Hasan is Talking
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Austin American-Statesman reports Nidal Malik Hasan is still in critical condition but he’s conscious and talking:
“Dewey Mitchell, public affairs chief at the hospital, said he did not know if the accused gunman in Thursday mass shooting at Fort Hood is talking to investigators.
“I am not sure how much he is talking,” Dewey Mitchell said. “There is some communication going on. I just got that indication from people on our nursing staff.”
If Time Magazine is right, Hasan may be talking about his secondary trauma:
“As an army psychiatrist treating soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Major Nidal Malik Hasan had a front row seat on the brutal toll of war. It is too early to know exactly what may have triggered his murderous shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood – Hasan is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 32 others before he was wounded by a police officer – but it is not uncommon for therapists treating soldiers with Post Trumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.) to be swept up in a patient’s displays of war-related paranoia, helplessness and fury.
In medical parlance it is known as “secondary trauma”, and it can afflict the families of soldiers suffering from P.T.S.D. along with the health workers who are trying to cure them.”
The author acknowledges there could be other causes, too: Hasan could have been harassed because he’s Muslim; or his actions could be related to his objections to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; or Hasan’s pending deployment could have aggravated concerns raised by the war experiences of his patients; or the high rate of suicides at Fort Hood could have pushed Hasan over the edge.
It’s a lengthy list but apparently there wasn’t enough space to mention the possibility … the very slight chance … that this might be an act of terrorism.
— DRJ
The media sure rushes to excuse any murderous behavior of this sort by non-conservatives.
I’m sure the ‘reporter’ used all their resources to detail:
1) The actual number of PTSD related shootings of random US troops by US servicemen who served in combat in the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns .
2) The number of PTSD related shootings of random US troops by US servicemen who did not serve in combat in the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns.
3) The number of attacks on random US troops by US Muslim servicemen during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns.
Answering those questions might help narrow down these ‘confusing’ possibilities.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:15 pmSay, how many Muslims have been killed in the backlash so far?
Patricia (b05e7f) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:28 pmThe infantilization of Americans proceeds apace.
Mike K (addb13) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:33 pmSetting the bar kind of high, aren’t we? Getting what you think is a funny look or having your name mispronounced is harrowing enough.
Jim Treacher (796deb) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:35 pm“…but it is not uncommon for therapists treating soldiers with Post Trumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.) to be swept up in a patient’s displays of war-related paranoia, helplessness and fury.
If there is an attempt to use PTSD as the reason why and the justification for, then why have we not seen any other professional health care workers at Walter Reed going on killing sprees? Surely Hasan is not the only one to hear the horror stories of returning vets, and he isn’t the only one to be affected by what they’ve heard, so why hasn’t this happened before?
So yes, it may not be uncommon for therapists treating soldiers to be swept up in a patient displays of war-related paranoia, helplessness and fury, it is however, highly uncommon and even unheard of for said therapists to go on a murderous rampage. This makes me more convinced that there is another motivating factor involved.
Dana (e9ba20) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:38 pm#2, Patricia, there ought to be quite a few, if the White House counts dead Muslims the same way they count Stimulus jobs.
ropelight (e6e651) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:38 pmYou know, someone who is really caught up in anti-abortion, might feel a lot of second hand PTSD from all those graphic abortion pictures they deal with. Such could drive them to kill abortionists.
No matter what was wrong with Hasan, he dealt with stress and the potential for deployment because he decided to join the Army of his own free will. If he didn’t want to go to wars, he shouldn’t have joined the Army, and if he changed his mind, he shouldn’t have picked up a gun and chosen to end the lives of many wonderful people.
One of those victims was a pregnant mother. She was unarmed. This is acceptable to some interpretations of Islam, and if someone can be pushed to do that because of stress, they were never truly a member of the human race.
Dustin (bb61e3) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:39 pmLOL Mr. Treacher. If my kids give me the stinkeye am I experiencing elder discrimination?
Gina (af585e) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:39 pmThe author acknowledges there could be other causes, too:
Perhaps one of them is, uh, observing the teachings of your religion…
Mark (411533) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:43 pmThis isn’t the infantilization of America, Dr. K. Seriously, imagine that we were talking about someone who shot up an abortion clinic. We wouldn’t be hearing a word how it wasn’t their fault—except in ways that would blame the right wing.
Just like this silly attempt to absolve Hassan of responsibility for his own actions. But it is part of the larger narrative, that the Muslim faith is all sweetness and light (unlike, for example, the Christian faith). Funny thing, that.
Eric Blair (711059) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:50 pmYou know there was a time not to long ago that liberals felt that serving in the war zone,being a POW for years and enduring extreme torture was no big deal:
Obama backer ridicules McCain’s military experience
posted at 6:40 pm on May 20, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/05/20/obama-backer-ridicules-mccains-military-experience/
Liberals whined like crazy about pouring water over a terrorist face or keeping them up past their bedtime,but breaking a man’s face,arms,shoulders,and starving him for years was something to laugh about:
http://www.thehotjoints.com/2008/07/14/double-standard-what-about-the-rolling-stone-caricature-of-john-mccain/
Now apparently just having somebody “talk” about their war experiences is enough to push them over the edge.
This spin by the liberals to deflect any criticism of the Obama administration or muslim community for their responsibility of this massacre is pathetic.
All we have heard out of Napolatino and Obama is how we need to watch out for those ‘crazy right wing extremist” opposing the government takeover of our private sector and the EEEEEEEEEEvil FOX news that promotes them.
Now we have a muslim Soldier who prayed with the same radical imam that some of the 9/11 hijackers
prayed with,
told a room full of people that “non-believers should be be-headed”,
His anti-war/anti-Americanism was so blatant that he regularly got into conflicts with other Soldiers and had many complaints lodged against him at Walter Reed.
Was even called “the typical muslim fundamentalist” by his muslim friends
Shouted “Allah Akbar” before he started his rampage.
But this has nothing to do with him planning and then carrying out a mass murder against a room full of UNARMED SOLDIERS.
We are supposed to believe it was hearing other people talk about war and him supposedly being picked on (Hasan was an officer who outranked about 90% of the people he was around and also never lodged a single complaint).
You would think that the media taking such a massive hit in credibility promoting a failed community organizer as the next Lincoln/JFK/FDR
whose domestic and international policies are blowing up in his face would be a lot more careful with their blatant spin and cover for their PC ideals.
Apparently the MSM will continue this pathetic train wreck of ignorance and ineptness that has produced having only 17% of the American public see them as credible and objective in relaying news to the American people.
Baxter Greene (af5030) — 11/8/2009 @ 7:56 pmInteresting in that the only major religion that seems to have “commandments” related to the killing of unbelievers/infidels/Jews/Christians, never gets called on that fact.
Hrothgar (8b4b25) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:02 pmIf he was “suffering” secondary trauma, (what a nice free pass that one gives him), then as a professional psychiatrist he should have asked for and gotten treatment himself.
Instead he acted consistently with the precepts of his religion. Note that I am not saying that ALL muslims follow those precepts, just as all Christians don’t follow the ten commandments to the letter. I do find the lack of public vocal outrage amongst the much publicized moderate muslim population to be rather restrained.
Only if you’re part of a designated victim group.
Jim Treacher (796deb) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:14 pmI’m female and over 40. Does that count?
Gina (af585e) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:22 pm“wasn’t space enough to mention the possibility … the very slight chance … that this might be an act of terrorism.”
70% of Palestinians, 50% of Saudis emotionally support terrorism against the Jews. We can’t call them terrorists.
25% of Saudis have donated money to terrorist organizations(pretenses uncertain). We’d be foolish call them terrorists.
A half-wit is strapped with explosives inorder to maim and kill indiscriminately. We’d be callous to call him a terrorist.
One psychiatrist, among tens of thousands, goes on a rampage and kills a dozen and wounds another 40. He was abused by an autocratic employer of base consciousness and couldn’t help himself.
Hearing the word of Allah daily “kill the infidel wherever you find him” did not contribute to his disturbance.
No terrorists are only those poorly educated and oppressed souls from third world countries adapting western technology to wrong-headedly attack us, against the dictates of a humanism that resides in every heart.
What a steaming pile.
gary gulrud (75a696) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:22 pmfirst thing dirtbag said was “i got shot by a f’ing woman????”
screw him: i’m still rooting for the MRSA option…. with a little luck, it could kill him over the next 4-8 weeks.
which would be a damn shame, since he’d never get a court martial, but one can’t have everything.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:30 pmAt least Britain isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, but unfortunately it poses the question: why on God’s earth, were the red flags so ignored?
He also told colleagues at America’s top military hospital that non-Muslims were infidels condemned to hell who should be set on fire. The outburst came during an hour-long talk Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, gave on the Koran in front of dozens of other doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington DC, where he worked for six years before arriving at Fort Hood in July.
…and here is the answer,
One Army doctor who knew him said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim soldier had stopped fellow officers from filing formal complaints.
Political correctness will be the death of us all.
(emph. added)
Dana (e9ba20) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:38 pmIt is amusing to see so many of the MSM say that Hasan “allegedly” shot some soldiers.
Perhaps nothing happened at all, and it is all just a big false rumor? Or perhaps 50 soldiers were attempting simultaneous suicide, and Hasan rushed in to stop some of them, thereby heroically saving lives?
Gosh, shouldn’t Time Magazine be pushing for him to get a medal, $1 million award, and a book/movie deal? Perhaps there will be cluster of journalist’s children named after him.
And Obama, who instantly (before any facts had been presented) assumed racism when his Harvard friend was arrested, now tells everybody to wait for all the facts to come in before making judgement? Exactly how and when did he get wisdom?
These days, the majority of the Dem’s and most of the MSM are pathological liars and “useful idiots”.
Wil (57d981) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:48 pmThe “devout Muslim” carried on regularly at an off-base strip bar. Spent roughly 7 hours there one recent night…described as “a really good tipper.”
steve (e7b19f) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:52 pmDouble posted the lap-dance graf.
steve (e7b19f) — 11/8/2009 @ 8:54 pmHere’s what Bob Schieffer had to say today at the end of his Face the Nation show on CBS (taken from the CBS web site):
“Finally today, the President has asked the nation not to jump to conclusions about
what happened at Fort Hood, which is usually good advice, but it’s also what government officials
generally say when the government fouls up.
Good advice or not, I am jumping to an obvious conclusion–this should not have happened. That doctor should not have been at Fort Hood. I don’t care how hard-up the Army is for mental health professionals.
“A government psychiatrist with bad performance ratings who has been trying to get out of the Army and who had been saying what Dr. Hasan had been saying about the war on terrorism should not have been shipped off to Fort Hood to give grief counseling.
“What do you suppose he was telling the soldiers? That after what they had done, they ought to feel bad? Certainly no officer with his record would have been allowed to lead soldiers into combat. But sadly, this shows the Army still does not take protecting soldiers’ mental health as seriously as it does training them to shoot.
“And then there is the other part that often happens in government–don’t deal with the problem, shuffle it off to somewhere else. When he had problems at Walter Reed hospital, the doctor was just packed off to Fort Hood.
Investigators confirm now that someone by his name had been posting messages on the Internet about how suicide bombers are as heroic as American soldiers who fall on grenades to save their comrades.
“But the investigators say it is not clear if Dr. Hasan actually wrote those messages. Based on what they found out so far, my question is, do you suppose anyone has even asked him?”
Let’s get this right, the government is at fault and internet posts in the name of “Dr. Hasan” have not been proven to be his.
Bob Schieffer is an idiot nuts.
Alta Bob (e8af2b) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:08 pmThe 9/11 hijackers were also strip club devotees. Seems to be a pattern.
Nah, Couldn’t be.
Mike K (addb13) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:11 pmDRJ–
It is unfair to Hasan to call it possible terrorism, since military personnel are generally regarded as combatants.
Rather, it is possible treason, since he’s a US citizen who either was levying war against the US, or in adhering to our enemies, giving them aid and comfort Take your pick. All you need now are two eye-witnesses to the same overt act.
Kevin Murphy (3c3db0) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:16 pmLet’s get this right, the government is at fault and internet posts in the name of “Dr. Hasan” have not been proven to be his.
After several reprimands, bad performance reviews and virulent anti-war rants that alarmed colleagues, Hasan was promoted to major and transferred to Ft. Hood for a “fresh start.”
I don’t think faulting the chain of command is out of bounds.
steve (e7b19f) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:18 pmsteve,
Your lap dance report could discredit claims Hasan acted out of religious fervor. On the other hand, like similar reports about the 9/11 hijackers, maybe Hasan felt he had a cosmic dispensation to act contrary to Muslim teachings.
And I agree that the military needs to answer for why it didn’t do more to investigate, sanction, or at the very least remove Hasan from treating patients if his reported pre-shooting behavior is true. Hopefully he wasn’t treating patients at Fort Hood.
DRJ (dff2ca) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:18 pmKevin,
If the facts are shown, you’re likely right from a legal perspective. But if the facts are shown, I’m fine with considering him a terrorist and a traitor.
DRJ (dff2ca) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:21 pmOf course, Time magazine then printed a detailed list of all those traumatized therapists “swept up in their patients displays of war related paronia, helplessness and fury”——-who went on murder and crime sprees.
Oh, they didn’t? Never mind.
doug (49dd6f) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:40 pm“And then there is the other part that often happens in government–don’t deal with the problem
And yet Shcieffer and his democratic friends have no problem with the government having control of our health care.
If Napolatino and her homeland security dept. paid a little more attention to the real extremist instead of the made up ones on FOX news and at town hall meetings, maybe these dots could have been connected sooner.
Instead we have a rush to absolve the radical muslims who preach hate and carry out attacks against “non-believers” while liberals expound on the dangers of listening to Rush and Sarah Palin.
“smart power” in action.
Baxter Greene (af5030) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:45 pmJust so ya know…
Doctors automatically get CPT rank. Those who have recognized specialties, such as psychiatrists, automatically get MAJ rank.
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 11/8/2009 @ 9:51 pmThose who have recognized specialties, such as psychiatrists, automatically get MAJ rank.
What’s your authority for this?
Hasan had a “recognized specialty” for several years. He became a major just last May.
steve (e7b19f) — 11/8/2009 @ 10:03 pmThe only thing Hasan should say is which arm he would like the IV in when they strap him to the gurney.
And then put it in the other arm, preferably by a female.
MU789 (897b57) — 11/8/2009 @ 10:42 pm“And yet Shcieffer and his democratic friends have no problem with the government having control of our health care.”
All things considered, I’d just as soon they didn’t get to select my psychiatrist.
Dave Surls (e845ba) — 11/8/2009 @ 10:44 pm“… the infantilization of America‘s media…”
there, fixed that for everyone.
AD - RtR/OS! (7df9d7) — 11/8/2009 @ 10:52 pmMedical Doctors (and Lawyers, too), when commissioned, receive the rank of O-3 (Captain in Army & Air Force, Lieutenant in Navy/Coast Guard – USMC tended to by Navy Med Corps). Promotion to O-4 (Major/Lt.Commander) is automatic when they pass their speciality certification boards (with appropriate Efficiency Reports, of course).
AD - RtR/OS! (7df9d7) — 11/8/2009 @ 11:10 pmSince no one had the guts to make a formal complaint re this POS, and his supervisors probably didn’t want to make waves and just wished to be rid of the problem, I’m confident that at each stage of his career, he was given E-R’s that, though not Exceptional or Outstanding (which are usually required for advancement as a line officer) were good enough to not reflect poorly on either the subject, or the reporting officer.
Only if you’re part of a designated victim group.
I’m female and over 40. Does that count?
Only if you weren’t born a female.
PW (16ec7c) — 11/9/2009 @ 1:50 amAs I remember it, shortly after Tim McVeigh was apprehended he was depicted as neo-Nazi domestic terrorist by the MSM. This characterization-despite occasional detours examining McVeigh’s personality flaws- never varied much from the time of his arrest to the time of his execution.
“Journalism” is so much simpler when the subject is what BHO would call “a typical white person.”
icr (304f90) — 11/9/2009 @ 4:05 amI heard this morning that he’s in & out of consciousness & investigators haven’t really gotten to interview him yet.
JEA (9f9fc9) — 11/9/2009 @ 4:29 amIt’s a lengthy list but apparently there wasn’t enough space to mention the possibility … the very slight chance … that this might be an act of terrorism.
– DRJ
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:01 amI have also made that point here that more and more this looks like an act of terrorism on American soil. Furthermore I don’t believe he acted alone as investigations will soon uncover. This is more than it appears to be. It will naive and careless not to think so.
It’s a lengthy list but apparently there wasn’t enough space to mention the possibility … the very slight chance … that this might be an act of terrorism.
– DRJ
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:01 amI have also made that point here that more and more this looks like an act of terrorism on American soil. Furthermore I don’t believe he acted alone as investigations will soon uncover. This is more than it appears to be. It would be naive and careless not to think so.
“Psychiatrists are trained to notice their own reactions and emotions, and if there’s something hard to deal with, they should turn to their peers,” she says. But according to some news reports, Hasan’s unprofessional conduct was red-flagged early on; at Walter Reed he was given a poor performance report, but that did not hinder his transfer to Fort Hood.
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:22 amI also blame the folks that saw signs of this behavior in him and still transfered him. This country is too trusting. To a fault. That’s how 9/11 happened. When are we going to learn?
Even when I am inclined to agree with Chimperor/lovie, I find myself rethinking that position.
JD (5e5cad) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:24 amAnd I agree that the military needs to answer for why it didn’t do more to investigate, sanction, or at the very least remove Hasan from treating patients if his reported pre-shooting behavior is true.
To his credit, Lieberman said yesterday on the Fox show with Wallace that he’s going to move to launch an outside investigation that delves into those very questions. Lieberman also said that unless some verifiable evidence emerges to indicate other causes, that this act should be considered an act of domestic terrorism, and that the pall of PC has likely poisoned our military to an extent that they won’t be able to internally investigate this atrocity to an effective level of competence. Thank Goodness at least one high – ranking member of Congress calls it for what it is.
Dmac (a964d5) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:40 amDMac – Watch MadCow and Hamster go batsh*t krazy over this tonite.
JD (5e5cad) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:52 amJust follow your heart, JD. It never lies. 🙂
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/9/2009 @ 9:25 amA few points.
First, the Empty Roar seems to be right about something. Who knew?
Second, as for the portrayal of McVeigh, he was in fact an american white supremacist and i find that if anything, it isn’t talked enough about. he had a copy of the turner diaries with him when he was caught, for christ sakes. That being said, I always found the possibiliity that he was working with Al Qaeda to be intruiging. A little “moronic” convergence, if it were.
And i don’t say that to dilute mcveigh’s klannish attitudes. I think if anything, it shows how people with very different goals to work together.
What i find odd, though, is the different reaction between the OK city bombing and, say, 9-11. They never asked why mcveigh hated us, because everyone knew the answer: because he was a piece of human filth. I never understood why murdering innocent people should garnish greater attention to your cause, as though your psychosis demonstrates the value of your beliefs or something.
so today i turn on the TV set and they tell us that we now know that hasan was trying to contact AQ. And then in the same story Cnn takes 15 minutes to fret that all muslims might face a backlash. hey guys, how about a frontlash? as in, why don’t we start saying to our military: you are here to practice democracy, not practice it. that means if you start talking about beheading infidels and try to contact our enemy at a time of war, you are not only thrown out of the military, but that dishonorable discharge comes AFTER we throw you in prison for a few years. yes, we shouldn’t abosolutely abolish free speech in the military, but it should be curbed significantly. Don’t like it? Tough.
Oh, and another thing, i am sick of people debating if it is terrorism. Yes, of course it is terrorism. The only question is whether it was connected to any organized group or merely free lance. but either way, he is a terrorist. They should give him every treatment to save his life and then shoot him.
A.W. (e7d72e) — 11/9/2009 @ 9:41 amComment by A.W. — 11/9/2009 @ 9:41 am
Well said.
It is amazing, in a way, the way the media completely dismissed the links to Saddam Hussein through that White-Supremecist Encampment (what was it, OK or AR?) of McVeigh and Nickels.
AD - RtR/OS! (7c0a4b) — 11/9/2009 @ 9:48 amwell, not totally well said. i wrote:
> you are here to practice democracy, not practice it
I meant to say
> you are here to protect democracy, not practice it.
D’oh.
A.W. (e7d72e) — 11/9/2009 @ 9:54 amAD
Btw, i would love to have a link about the saddam/mcveigh connection. you have a cite?
Also i would add i never understood his defense attorney’s pursuit of that angle. he went to alot of length on the theory that if he was taking orders from osama that would mitigate the crime. call me crazy, but i would be more eager to fry him if he was working for osama, not less.
It reminds me of a joke. You might remember that mcveigh was executed about 2 weeks before 9-11. Well, it turns out mcveigh was down in hell when mohammed atta and his buddies showed up. So satan comes to mcveigh’s cell and says, “i have someone i want you to meet.” So he drags mcveigh down to atta’s cell and throws him in. As he locks the door behind him, satan says, “hey mohammed, remember how you were promised 72 virgins? here’s your first one.”
A.W. (e7d72e) — 11/9/2009 @ 10:00 amIn addition to Kevin’s point about Hasan possibly being charged with treason, my question is who has jurisdiction in this case? An active-duty military officer opens fire on other active-duty soldiers on base. Sounds like it “should” be for military courts to this non-lawyer.
What motive could one have for shooting and killing as many soldiers as possible on base other than “being at war” with them.
If the majority of people in the governmant and the media were interested in truth and would use common sense, they would know that:
1. The best way to prevent “anti-Muslim backlash” would be to admit the concern and take active steps to isolate those individuals who are a concern from the majority who are not.
2. Any attempt to twist this into something it isn’t, such as secondary PTSD or some such, should logically lead to a massive firing among the military psychiatry/medical establishment for being inept at identifying and dealing with a seriously impaired physician. Of course, some in the administration would likely prefer the forced resignation of a thousand honorable officers than to admit there was one* Muslim in the US military who would prefer to kill US soldiers than terrorists that were Muslim.
3. Actually there are people who should be forced to resign for the “Ostrich with head in sand” approach over this guy, but I doubt if the ones who are deserving and the policies that are to blame will be the ones who are called out.
A thought for a Constitutional Law class- the Commander in Chief intervenes in this case and sees that it is handled in a manner that takes it our of the (obvious) realm of a terrorist military attack: Is the POTUS committing an impeachable offense by refusing to fulfill his obligation to insure the security of the American people?
* Actually it would be to admit to another, as one person was tried and found guilty of killing comrads in arms with a hand grenade in their tents early on, correct?
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 11/9/2009 @ 10:16 amA.W….
AD - RtR/OS! (7c0a4b) — 11/9/2009 @ 10:42 amThere was a magazine article(s) and perhaps a book by a female writer, but I can’t find any trace of it after all these years; but, you might look at this site for a wealth of data and more links…
http://www.sydweedon.com/Resources/OKC.htm
Comment by MD in Philly — 11/9/2009 @ 10:16 am
For the President to short-circuit proceedings under the UCMJ, would be “command interference”, which if conducted by a member of the military, would demand a courts-martial, and could be construed as a “high crime or misdemeanor”.
AD - RtR/OS! (7c0a4b) — 11/9/2009 @ 10:45 amThis is hardly a case of PTSD seeing that this fellow has yet to be sent into any action in either Iraq or Afghanistan. This is the work of a calculating, fundamentalist Islam-sympathetic, American-hating soldier/terrorist. He is the face of thousands of people presently working in this country to hurt America as much as they can. Enemies of democracy and freedom. Folks our enemies are among us, waiting for their moment to strike. If we let them.
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/9/2009 @ 10:52 amThis email printed at the corner i think sheds some light on the silly PTSD by proxy theory:
Hi. I’m a psychologist at a VA hospital. I’ve worked with vets with PTSD in the past, though these days I spend most of my time with head-injured vets. The idea of “contagious PTSD” certainly doesn’t explain much if anything of what Hasan did, but it actually isn’t as strange as it sounds.
Vets with PTSD have, by definition, been through some absolutely horrendous experiences. To be honest, “horrendous” is too gentle a word, but people so often misuse superlatives in everyday life that there aren’t any words left for things that are truly extreme. I suppose I could give you some examples, but I don’t think I can do it without violating confidentiality, and anyway they’re not the sort of thing you’d want to publish on a family website. If you want a sense of it…well, remember those pictures of people jumping from the towers on 9/11? Remember how you felt about that? Okay, now suppose you were actually standing there and watched the guy hit the ground. Now suppose you made eye contact with the guy the moment before he hit—and you saw that he’s your best friend, and you’re there the moment he dies.
It’s a nightmare. For people with PTSD, though, it’s more than a nightmare. Every time they send their kids out the door in the morning, every time there’s a quiet moment at work, every time they close their eyes at night, that nightmare comes back; it’s there again, more vivid than any other memory, and in some ways more vivid than anything real.
So if you’re the therapist of a guy with PTSD, you’re going to be taken on a tour of his personal nightmare. You’re going to be taken on a tour of the next person’s nightmare, too, and the next and the next and the next, each more horrible than anything you’ve seen in movies or on TV.
Listening to a string of horror stories has some pretty obvious consequences. Some people can handle it—some people can shake it off and keep on going. Some people can’t. You can sometimes watch the interns and residents change as they start working with the PTSD patients. Some of them get short-tempered and hostile; some of them start having crying episodes; some of them start having nightmares themselves; and they all feel guilty that they’re not able to do a better job. Around here, we have an informal procedure in which someone taps them on the shoulder, sits them down, and suggests that they might be better off doing something else. Someone did that for me, and it made an enormous difference; I’ve since done it for others. For better or for worse, there are a lot of other things a psychologist can do here at the VA, and vets with PTSD need people who can actually help them.
So yes, there’s something to the idea that PTSD is “contagious.” The trouble is that that’s all irrelevant to the case at hand. Yes, some of us have a tough time listening to all these stories, but we don’t go around gunning people down. And…I don’t know if this makes sense…but even if we *were* going to gun people down, we damn sure wouldn’t gun down soldiers. Serial killers kill the people whom they feel have wronged them—women, classmates, whoever. We don’t feel that way about the vets. If we did somehow flip out from the stress (in spite of the fact that we’re, you know, psychologists and psychiatrists who are trained to deal with this sort of thing), we wouldn’t hurt our soldiers. We’d take our own lives first.
[Released from filter. — DRJ]
A.W. (e7d72e) — 11/9/2009 @ 10:59 amMore handwringing on “ugly ethnic profiling” from a MSM thinker.
Would the Times or any other responsible news organizations have pursued the Islamic-terror story line this vigorously for so many days if the shooter had been a white Christian of English extraction who was born in the United States?
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (b111ef) — 11/9/2009 @ 11:07 amPamela is all over this.
She has at least ten posts on it and Jihad Watch has a lot of info too.
Papa Ray
Papa Ray (4091d1) — 11/9/2009 @ 11:59 amUnless the Onion has a new broadcast version, i just heard a pretty interesting notion played that was on NPR (you prosecutors look out for this one!) The statement was something to the effect that, “One may say, that it might appear, that there is a pre-traumatic stress disorder, if you will…”
Re Brother Bradley at #53, if it was an incident in Belfast it might be appropriate to look at the situation from Church affiliation, because the specific circumstances make it a valid concern. I don’t believe many Jews were in the IRA for instance.
In the US situation it is not so much whether a person is a practicing Muslim or not, it is an issue whether or not one is the kind who thinks that literally “killing the infidel” is what they are called to do. Sort of like communists. It might be important in some situations to know if a person’s political/economic views were Marxist, like if they were running for public office, but usually we would be more concerned whether or not the person is the kind of Marxist who believes blowing up buildings and killing bystanders is a justified thing (umm, well, we used to be concerned about that).
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 11/9/2009 @ 12:09 pmBradley, you must feel lonely with all these idiots claiming to be newspapermen.
Mike K (addb13) — 11/9/2009 @ 12:17 pmWell said, ropelight.
Patricia (b05e7f) — 11/9/2009 @ 12:21 pmBradley won’t feel loney too much longer – all of those hacks will soon be without gainful employment.
Dmac (a964d5) — 11/9/2009 @ 1:25 pm[…] 4. Time magazine and other members of the press are talking around the fact that the slaughter at Fort …. […]
Daily scoreboard « Don Surber (df6652) — 11/9/2009 @ 1:56 pmHasan can talk but his lawyer thinks he shouldn’t. Isn’t democracy great. They worry if he will get a “fair” trial.
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:11 pmCan you believe these folks?….
Apparently, Hasan is making a name for himself. He is a hero according to this scumbag.
A radical American imam living in Yemen who had contact with two 9/11 hijackers praised Hasan as a hero as a hero on his personal Web site Monday.
The posting on the Web site for Anwar al Awlaki, who was a spiritual leader at two mosques where three 9/11 hijackers worshipped, said American Muslims who condemned the Fort Hood attack are hypocrites who have committed treason against their religion.
Awlaki said the only way a Muslim can justify serving in the U.S. military is if he intends to “follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal.”
“Nidal Hassan (sic) is a hero,” Awlaki said. “He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people.”
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:22 pmWord is, this Hasan may have had a history with this radical sh*thead.
Hasan’s family attended the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., where Awlaki was preaching in 2001. Hasan’s mother’s funeral was held at the mosque on May 31, 2001, according to her obituary in the Roanoke Times newspaper, around the same time two 9/11 hijackers worshipped at the mosque and while Awlaki was preaching.
It’s all coming together now. A little.
Why would you not want him to have a fair trial, chimperor?
JD (6cf6de) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:35 pmOh I want him to have a fair trial, JD. So long as the military handles it.
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/9/2009 @ 3:54 pm