Terrorists Don't Understand They're Making Us Embrace More Of What They Hate

Defiance: Crowds at a London vigil Sunday, basically
telling terrorists to piss offf.

UPDATE: See John Oliver take on this below the video of the guy reacting to the attacks.

Oliver cites this guy and notes that he returned to the restaurant to pay his bill and leave the staff a tip.

I agree with John that this guy is out on the town in London tonight guzzling gin and toniscs and  flirting with every handsome guy he sees.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION:  According to the Islamic jihadists that conduct those awful and stupid and tragic terrorist attacks, like the one in London over the weekend, is that their efforts are backfiring spectacularly.

The extremists think that fun, and music and independent women and free expression and independent thought are all items that must be wiped from the face of the Earth.

Very few people think this way, of course, which is why there are (thank goodness!) relatively few terrorists.

One attack is too many, but the fact that this kind of thing doesn't go on every hour is a sign that the numbers of whacked out jihadists are small.

Jihadists tried to shut down free spirited teen girls by bombing an Ariana Grande concert? Pfft. Grande goes ahead and hosts another mega-concert in Manchester, England, where the original bombing took place.  The concert raised tons of money for bombin victims.

The headline in The Guardian was "Manchester Uplifted By Ariana Grande's Colossal Empathy."

By that we mean, the defiance is not devoid of real emotion and hurt for the victims of the attacks. Want a sample? Just check out Grande's rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" she sang near the conclusion of the benefit concert.

The jihadists apparently hate joy more than anything, so the videos that surfaced of police officers gleefully dancing with youths at the Manchester concert last night must have galled them terribly.

Boo-hoo.

Frankly, the only person I see cowering in the face of these terrorists is Donald Trump, who gets all alarmist, probably for imagined political gain, when something like London happens. He just ends up looking shrill and fearful. What a snowflake!

My favorite reaction to the London tragedy is this guy, in the BBC interview below. He's got it just right. Let's hope the rest of us follow his lead.



John Oliver's take on why Britain is not "reeling."

"You Ain't No Muslim, Bruv!" And Other Rallying Cries. Do They Help?

Among those embracing the "You Ain't No Muslim, Bruv"
slogan is British Prime Minister DAvid Cameron. 

The phrase on seemingly everybody's social media lips Monday was "You ain't no Muslim, Bruv!

This came from a extremely viral video in which a bystander video'd some moron attacking innocent passersby with a knife in London's Underground. The attacker yelled some nonsense about his assault being for Syria or something.

Three people were hurt, one seriously in this attack. While cops tackled the suspect, you can hear, very clearly in the video, another bystander shouting angrily at the suspect, "You ain't no Muslim, Bruv!"

("Bruv" is the British equivalent of "Bro" in th United States.)

"You ain't no Muslim, Bruv"  instantly became a rallying cry and a top trending hashtag on Twitter. Muslims in particular embraced the slogan, as the overwhelming majority of them clearly don't think terrorist attacks are consistent with their religion, Donald Trump's opinion notwithstanding.

Among those praising the unidentified man who said "You ain't no Muslim, Bruv" was British Prime Minister David Cameran, who noted the man "said it better than I ever could," and thank the man on behalf of the nation.

Many people for many years have been stating the obvious for years, saying that jihadists aren't really Muslims, even if they think they are.

But "You ain't no Muslim, Bruv" crystalizes the sentiment more perfectly than any politician or pundit or writer could ever manage.

The phrase is an instant way for all of us to demonstrate solidarity against ISIL and its terrorist ilk.

As a practical matter, slogans don't solve problems. At least not directly. I can't imagine an ISIL jihadist hearing "You ain't no Muslim, Bruv," and saying, "Geez, that's right. I'll lay down my weapons get rid of my bombs and lead a peaceful life from now on."

But such slogans offer us cohesiveness, a way to tell the world we're speaking with one voice against terrorism.

Oh, I know here in America there is a pretty big bunch of people taking the opposite tack, coming up with more and more over the top ways to "ban" Muslims because they are "all terrorists" or something.

As President Obama pointed out in a televised address Sunday, that attitude plays directly into the hands of ISIL, which insists the West is waging a war against Islam. (So come join us at ISIL to save Islam and bomb the hell out of those sinful Westerners!)

You Ain't No Muslim, Bruv is a counterweight to ISIL's sick recruitment efforts. The slogan won't save us from terrorism, just as #Port Ouverte  or open door for refugees in France after Paris attack didn't save us from terrorist. Nor did the popular hashtag #JeSuisCharlie after January's terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

However, we all feel like we need to do something, even if we are, as individuals, pretty powerless to stop ISIL. But the defiant Twitter hashtags like #YouAin'tNoMuslimBruv does its small part to reject and overpower Islamic extremists.

It isn't much, but every little bit helps.