Gov. Paterson on Cabdriver Attack: Missing the Point

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 11:24:10 AM EST
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Leave it to politicians like New York Gov. David Paterson to miss the forest for the trees.

"This is what the terrorists want," said New York Gov. David Paterson Thursday. "This is the terrorists getting a yield on their investment when they attacked this country and blew up the World Trade Center, that we're now fighting each other. This is making their day."

It's not the lone nutjob causing that reaction. Replace the "fighting with each other" with "spying on Americans, destroying our civil liberties, restricting Miranda rights and becoming a police state" and it's a valid point and one that needs to be made more often. How much better it would read had he said:[More...]

"This is what the terrorists want," said New York Gov. David Paterson Thursday. "This is the terrorists getting a yield on their investment when they attacked this country and blew up the World Trade Center, that we're now "spying on Americans, destroying our civil liberties, restricting Miranda rights and becoming a police state. This is making their day." (words in italics mine, not Paterson's.)

It's the Government's over-the-top reaction to events like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed Christmas Day bomb effort though mass employment of body scanners at airports and restriction of Miranda rights,and its use of indefinite detention and military commissions instead of federal criminal trials, along with warrantless wiretapping, ramped-up camera surveillance and searches of ordinary citizens that give the terrorists their payback, not the random act of a drunk, mentally unhinged kid. It's the destruction of our Government they welcome, not attacks on individual Muslims.

New York City has a chance with the Islamic Center to take a step forward, towards tolerance and away from bigotry. Just like it does with hosting a federal criminal trial of the 9/11 defendants, which it should be welcoming instead playing the fear card and lamenting the trial's inconvenience. Instead, New York seems intent on stumbling, tripping over its own feet, and as I said, missing the forest for the trees.

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Gov. Paterson on Cabdriver Attack: Missing the Point | 18 comments (18 topical)

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Terrorists also want... (none / 0) (#1)
by kdog on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 11:31:09 AM EST

air to breathe and food to eat...should we stop breathing and eating?

I don't consult with terrorists before doing something that I want...why should the planners of the community center? Why should NYC? It's just all so stupid.

Great Post (none / 0) (#2)
by squeaky on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 11:43:31 AM EST

And to the point. The terrorists and their US political enablers have won big time.

Faux News Also Problematic (none / 0) (#3)
by squeaky on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 11:48:32 AM EST

Wouldn't you know it: For the entire day yesterday, Fox News -- for all of its copious coverage of the NYC mosque controversy and Tiger Woods' divorce -- somehow couldn't see fit to run any kind of coverage at all about the stabbing of that Muslim New York cabbie.
Indeed, when Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer brought it up as an example of the kind of viciousness being stirred up by Fox News on The O'Reilly Factor, fill-in host Laura Ingraham completely flipped out and began shouting over him, declaring that "we haven't confirmed that yet."

C&L

And indeed she was right (none / 0) (#5)
by jimakaPPJ on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 12:10:31 PM EST

Mr. Enright is a volunteer with Intersections International, a nonprofit that works to promote cross-cultural understanding and has spoken out in favor of the proposed Islamic cultural center near ground zero.

NY Times

What happened? Did the cabbie disagree with Enright over the location?


There seems to be (none / 0) (#8)
by Zorba on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 12:58:41 PM EST

a bit more to the story than the report in the NY Times that you cited. Because the nonprofit he volunteered for was in favor of the Cordoba Center, does not necessarily mean that Enright himself was. He had been embedded with a Marine group in Afghanistan for five weeks in April, making a documentary, which may (or may not- who knows?- have changed his perspective). And there are reports that he "kept a personal diary filled with anti-Islamic rants." See link.


All I can go by is this (none / 0) (#9)
by jimakaPPJ on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 01:22:08 PM EST

and has spoken out in favor of the proposed Islamic cultural center near ground zero.

Can you share a link to these "other reports?"


You could have followed (none / 0) (#12)
by Zorba on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 01:34:59 PM EST

the TPM article's link I gave above (if you read it), but here's the link that TPM referenced in their post.


I read that (none / 0) (#15)
by jimakaPPJ on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 01:47:38 PM EST

and still nothing makes sense. I suggest we wait and see what's what before deciding that we must all quit protesting the GZ mosque.


It's not (none / 0) (#17)
by Zorba on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 02:14:15 PM EST

at Ground Zero and it's not a mosque. Yes, it could be considered a mosque because it will have a place for Muslims to pray. But then, technically, the Pentagon itself could be considered a mosque, because it also has a prayer room for Muslims to worship. And this one is not two blocks away from the Pentagon- it's in it.


: Saying there are terrorist-symps (none / 0) (#22)
by jondee on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 05:24:52 PM EST

within the 9/11 victimized Pentagon would be like McCarthy claiming there was commies in the Pentagon..
The Right over-played their hand that way once, they're not likely to make that mistake again..
Even though the existence of that prayer room is still deeply "hurtful" to the 9/11 victims and those who listen to the Fos Network on a live 24hr feed.

Don't you mean (none / 0) (#18)
by CST on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 02:48:12 PM EST

the Fox News Mosque?


Protesting is your right... (none / 0) (#21)
by kdog on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 04:54:51 PM EST

do it up my friend.

It would be wrong to blame the entire anti brigade for this sick s.o.b., just as it is wrong to blame NYC muslims for the sick s.o.b's who killed all those people on 9/11.


: Tell you what (none / 0) (#24)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri Aug 27, 2010 at 08:01:51 PM EST

We'll shut down the protesters when they shut down the construction and move it.
If this was about love and kindness they would have shamed us by walking away.
It is about demonstrating that America is too weak to reject a studied insult... and to demonstrate to the moderate Muslims that they had best follow the rules of the radicals.

Link To Other Reports (none / 0) (#23)
by squeaky on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 08:13:45 PM EST

Fox has reported:

While reporting on the stabbing of a Muslim New York City cab driver, Alisyn Camerota maintained anti-Islamic rhetoric had nothing to do with the crime.

NY Daily News reports:

When he was arrested Tuesday in midtown, Enright had a personal diary filled with pages of "pretty strong anti-Muslim comments," a police source said.
The source said Enright's journal equated Muslims with "killers, ungrateful for the help they were being offered, filthy murderers without a conscience."

Not Funny (none / 0) (#20)
by squeaky on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 04:37:46 PM EST

What happened? Did the cabbie disagree with Enright over the location?

Are you defending Enright's attempt at murdering the Muslim cabbie?

Or are you defending Faux for deciding that the racist attack was not newsworthy?


The affects created by terroists (none / 0) (#4)
by Saul on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 11:58:46 AM EST

911 Yep they crashed three planes into buildings.
Tragic but there real conquest was wow we brought Wall Street to it's knees which hurt them financially. We brought all airlines to a standstill which hurt them big time financially as well. It was a total embarrassment for the US and its image of power. We made U.S. have to spend billions in security and and security equipment. The leaders of the terrorist groups probably had bought stock in security equipment manufactures before initiating 911. We made you go after us on our turf and it's costing you billions and the lives of many coalition soldiers. We got you Americans super scared of us and you can see how scare with this Mosque thing. Yep this is how they figured it.

There were many coordinated suicide attacks in Iraq yesterday just after the combat troops pulled out. Iraq could fall apart. All for not

Afghanistan does not look promising unless you want to stay there forever. Afghanistan is the grave yard of emperors. No one has conquered it with the exception of Atila the Hun and yet his control over Afghanistan is questionable

Comments with insults to other commenters (none / 0) (#16)
by Jeralyn on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 02:11:06 PM EST

have been deleted. Stick to the topic please. Threads become boring when they degenerate into p*ssing matches between two commenters, whatever their views. If you want a blog to be about you, start your own. That said, feel free to disagree with each other, civilly and as to the topic at hand.

: Standing ovation (none / 0) (#19)
by MO Blue on Thu Aug 26, 2010 at 02:55:55 PM EST

Shouts of brava, brava heard from the audience.