Mark Chapman, John Hinckley and any other number of convenient lone nut assassins who just happen along at times like this.
Nope, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
One of her demands appears to be answered, that of the French shutting down their borders. Ferry companies reporting 8 hour delays at Calais and backlogs at Dover.
ReplyDeleteIf, as reported, he's an Iranian, he's almost certainly a Shia, who don't do suicide missions and who are not, by and large, at war with the West. ISIS and other jihadis would have nothing to do with a Shia - they are in a holy war against them.
ReplyDeleteSo it sounds as though he's a lone nutter. The Nice one sounds similar, though he might have been exploited by genuine jihadis.
These situations seem to the European equivalent of the American Suicide by Police.
Of course, an Iranian German is an ardent follower of Anders Breivik, in psychiatric care (where they failed to notice his proclivity, much as they failed to notice that of Andreas Lubitz, the suicide pilot).
ReplyDeleteTell us another one just like the other one.
The Mail didn't bother waiting for facts either.
ReplyDelete"Terrifying price of Merkel's decision: From teenage refugee's axe attack on German train passengers to the Munich massacre - her grand immigration plan isn't looking so grand these days, writes SUE REID"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3704112
To Arnold.
ReplyDeleteFacts!?......FACTS!!??......DON'T BOTHER ME WITH FACTS!!!???
(Copyright the Dacre mob).
@It doesn't add up
ReplyDeleteI don't think he was in psychiatric care, he'd just been treated for depression after bullying at school. Thought occured to me - since most of those killed were lured to McD's through Facebook and were of a similar age to him, were they ex-classmates? Was this an American style revenge attack and nothing to do with religion? Could his inspiration come from the "land of the free"? And if so would it be reasonable to hate all Americans???
The definition of fact is rapidly diminishing. None of the British papers would have had people in Munich at the time, they were relying on ripping off other sources. Those sources were probably German TV or BBC (who themselves were using live feeds from German TV!!). Much of the German stuff seems to have been translated through Google which means what was fact had a good chance of becoming gibberish. Even the German TV channels failed to notice that they had two videos of gun"men" but if you paid attention the two men appeared to be the same build and wearing the same t-shirt - and never appeared together. It was hours later before they realised it was the same man at different locations! The reports of a second shooting at Stacchus were officially declared false within 30 minutes and announced on German radio and TV as such - but the BBC were still reporting it as real much later on, and the hacks from the papers were making their notes. The Isartor hoax ran for longer. On Saturday the police announced they were investigating those who had made hoax posts on Twitter which were the real reason why most of the city was shut down all night - but by then we had the French causing long queues for British holiday makers so obviously attention switched.
The bottom line is that people all over the world form opinions based on what the media tells them - and even when that isn't a deliberate lie you simply can't rely on it! Any subject, anywhere.