Crunchy Con

Latest from the NYTimes:

As military and law-enforcement investigators waited to interview Major Hasan, a contradictory portrait of him emerged. Neighbors described him as a man who dressed alternately in a military uniform and flowing white robes, and who gave a copy of the Koran to his next-door neighbor a day before the shooting.

Reports from the shooting suggested that soldiers may have heard him shout something like "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is great!" -- just before he fired two automatic handguns. He was shown on a security video tape from a local convenience store wearing white robes just hours before the shooting. And family members said that he had complained about being harassed expressly because he was a Muslim, and that he had expressed deep concerns about deploying.

Acquaintances said Major Hasan was upset about his future deployment in a war zone, and heatedly opposed United States foreign policy in discussions with fellow soldiers. Earlier this year law-enforcement officers monitoring Islamic Web sites identified a man of the same name as a blogger who posted comments on suicide bombings in which he equated such acts to those by soldiers who use their own bodies to shield fellow soldiers from exploding shrapnel.

What I want to know is this: What did the Army know about this man's views -- and why were they not on alert over him? Col. Terry Lee said on Fox last night that he had been told that the Army was investigating Hasan. We'll need to know more about this. I have the same question that Jennifer Rubin does:

How is it possible that all this was overlooked or excused? The entire country will be asking this, first in stunned, hushed voices, then, as the shock subsides, with rising fury. Many today already have a nagging sense that we are still collectively sleepwalking through the imminent and ongoing danger of Islamic fundamentalism, unable or unwilling to focus on what is before our eyes for fear of recrimination or causing offense. And 13 are dead and 30 are injured. It defies comprehension.

By the way, I was mowing the grass this afternoon and stopped to talk to one of my neighbors. Her soldier son worked with Hasan on the base back East. She said he described Hasan as unfriendly, a loner. And she said, "He told me there's no way Hasan is crazy. He knew what he was doing." For what that's worth...

David Frum reminds us to keep this image below and these others in mind as we struggle to figure out the meaning of Maj. Nidal Hasan's disgusting mass murder. Frum's right:

The lamest Soviet propagandist couldn't have made this up. Yves Smith:

It should come as no surprise that those at the top of the food chain get preferential treatment on all levels. But this still stinks to high heaven. Employees of the Goldman, the Fed, Citigroup, and other banks are getting H1N1 vaccine allotments out of proportion to what can be justified from a public health standpoint. In particular, Goldman has gotten more than Lenox HIll hospital, which needs it not just for the sick but more important, for workers (not only does the public need to keep front-line health care workers in as good shape as possible, but if they get the infection, they become disease vectors fast, given the number of people they see).

Then again, banks have become parasitic, so why should we expect anything different?

Can there be a more fitting illustration of something deeply wrong with our country and its government? I mean, for frack's sake, major banks are getting proportionally more flu vaccine than hospitals! It's almost a parody, with top-hatted Monopoly men smoking seegars at the front of the line, with their sleeves rolled up ready for their flu jab. But this is reality.

Amazing findings -- newborns cry in tones native to the language of their mothers, suggesting that they begin acquiring rudiments of language in the womb.

What does this say about the humanity of the unborn? Hmm?

We now know that the Fort Hood shooter, Hasan, was a Muslim, and fancied himself a devout one. We know that he shouted "Allahu akbar!" as he executed American soldiers. We are informed by a retired Army colonel and co-worker of Hasan's that he had been talking about how America has no business in the Muslim world, and that Muslims should rise up against the military. And we know that on the day of the killings, Hasan went out in traditional Arab garb; you don't see that often in Killeen, Texas, suggesting that the Army major, who was raised in America, had developed a strong identification with his ethnic and religious background. One of his neighbors in Maryland, the last place he lived, remembered him fondly as calm, nice and, quote, "religious."

No matter how badly the media try to spin it another way, or to ignore the religion ghost in this story, Hasan's religion was to all appearances a key factor in the mass murder he committed. You don't have a Muslim shouting "Allahu akbar!" as he executes people one by one, and conclude that religion is incidental to his crime. You have to be a moral idiot to draw that conclusion, a politically correct nitwit.

So: how should we regard the role of Hasan's religion in this infamy? Read on below the jump for a discussion.

Ah, now we're getting somewhere interesting. Jamelle says that Ta-Nehisi Coates is right and I am wrong about whether or not Americans are "bigots" about homosexuals because a majority don't support same-sex marriage. (Read Ta-Nehisi's remarks here). What's interesting, and...

Latest report is that the shooters were U.S. soldiers, though no motive is known. The nearby hospital is begging people to come give blood. CNN quoting a soldier based at Fort Hood as having said that the base is so...

Libertarian writer Shikha Dalmia says Ayn Rand was right about so much, but fatally wrong about an essential aspect of human nature: the impulse to selflessness and compassion. This explains why she's a cult figure for younger people, but eventually...

The WaPo interviews gay marriage activist leaders, who say they won't change their strategy going forward, despite the Maine loss. How is it they lost given that they had the media and the political establishment on their side? Well might...

"I bring you gladsome tidings," Julie told me in a late afternoon phone call. "Our Verizon contract expired in September." Meaning, of course, that we were now free to buy iPhones. Which I did, on the way home from work...