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."

Plumber Sues Auto Dealer Because His Truck/Logo Ended Up With Terrorists.

Mark-1 Plumbing's old truck ended up in the hands of
terrorists, and now the owner of the business
is suing the dealership that failed to remove the logo.

Mark-1 Plumbing in Texas got some unwanted free advertising about a year ago.

One of the company's old pickup trucks was sold, but then reappeared in the media, complete with its Mark-1 Plumbing logo, being used by Islamic terrorists in Syria.

It should be obvious that Mark-1 Plumbing's owner, Mark Oberholtzer is not a terrorist or a terrorist sympathizer. He's a fine American, a reputable businessman, and certainly no threat to anything, except maybe a leaky pipe.  

We should have all laughed off the fact Oberholtzer's truck somehow ended up in Syria, even if the people using the truck are certainly no laughing matter.

However, this is America, land of a substantial subset of dumb people.

A segment about the Mark-1 Plumbing truck appeared on the widely watched final episode of the Colbert Report.

It was a joke, but some dumb people didn't take it as such.

According to the New York Times, Olberhotzer and his employees faced this, according to the plumber's attorney, Craig Eisland:

".......there were thousands of harassing and threatening phone calls to Mr Oberholtzer's office and other phone numbers with accusations that he supported terrorists. His staff and family members were also subject to threatening calls, Mr. Eisland said.

Mr. Oberholtzer said his business has suffered. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents met with him and advised him to protect himself, the lawsuit said. He started carrying a handgun."

Note the clip from the New York Times mentions a lawsuit. That's because Oberholtzer is suing AutoNation Ford Gulf Freeway in Houston, Texas for $1 million.

Oberholtzer said he traded in his old truck at the dealership and they failed to remove the Mark-1 Plumbing logo from it before re-selling it on the open market, and it ended up going on the black market, to end up in the hands of terrorists.

The lawsuit seems frivolous at first, but then you have to remember the dumb people. The dumb people who somehow thought Oberholtzer was a terrorist or ISIS sympathizer because his truck ended up with terrorists, even though he clearly had nothing to do with getting his truck to Syria.

Because people could not follow the very clear point in media reports about that the truck ended up in Syria through no fault of Oberholtzer.

So he's suing, due to the fear, the lost business, the inconvenience, the damage to his reputation.

Too bad Oberholtzer can's sue all the stupid people who made those threatening calls to him, who threatened him and his business.  Hell, I'd like to sue 'em.

I wonder if we can make being stupid a crime, too. Maybe we can send the stupid people to Syria to join the Mark-1 Plumbing pickup truck. It's one sure way to defeat ISIL: Just infiltrate all our stupid people into their ranks, and watch them crumble.

Vox Magazine: Are Right Wing "Christians" Issuing More Threats Than Jihadists?

Vox, the online magazine, raised an interesting observation yesterday.

The online publication Vox got some threats
after running articles about Charlie Hebdo cartoons
and Islam. But the threats didn't exactly come
from jihadist sympathizers.  

They ran an image of a Charlie Hebdo cartoon, the kind that has occasionally inspired threats, and terrorists attacks by fundamentalist "Islamic" morons who think their religion was insulted, and that justifies mass murder.

Which is why you had that awful terrorist attack in Paris at the offices of Charlie Hebdo and that market. The Islamist extremists think insulting the prophet Mohammed should be a death penalty or something.

Vox reports that they have indeed received a number of threats. But not from who you'd think. I'll let Vox explain it:

"Writers at Vox have indeed been bombarded with threats for our Charlie Hebdo coverage. But not one of those threats has come from a Muslim or in response to publishing anti-Islam cartoons. Revealingly, they have rather all come from non-Muslims furious at our articles critizing Islamophobia."

Most of the threats are from people hoping jihadist militants kill the offending writer.

"A recent email hoped that Muslims will 'behead you one day' so that 'we will never have to read your trash again.'"

Um, wouldn't it be easier to just not read Vox if you don't like it? I'm not aware of any law that says we have to read Vox or any other publication.

Ok, Vox, go on:

"As is often the case, the strongest threats have been reserved for women. One writer received a message arguing that someone should 'put a gun up your ass' to make her understand terrorism."

My, these right wing fanatics are so imaginative! And have such interesting sexual fantasies! Though I'm not sure how putting a Glock 9 mm up one's anus will make anyone understand the intricacies of that terrorist attack in Paris. But what do I know?

Here's the richest part of Vox's piece on the threats they've been getting:

The Paris terrorists were/are surely some of
the worst people on the planet. Right wing bigots are
light years better, hut still not good people.  

"Ironically, these threats are typically couched in arguments that Muslims are inherently irrational and violent. Further, threats made with the explicit intention of silencing journalists from discussing Islamophobia are positioned as necessary 'defenses' of free speech against the threat of Islam."

Yeah, I don't get the logic either. "Let's ban free speech to protect free speech."

Sounds like the only speech the right wing Fox watching wackos want to preserve is their own. Probably because nobody listens to them as most other voices from other sources are more informative and interesting.

Hey, you gotta try something, right?

True, people who shoot up magazine offices and Jewish markets and kill 17 people are far, FAR worse than the ignorant morons on our nation's right wing political fringes.

But make no mistake, the dickheads that threatened Vox are bad people. Let's once again let Vox explain it, since they've been doing such a good job:

"The people who threaten us are crazies and there's no indication that they are representative of any greater whole or are considering doing any more than sending an email. But we are not the only outlet being targeted, and receiving dozens of threatening emails can have a real effect on journalists, even if we suspect the threats will come to nothing."

It seems that many, but not all on the right wing and evangelical groups seem to continually try to find ways to be petty and parochial.  Just look at what happened at Duke University in North Carolina yesterday:

Says Mashable: 

"Duke University has 'reconsidered' a plan that would have allowed Muslims to use its chapel's famed bell tower for a weekly, amplified call to prayer. 

"'Duke remains committed to fostering an inclusive, tolerant and welcoming campus for all of its students," a spokesman for Duke said. "However, it was clear that what was conceived as an effort to unify was not having the intended effect."

And why not? Because evangelist Franklin Graham, son of the Rev. Billy Graham is an asshole. Here's what Franklin Graham, that bigot, had to say:

"Christianity is being excluded from the public square (while) followers of Islam are raping, butchering, and beheading Christians, Jews and anyone who doesn't submit to their Sharia Islamic law."

Oh, that's so rich. Christians don't have a voice in America anymore? What doobie have you been smoking, Frankie?  Can I call you Frankie, Frankie?

OK, let's follow the Frankie "logic" here. It looks like Frankie thinks that since some Muslims are doing evil, murderous things, that means ALL Muslims are evil and murderous.

If that's the case then if there are a few so-called Christians who are threatening Vox and anyone else who dares to say something mildly positive about Islam, then ALL Christians are small-minded thugs who get off on sending vulgar, ignorant threats to people whose point of view they don't like.

I obviously don't believe that about Christians. But do YOU think Christians are all stupid bullies, Frankie?  If I follow your "logic," it seems you do.

It goes on and on. We have former GOP U.S. House Rep Joe Walsh issuing this lovely Tweet:

Yes, it's fair to argue CNN and MSNBC might not have shown enough bravery and free speech commitment when they didn't show the cartoons, but do you REALLY want Islamist terrorists to kill people at CNN and MSNBC?

Doesn't that make you as bad as the terrorists who do want to kill westerners. Joe, are you going to turn up at a jihadist training camp in Syria or something?

Since I've been on a pro-free speech rant, I certainly won't ask the likes of Frankie Graham and Joe Walsh to shut up. They can say whatever they like.

However, everyone has the right to free speech. Or at least should have that right. So let's raise our voices to increase understanding and peace between major religions.

We need more of that, not less.

Just ask the fine people of Paris.

Texas Plumber NOT A Terrorist, But Terrorists Using His Old Truck

A Texas plumber discovered an old truck he'd traded
in is now being used by Islamic terrorists in Syria.  

Let's be clear: Mark Oberholtzer is a fine, upstanding Texan. By all accounts a proud American.

He's owned Mark-1 Plumbing in Texas City, Texas for 32 years. People like him and his work in the plumbing and contracting business. Lots of five star reviews of Mark-1 Plumbing out there.

A few people, idiots, actually, now think Oberholtzer is sympathetic to those horrible ISIS Islamic militants in Syria.

Why? Because there's a photo that originated on Twitter floating around out there of one of his trucks, with the Mark-1 Plumbing logo clearly displayed, being used by the militants with an anti-aircraft gun in the truck's bed.

Don't worry, Oberholtzer is not giving material support to the terrorists. He, and everybody who knows him wants to make clear he did not give or sell his truck to terrorists.

Somehow, after he traded in the truck three years ago to an AutoNation dealership, the vehicle ended up in the hands of terrorists. 

Oberholtzer says that usually, when he trades in one of his old work trucks, he removes the logo from the vehicles. This time he didn't because he assumed AutoNation would. But they didn't.

So now, in Syria, unfortunate victims of ISIS terrorists can see an advertisement for Mark-1 Plumbing before they are hurt or killed by the violent morons.

Nobody knows how the truck ended up in Syria, but it was auctioned off after Oberholtzer traded it in, and it probably went through a few owners before winding up in Syria.

Oberholtzer says he's gotten thousands of calls about the truck in Syria. He says some people have threatened him because they think he's supporting the terrorists with this truck.

Of course the people criticizing or threatening Oberholtzer are some of the world's biggest idiots.

He told television station KHOU:

"We have a secretary here, she's scared to death. We all have families. We don't want no problems."

 Luckily, there's a major backlash against the people unfairly targeting Oberholtzer and his business. You can see that nice, welcome backlash on the Mark-1 Plumbing Facebook page. 

In a way, it's free advertising, because some people are saying they want to have Mark 1 Plumbing fix their leaking pipes or whatever. Just to support the guy.

Hell, I'd have him do my plumbing, too. But I don't think Oberholtzer wants to travel from Texas to Vermont to look at the drip, drip in my basement.

Cliche Is True: Whoever Terrorized Boston Is Total Coward

As I write this, we still don't know who detonated the bombs at the Boston Marathon or precisely why they did so.

But the general reason why they did it is obvious. They either knew their mindset and ideology are morally and intellectually bankrupt, or they knew that pretty much everybody thought that about their perspective.

The terrorist's brief moment of power in Boston.
It didn't last, and we ultimately win.  

Terrorists are terrified of the fact that most of us don't have their warped world view.

This includes people who might cause violence like this not in the name of some twisted religious or political reason, but because they want to inflict maximum pain on others. Just for fun.

Like a scared animal, the terrorists lash out because they are alone in their sad ideologies. Being alone can be very frightening, if we let it get out of control

That's not to say I have any empathy for these losers.

All of us, deep down, have some opinion, some part of our belief system that relatively few people share. But we just deal with it. We understand smart people disagree, and move on.

Or, if the political or religious system is not to our liking, we lobby for change, try to convince people our opinions are right, and vote for politicians whose worldview most closely matches our own.

That's the way it ought to be.

Terrorists are incapable of doing that. Incapable of rationality.  They can't bear a world that doesn't exactly match their way of thinking. Terrified of this reality, this total lack of power they have,  they impose their own terror on us.

To an extent, it obviously works. People are killed, and their loved ones have to suffer the loss. Terribly injured people have to deal with their disabilities. Traumatized witnesses must bear the awful memories. The rest of us put up with the inconvenience of increased security measures.

But always, defiance rises out of the ashes of any terrorist attack. After the 9/11 attacks destroyed the Twin Towers, they put up an even bigger structure, the Freedom Tower.

After the attacks in Boston, people said, hell yes, they'd come to the Boston Marathon next year, and they wouldn't let this awful crime make them cower.

We gather in solidarity to the point of being goofy. How terrible it must have been for the terrorist to see the crowd at Yankee Stadium sing "Sweet Caroline" in solidarity with Boston.

We're not moved to change our worldview to fit the terrorists' . We do just the opposite. We're not scared into submission. We live on as best we can. We don't give them the power they crave.

That's the way it ought to be.

The terrorist loses again. It makes him all the more pathetic. I don't know if they're capable of even feeling how much the world villifies them.

Most end up dying messy, lonely, miserable deaths. They commit suicide in the actual attack, or after it, or somebody kills them or a  judge and jury imposes a death sentence.

Few people feel any regret that these villains die. In that sense, the terrorists get what they want. They're taken away, forever, from the world that they cannot accept. And maybe, in death, they go to someplace even worse. Something unimaginably bad.

Unfortunately, someone, somewhere, is the next terrorist that will try to do the same thing.

But the rest of us will prevail again. Because most of us understand that no matter what our differences are, all you need is love.