Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
I really don't want the friendship of some of the nuts who seem eager to extend it to me. I don't want to hear one word of enthusiasm or justification for the arsonists who torched the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Portland. Not one word. Yes, of course that place needs to be investigated, given that one of its congregants turns out to be a terrorist. It needs to be investigated by the legal authorities, acting in accordance with the law, and if you don't like that law, that's why we have elections. I'm not on your side, lunatics. Don't dream that I am.
Anyone who sets a fire that could easily kill not only the people they suspect may be inciting terrorism but their children, neighbors and bystanders--and those neighbors' and bystanders' children--needs a long stay in a Federal penitentiary to get their heads straight. There they can meditate at leisure on such concepts as evidence, due process, the rule of law, and the unwisdom of modeling your country's approach to these issues on Lebanon's.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Agreed, full stop. Thanks for taking the lead in getting that obvious truth out.
May '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
What happened?
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Some nutjobs, apparently, torched the Islamic center that Dirka-Dirka was said to frequent. An "incendiary device" appears to have been concerned. No one was hurt, but many easily could have been, I imagine. The Feds are investigating.
May '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
You gave me the impression that the perps tried to contact you or something.
May '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
The Portland incident doesn't demonstrate that "moderate Muslims" don't exist, just that radical Muslims do exist. I believe the great Ricochet debate regarding Islam was over whether moderate Muslims were genuinely Muslim, not whether such moderates existed.
Jul '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Moreover, these kinds of unlawful acts work in favor of and end up empowering Islamists via victimization.
Jul '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Correctly identifying who constitutes the "moderate" Muslims is the trick here.
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
No, no, nothing like that. Sometimes things I write--for example the post on the origins of the word Islamophobia--get picked up by the kinds of people who are not exactly careful readers and who don't really have a feeling for the subtle distinction between the points I'm making and calls for genocide. I'm not going to link to their sites. Not much I can do about it--the world is full of nuts--but I figure it can't hurt to clarify my position.
Oct '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Jul '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
It should be unequivocally condemned, that's obvious. But I'm hesitant to immediately call this a "backlash" against the Muslim community. Thug organizations like CAIR have fabricated supposed "hate crimes" out of thin air in the past, It might be conspiratorial of me to wonder if this wasn't done intentionally by a not-so-moderate Muslim to bolster the victim-status of Muslims...but it was the first thing that came to mind.
Details might emerge later to rest my suspicions...what kind of incendiary device was it? How long would it take to construct one and get the materials? Perhaps longer or equal to the time that passed between the jihad attempt and the firebombing?
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Byron Horatio: It should be unequivocally condemned, that's obvious. But I'm hesitant to immediately call this a "backlash" against the Muslim community.
Byron--I wouldn't call it a backlash against the Muslim community either. I'd call it arson. Whoever did it--and of course we don't know now who it was or what they were thinking--needs to spend a good long time in jail. They could have killed people and obviously didn't care. That's crime enough for me.
Oct '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
It's arson and it's an easy call to condemn it on a variety of levels. It's also important for people to understand that there isn't a safe way to conduct this sort of crime. Even if you set fire to an unoccupied structure, you will still have legions of fire fighters and other responders showing up who could be killed or injured in the process.
If you dig a bit into some of the media reports, you'll see that the ATF is involved in the investigation. They're very good at arson investigation and tend to get called into situations like these. It's very likely between the ATF, FBI, and local authorities working this case that someone is going to end up in prison for a very long time.
Remember that there is no such thing as parole in the US federal system.
Oct '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
It's my own personal opinion that it is a dangerous and slippery slope to condemn or cast doubt on the victim at the onset of an incident. It is a different scenario but it can come uncomfortably close to "Well why were you wearing that provocative clothing?" or "why were you out that late?" We have to trust in the veracity of federal investigations and criminal justice system to get to the truth. Some of the trouble, I feel, is that you are guilty until proven innocent in the court of public opinion in this 24-hour news cycle. Bottom line is the act is inexcusable and whoever is involved, as deemed by evidence and investigation, will be held accountable for their actions.
Nov '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Sounds like the fire was contained only to the offices, and 3 out of 4 HuffPo Super Users are calling it an inside job, so I know where I stand.
May '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Ditto, and say it again. There is no "but" here. Period.
I'm tired of the constant "but" on the left, I don't want it here on the Right. Evil is evil, and should be condemned unequivocally.
Nov '10
Re: Note to Portland Arsonists: You, Too, Are Scum
Okan Altiparmak
Correctly identifying who constitutes the "moderate" Muslims is the trick here. · Nov 29 at 2:33am
And the #1 fallacy being committed these days is conflating "non-violent" with "moderate." Sharia is inherently immoderate. Certainly there are many Muslims who are not Shariists, but that doesn't change the fact that our standards for what constitutes "moderation" need to be raised significantly.
That said, even if we consider this arson an act of vigilantism (which I don't believe it is; the Imams are innocent until proven guilty) it is still to be condemned. Even if evidence can be found of an intra-mosque conspiracy, the idea that the entire congregation is to blame defies probability.