Stephen Harper marks 9/11 with racism

Emperor Harper has once again done something disgusting. With the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks coming up, he has said in a CBC interview that the greatest threat to Canada is NOT the recession, or hatred, or oppressive government... but "Islamacism".

Of course, this is being gobbled up by the white supremacists on countless blogs and news sites, as they once again call for all Muslims to be wiped out of the world at large (or at least kicked out of North America, regardless of whether or not they've actually done anything wrong).

It's for reasons like this, that I'm seriously reluctant to mark 9/11 directly, on Bored on the Corner -- while the loss of life from the attacks themselves was certainly tragic, I'm much more upset by how a large number of us have used that as an excuse to wage war against anyone and anything that is not conservative, white, and Christian. 9/11 was more than just the statistically worst terrorist attack in North America. It was the rallying cry for a new breed of right-wingers to dominate our politics, and bring back a sheer hatred that blends the worst elements of McCarthyism and -- yes, I'm going there -- Nazism.

9/11 gave birth to a world where even supposedly enlightened Western states endorsed torturing random brown people, or locking up their countrymen for having a mind of their own. It gave birth to a world, where simply taking a photograph within a mile of an airport, is enough to have you branded as a terrorist. It gave birth to a world where we largely ignored the people who were really responsible for that mass murder, and instead paint bullseyes on Canadians and Europeans if they happen to tolerate Muslims and gay people.

It gave birth to a world where we were supposedly fighting radical Muslims to preserve our freedoms... yet we are accepting of radical Christians taking away our freedoms anyway.

Stephen Harper's stupid and horrible remarks are not the first instance of this, but they are the best example we've seen of it from a world leader. The fact that a lot of people are cheering him on, is what really makes me grieve.

In the worst corner of Hell, Osama bin Laden is laughing at us.

Thinking of Norway

As we all know by now, Norway was bombed and shot up yesterday, in related attacks that have so far killed over 90 people (as of this writing). At this time, a suspect is in custody, who is known to have had extreme right-wing views... and contrary to what Sun News and the various Murdoch propaganda machines have claimed, this man is NOT a Muslim, but a Norwegian-born Christian.

I'm honestly not sure what to feel more appalled by; the loss of life on its own, or the fact that various conservative bigots are STILL blaming this on Muslims and liberals.

I hesitated to put this article up so soon after the attack, but this really has to be said: THAT IS ONE OF THE STUPIDEST THINGS I'VE EVER READ. There is ironclad proof that a man who allegedly spent hours murdering indiscriminate innocents -- including children -- is a conservative extremist, with an axe to grind against Muslims. Yet rather than actually obey basic sense, these assholes ONCE AGAIN give in to base instincts and sheer hatred, and BLAME ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES.

In fact if you read the comments to this article, you will find a user named "Viktor" (and others) saying that the kids got what they deserved, because they were non-white and in a left-wing event.

...I have no further words for that -- at least, none that wouldn't make me fall prey to the same blind hate that these people thrive on.

OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH NORWAY.

Burning the Qu'ran (reprise)

The Ground Zero Mosque

Miss (Muslim) USA... who the hell cares?

Another year, another Miss USA pageant that causes controversy, over conservative bigotry. If you missed it -- and I certainly would have if not for the Reich Wing -- Rima Fakih, a Labense-American from Michigan, became the first Arab woman to win the pageant. Almost immediately, conservative bloggers were raising their pitchforks. Why? Come on, do you even need to ask?

Despite the fact that this woman was raised in a partially Christian family, and the fact that she won the contest by parading around in a micro-bikini, right-wing blogger Debbie Schlussel insisted that Fakih was a Muslim extremist because -- wait for it -- she has the same last name as someone in Hezbollah.

Seriously? That's what you've got?

Unfortunately, many others have the same point of view, calling the increase of Muslim beauty queens a quiet form of invasion brought about by affirmative action. Um, here's a wacky thought, but maybe these women EARNED their crowns! And how many times does the smart part of the world have to explain, that being brown doesn't make someone a terrorist. It's like we didn't learn anything from the days when black people had to sit in the back of the bus. By the way, I really have to point out that if Rima Fakih did go around the Middle East dressed the way she does, she would be gangraped, mutilated, and stoned to death for being a so-called whore and infidel. Yeah, she really sounds like a member of Al Qaeda, doesn't she?

And one last thing -- you guys tried this exact same bullshit when Barack Obama ran for president. Aside from bunch of ignorant rednecks, no one believed it, and so most of you guys just look like idiots and racists. Find something else to say, or just quit while you're behind. Enough said.

About Fort Hood

As we all know by now, an army psychiatrist and another soldier went berserk in the Fort Hood US Army base, killing or wounding about 40 people before being taken into custody.

The disgusting thing is that even more this man was revealed to be of Arabic descent (which Fox News sure didn't hesitate to jump on), there were people commenting on blogs and forums, "This is a war on Islam!" (of course they conveniently forget that just about every other mad shooter or domestic terrorist in American history has been a white man).

Right wingers have accused me and the left of slamming them unnecessarily when it comes to attitudes towards ethnics, but honestly what more proof do you need that North America as a whole is much more racist than it wants to admit? They insist that Islam as a whole is a brutal religion, based on no more than the actions of some fanatics (though of course no one is allowed to judge Christianity on the same grounds). Whenever some kind of trouble erupts, not only do they assume it's a Muslim doing it, but if they are right, they want to just lynch the person on the spot -- no trial, no due process, no nothing. Yet if the same thing happens to any other ethnic or religious group on the other side of the world, we call it a travesty.

Furthermore, when Oklahoma City was bombed, or Columbine High School shot up, I don't recall a single person saying that all the white people and/or Christians should be kicked out or killed. Enough said.