The obvious reason for PC-thinking and PC-speak

[fpb]

The absurdity of the political and media reactions to the Fort Hood murders is palpable. (And, to his credit, President Obama made a clear and deliberate move away from it in his speech, attacking by implication the religious motivations of the murderer and denying his notion of God and of eternal justice.) So: set yourself that absurdity not as

Comments

[sanscouronne]

"They regard the average American (or European) citizen as both morally and intellectually their inferior; a kind of ill-trained beast, ever in danger of reverting to violence and ever looking for "others" to hate."

I am ashamed to admit that I am torn between rejecting and agreeing with this conception of fellow humans. The more one is isolated from the populace, usually through climbing the ranks of class and education, the more ignorant one is of the mainstream.

[fpb]

I am glad you think my analysis has some merit. As for your own position, as long as you are aware of the dangers of isolation, you have not reached the position where you are lying to yourself - which is the really serious point.

[sanscouronne]

Indeed, that is the point. In my opinion, the problem with most politicians is that that they delude themselves into thinking that they are one of the people (or, thinking otherwise, act as such), when, by virtue of their position, they really are not. Usually the achievement of a high post in politics has been preceded by years in Ivy League universities and a high-paying jobs in business/law, etc, experiences that establish you in a class of people far removed from the "average" American. Unfortunately, this class is just as prejudiced and narrow-minded as their perceived inferiors.

[fpb]

Couldn't have put it better myself - and that is not only the case in America. Actually, congratulations on the clarity and economy of the way you expressed it.

[affablestranger]

As is so often the case, you have written down the things I was thinking.

Excellent post.

Hear, hear

[johncwright]

Well said.

I would add another possible reason. Defending the weak and downtrodden give the elite a cheap feeling of moral superiority: they can see themselves in the looking glass as if they wore the cape and tights of a superhero. It is cheap because they do not need actually, you know, to rescue any damsel in distress from a sawmill, or face any evil scientists in combat. They get a miniature ticker-tape parade in their own imaginations whenever they do this and talk this way, but they don't actually have to do anything heroic to deserve it, merely perform a ritually meaningless bit of reciting mumbo-jumbo magic words, and ward off an imaginary danger.

Re: Hear, hear

[fpb]

I would say so, yes. With the proviso that what they actually manage to do is a kind of oppression of the majority, which is definitely in the weaker position.

[inverarity]

This may shock you, but I agree with you, for the most part. I'm rolling my eyes at all the people falling over themselves to insist that there's no reason to think this was religiously motivated.

Of course, I also roll my eyes when Christians insist that fanatics who shoot abortion doctors "aren't real Christians."

I do, however, think you underestimate the potential of an anti-Muslim backlash. No, angry mobs are not going to start lynching Muslims and burning mosques, but all the right-wing sites are full of commenters talking about "purging Muslims" from the military, or even the country. (Never mind that Nidal Hasan is a natural-born U.S. citizen.)

[fpb]

The difference being of course that the seven (in all) fanatics who shot abortion "doctors" over a matter of more than twenty years not only are not real Christians but are as rare as hen's teeth. Compare and contrast.

I wonder

[johncwright]

I am curious as to what the reaction among the PC Aristoi would be if and when a faithful Muslim shoots an abortionist or two. As far as I know, abortion is prohibited by the religion of the Prophet as clearly as it is prohibited by the religion of the Savior, and the Imams hate abortion as much as the Popes.

[shezan]

Sadly, your explanation makes more sense than most of I've read or heard about this phenomenon.

We should however not discount the notable minority of people who have so much vested in their world outlook, and political choices, that they have actually persuaded themselves that they are telling the truth

[fpb]

No - I took care to say that many or most of the people who line up to make fools of themselves in pubic are conscious of what they are doing; I never said that all of them are. Alas, true believers can never be discounted.