A Double Standard If I Ever Saw One

In the name of Almighty God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Most people by now have heard of the tragedy in Austin where a man who was completely disgruntled with the government flew his small plane into the IRS building, killing one employee. Firstly I'll say that despite the desperately inept and incompetent nature of our current government, and the blatant disregard for certain aspects of the US Constitution by the IRS and federal government as a whole, it is never....let me repeat...NEVER ok to resort to this type of violence to accomplish political goals.
Now of course what I'm saying really isn't a contested issue. Every sane person knows what he did was wrong. However I remember listening to coverage of the incident in my car and the Austin city officials saying "this was not an act of terrorism". Likewise the national news media, for the most part, are not labeling this as a terrorist attack.

HOW IS IT NOT A TERRORIST ATTACK?????????????

Is it just because the guy's name was Joe instead of Muhammad? That's kinda what I suspect. US federal law defines terrorism as,

"premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets' or as 'the unlawful use of force against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."

It most certainly sounds to me that this attack most certainly fits that category. I only bring this up to point out the fact that the term "terrorist" in the minds of many Americans has become synonymous with the term "Muslim".

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter what someones motivation is for committing such atrocity...whether it be a perverted version of jihad (see my post on jihad for what it REALLY is) or some loony tune right wing agenda or loony tune left wing agenda (this guy was kinda both)...no matter their motivation, it is terrorism, plain and simple.

His act of terrorism scares me that the current political polarization of this country could lead to more acts of desperation like this. After all it was similar political polarization that lead to the 'first' civil war. With the current activity of groups like the TEA party movement, as well as the current uncompromising liberalism of the Obama administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress, I'm starting to become really and truly afraid that the two may be on a collision course...and not just politically but even violently.

Both sides have settled for ignorance and have truths to justify their goals. The liberals of the current government bend facts and numbers to make the things they are doing look less abrasive then they are, and snub their noses at people who disagree as being too stupid to see their 'genius'. They are pushing a 'version' of health care reform that the vast majority of Americans don't want, (Americans do want health care reform but not necessarily the progressive liberal nonsense that they are trying to push). They insist on unlimited deficit spending that puts us more and more indebted to other countries. What happens when we default? Is China going to foreclose on California? Then what? World War Three??

The TEA party people and so-called conservatives aren't much better. They call for smaller government, and fiscal responsibility. That's great! However, they also are the people who still justify the invasion of Iraq (a country that had NOTHING to do with 9/11) and seem to promote American imperialism around the world. Ann Coulter, who is seen as a leading conservative voice, said that America ought to go to Muslim countries and forcibly convert them to Christianity!! I personally attended a TEA party event where the pastor giving the invocation said that "really the 9/11 hijackers could be called devout Muslims" as opposed to radicals or extremists. These are the same people who spout ridiculous rumors that Obama is a secret Muslim (which even if he was since when does that disqualify someone for being President?). They are the same people still trying to claim that he's not really a born American citizen.

It seems to me that we as a nation are becoming more and more a nation of either right wing idiots or liberal elitist d-bags. And, if that polarization continues, I really fear for the future of our great nation. Please for love of God...get facts, not half truths, or take opinions (as facts) from the Rush Limbaughs, Ann Coulters, Sean Hannitys, AND the Nancy Pelosis, Harry Reids and Bill Mahrs of the world.

...and Allah knows best...