On the Qatari Diplomat incident

[nadinbrzezinski]

1.- No, this guy will not be fined, but he's leaving the country. That is pretty standard for a diplomat...

2.- This is telling though about the media and the country. Yes, initial reports were BAD, and yes I welcome having media, but perhaps our lovely media should WAIT an hour before trying to scoop each other. NAH that WILL NEVER HAPPEN.

3.- The reaction by the authorities was actually, gasp I know, appropriate. They had what they deemed a threat and they neutralized that threat using minimum force. But they scrambled fighters... gasp that is part of the protocol. I will even tell you why folks... remember 9.11? this is not for the squeamish... if this was a real threat and the plane seemed to be going down into a ... building... they have to decide whether to shoot down a civilian aircraft to save people on the ground. After 9.11 this authority went down to very senior level Officers in NORCOM. I am not sure if it has devolved back to Presidential Order only... but that is why those fighters were launched.

4.- Perhaps it is time for Muricans to realize one thing, we can never, ever be 100% safe. Yes, sooner or later there will be an incident where people will be killed. For the record Terrorism does not just come from abroad, but it has been awfully successful. The goal of terrorism is to well TERRORIZE, and change the nature of a society. I dare say we are now treated like children, and we like it. So time to grow up ok.

Yes it is time to assume that there are people out there who want to kill you, and that it is time to be adults about it. Yes we are all going to die... OH MY GOD!!!! And it just might be this way... so be it.

By the way. the way the media reported this at first, well let's say that an Ambassador probably (most likely) was called to State and his country will now agree to some other things that ahem are convenient to the US. Yes that's the world works. And if, worst case scenario, this was a real event, and the plane indeed went off... all those screaming but they DID NOT DO THE RIGHT THING and over reacted, would be screaming, WHY DIDN'T they stop them?

[Ozymanithrax]

1. The statement that 9/11 changed everything is proof that terrorism works.

The way the Oklahoma City Bombing affected us shows that terrorism works.

I agree with you that the media shitstorm was a problem. It is a symptom of the way our media works. The are competing for viewers, and will take what ever shortcuts in accuracy are necessary to get eyes on their advertisements.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. OKC didn't affect much

it was a POLICE matter and treated that way.

Though many in fly over country were convinced it was them Aryabs in the early hours.

Which is telling about the country.

Now I will correct myself, OKC accelerated the national security state and the deployment of things like Echelon... (Yes hi there Mike... I am sure Echelon will flag this message)

[Ozymanithrax]

3. OKC added to the changes in our society...

just as the era of hijackings worked small changes.

No society changes suddenly. A bit here, a bit there, and eventually everything is different.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Point taken... gasp I can even see the changs

in that history of labor... oy... the whole fight back has been long and now effective. That is another story...