By now you've heard of the Oak Creek Asshat,[1] a white-supremacist[2] musician, former Army misfit[3] and heavy drinker who walked into a Sikh temple and commenced to murdering people, including a woman and an 85 year old man. He shot up the kitchen of the temple, where women were preparing a meal called the "langar", which is free and open to the public. The Sikhs in the temple would have welcomed the Asshat and fed him. Instead, he shot up the place.
First, let's give credit where it is richly due: The two Oak Creek police officers who did not fall back and wait for the cavalry, but who engaged the shooter and killed him. Asshat shot and wounded Lt. Brian Murphy, who was trying to aid one of the victims; Officer Sam Lenda then shot and killed Asshat. Those officers probably reduced the carnage by their actions. They are heroes.
Second, all honor to the president of the temple, a 65 year old man named Satwant Singh Kaleka, who, armed with only a dull knife, attacked Asshat and was shot fatally by Asshat. Mr. Kaleka's bravery delayed Asshat, his attack gave time to women and children in the temple to flee for their lives. If they gave the Medal of Honor to civilians, he should get one. But they don't so he should be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Third, remember when the DHS was looking at the domestic terror threat from right-wing extremists and the GOP got all bent out of shape?
Finally, was Asshat's target selection based on deranged thinking as "Osama bin Ladin wore a turban, bin Ladin was a terrorist, Sikhs wear turbans, so Sikhs are terrorists"?[4] Or was this an attack on "other" and in which case, he could have easily have walked into a mosque, a Buddhist temple or a synagogue?
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[1] Clowns like Asswipe will not be referred to by their proper names in this blog. It would be nice if the traditional press followed a similar practice.
[2] A term that might as well mean "palefaced loser".
[3] Asshat was busted in rank and tossed out of the Army on "other than honorable" conditions, the lowest grade of administrative discharge. An OTH discharge means that he were fired for being an nonredeemable dirtbag.
[4] Asshat reportedly went to high school in Colorado; they need to do a better job in teaching critical thinking skills.
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12 comments:
Honor to Satwant Singh Kaleka. He refused to be a victim.
And to the officers who responded instead of doing what the current playbook dictates.
That's the sort of cop we need. Not the kind that takes 50 of to surround a house and bust in because the occupant fired off an emergency chute in order to flounce his ass off the job.
and here is the kind of cop that is not wanted
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/08/canadians_tweeters_tweak_kalam.html
Kudos to you EB for bringing this up. I don't know about the States, but up here in Canada it is getting very little air time....Allan
I'm proud to say that my nephew was one of the responding Oak Creek Swat Officer's. He is a fine young man, and I hope he does not suffer emotionally from the shooting. My heart goes out to all the victims and their families. Finally, to all the GOPtards who ridiculed the DHS report on potential domestic terror threats and demanded apologies and more from DHS, may their gonads turn to festering lumps.
According to the LA Times, before asshat shot himself in the head, he was taken down by an "amazing" 75 yard shot that "probably would have been fatal". They described the officer as a tactical specialist, so I assume he was shooting a long gun, but still, I think he deserves some credit. I tried to post a link to the article, but Blogger wouldn't let me.
-Doug in Oakland
Officers Brian Murphy and Sam Lenda remind me of the cops of my youth, who needed nothing more than a .38 and black shiny shoes to maintain public order and who made a clanging sound when they walked. Big brass ones, yo. Not marshmallows like far too many of the ninnies today who chant "officer safety" for why they won't head in to this kind of incident but instead will merely surround the area and wait for the death toll to reach dozens. Well, I ain't ever met this Officer Safety they're talkin' bout, but he must be, like, the Paul Reubens of police officers in terms of how manly he is, given that he never seems to want to, well, serve and protect anything except his own self. Just sayin'.
-BT
So much heroism amidst the grief and terror. I am so sick of the refusal to call these murderous asshats "terrorists" just because THEY don't wear turbans. This massacre made me inarticulate with grief; our first landlord was Sikh and I met so many of his coreligionists at his home; all marvelously thoughtful and gentle people.
It was an act of terrorism, no doubt. I've read elsewhere that Mr. Kaleka may have used his kirpan to attack Asswipe. The sad thing there is that traditionally, a kirpan was a serviceable weapon. In modern use, it tends to be a ceremonial item that is as useful as a weapon as a butter knife.
I wondered if it was the kirpan. Of course, even Sikh men in military service are now required to carry basically useless ceremonial kirpan only three inches long.
>>Finally, was Asshat's target selection based on deranged thinking as "Osama bin Ladin wore a turban, bin Ladin was a terrorist, Sikhs wear turbans, so Sikhs are terrorists"?[4] Or was this an attack on "other" and in which case, he could have easily have walked into a mosque, a Buddhist temple or a synagogue?<<
The answer to both is yes. The two "thoughts" can co-exist in the universe of a single (dimwitted) brain. Meanwhile, in Texas, they're trying to make teachers criminals if they dare to teach critical thinking. Way to go, Texas! The last thing we need down there is a buncha critical-ized, logical-ized, pointy-headed philosophers who will think it over before they shoot up a bunch of furriners.
Crankily yours,
The New York Crank
Actually, Asshat was a former military intelligence specialist whose job was producing propaganda for foreign consumption so he certainly knew the difference between Sikhs and Muslims, you don't get recruited for that specialty unless you have at least some clue. My guess is he simply hated brown people, period, and really didn't care about the difference between them. And he likely would have managed to get away if not for the heroism of all involved who slowed him down enough for the majority of the worshippers to get to cover and for the cops to arrive before he managed to get away -- remember, they found him *outside* the temple, i.e., he was trying to escape.
And yes, Asshat's Aryan Nations buddies hate Jews and Bhuddhists too. So yeah, if it'd been a synagogue there, he would likely have been just as happy going into one of them and shooting it up...
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