It turns out that, unlike in the past he wasn’t a Presbyterian, but a Muslim. What an astonishing development! Muslims are usually such quiet, peaceful people who never give anyone any trouble. Just look at the newspapers — you never read anything about troublesome Muslims.
Oh well, it probably had nothing to do with his religion, since we all know that Muslims are firmly of the belief that secular life and religious life should be separate. He was probably just depressed over his Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome from the trauma and stress he was experiencing at the thought of all the trauma and stress he would experience in Iraq, where he didn’t want to be deployed because Muslims hate violence and war and stuff. A kind of Pre-Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, if you will.
Next day update: Guy Fawkes Day is being blamed. No, really. Yeah, all those Guy Fawkes bonfires across Texas, and the Muslim’s natural sympathy for the Catholic struggle against the Protestants in 17th century Britain, must have set him off. (Via Kathy Shaidle.)
Brilliantly put, Andrea. “PRE-PTSD” is just inspired! Thank you!
Somethng amiss in Orlando, too…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091106/ap_on_re_us/us_orlando_office_shooting
Well that’s just lovely.
Re Guy Fawkes – is that goofball Poonawalla still around, having his goofball portentousness taken seriously? Ah, brings back memories of the Old Blogging Days. You know that old cutesy habit of replacing a “c” or a “qu” with “k” in the names of businesses, e.g., “Kwik Kleen”, “Kleen Kween”, “Kar Kare”, and the still extant “Krispy Kreme”? I recall intrepid Aziz blowing the lid off that! The <i>real</i> meaning of instances of this he saw in Texas? Ku Klux Klan affiliation – or maybe it was just sympathy, but it was all tied up with the Klan and the racism and the glavin somehow. Stone cold serious. There were some other similar howlers the particulars of which I no longer recall. But most ridiculous were the bloggers who you thought had half a brain pulling their chins and treating this patent goofballery with great seriousness. Hmm, wonder why.
Good times, good times.
Guy Fawkes Day. Samhain. All Hallows Eve. Anything to avoid admitting that Hasan’s just another Islamofascist terrorist.
I always wondered what might have happened to poor Aziz had the Fates somehow managed to plant him in Keokuk, Iowa.
I’ll come clean, I’m one of the guys who brought up the Guy (at Ace’s).
The point isn’t that Muslims care so much about 5 November. Before “V for Vendetta”, I was hard put to it to find anyone here outside Tudor / Stewart history buffs who had even heard of it.
The point is popular culture. Muslims watch Hollywood blockbusters and they partake in the local memes. After “V for Vendetta” came out, for instance, I saw a protest of Scientology of whose members more than one was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. (Disclosure: It wasn’t me. The Starbucks was next to their outlet. I just wanted to finish my coffee. I think the Scientologists moved away soon after.)
Maybe we should blame /b/?
I seriously doubt that Nidal was influenced by V For Vendetta. And I’m pretty sure that the goofs wearing the Guy masks were doing so because of the movie, not because they had any idea about who Guy Fawkes was.
Sometimes the simplest explanation is the one to stay with.