House of Eratosthenes

“We don’t know all the answers yet,” the Associated Press quotes President Obama as saying Friday about the Fort Hood massacre. “And I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts.”

Not only is the president right, his advice is tautological. Premature judgment is ill-advised by definition. But one senses in much of the commentary about suspect Nidal Malik Hasan a desire to avoid considered judgment as well — not just a reluctance to jump to conclusions, but a drive to go far out of one’s way to avoid ever reaching one particular conclusion.

There follows an impressive procession of quotes of people tryin’ like the dickens to avoid the one particular conclusion. It’s invaluable to have this entered into the record, but it seems to us James Taranto might have saved himself the trouble and just jumped ahead to this one:

[C]onsider the following insight from Susan Campbell of the Hartford Courant:

Much has and will be made of [Hasan’s] religion from people too ignorant to read a Qur’an, or too isolated to talk to a Muslim, or too stubborn to educate themselves. Even the Washington Post calls him a “devout Muslim.” But can a “devout Muslim” commit such acts? No more than a “devout Christian” can, no.

In fairness to Campbell, she posted this on Friday, before much of the above information had been published. Still, it seems fair to ask: Just who is jumping to conclusions?

I think we’ve reached a turning point, and the turning point is this:

Intellectualism has become the readiness, willingness and ability to call dangerous things safe, and safe things dangerous.

If you’re ready, willing and able to call dangerous things dangerous and safe things safe, you are a moron. None of this stuff needs to be debated. We only need to indulge in the name-calling, then relapse back into what we were doing just before disaster struck. When we change things, the more we change them, the less we need to discuss what we’re doing.

If you see nothing wrong with that, then you’re just a real smarty-pants. If you do see something wrong with it then it goes to show how stupid you are.

Don’t jump to conclusions, Mr. President? Let’s not forget about our wise and wonderful Leader’s caution in not speaking before all the facts were in on the Gates arrest. Or do I have that backwards? Oh, yes, I do. “The cops acted stupidly” was, as I recall, the knee-jerk reaction, well before any facts were in.

My guess? If a Christian went and shot up a Mosque, Obama would be more than happy to jump to the conclusion that it was a hate crime against Islam. He would be right, just like anyone would be right in the Hasan case to jump to the suddenly unspeakable conclusion that it was his Muslim faith that motivated him.

To make a long comment longer-er: “If you’re ready, willing and able to call dangerous things dangerous and safe things safe, you are a moron.”

That’s the state of intellectualism today, no doubt. The halfwits have found a way to pin the brains on the donkey, and that’s by simply picking the opposite of the obvious, and calling it intelligent, thoughtful, creative, etc. That way they get to feel as smart as people who are actually smart. Of course they’re not, but when they’ve managed to use that ridiculousness to wrest the power from the people who deserve it, it’s hard to fight them.
- Andy | 11/10/2009 @ 11:04
[…] Me: I think we’ve reached a turning point, an the turning point is this: […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 11/14/2009 @ 22:42
[…] Me: I think we’ve reached a turning point, and the turning point is this: […]
- Cassy Fiano » On Intellectualism | 11/14/2009 @ 22:47
[…] (Read WP posts from Morgan Freeberg) | (Read MT posts from Morgan Freeberg) Me:I think we’ve reached a turning point, and the turning point is this:Intellectualism has become […]
- On Intellectualism | Right Wing News | 11/14/2009 @ 22:52
[…] Me: Intellectualism has become the readiness, willingness and ability to call dangerous things safe, and safe things dangerous. […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 04/10/2010 @ 06:17
[…] It’s now been two years, plus a couple months since I said it…on the occasion of the Fort Hood shooting. My long-term memory is showing some signs of age, and is no longer infallible assuming it ever […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 02/07/2012 @ 20:33

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Prejudice, Denial and Fort HoodTuesday, November 10th, 2009

Prejudice, Denial and Fort Hood
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009