4 ms·

> domestic terrorists I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that you don't have a lot of exposure to terrorism. A bunch of idiots breaking into the Capito

> domestic terrorists I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that you don't have a lot of exposure to terrorism. A bunch of idiots breaking into the Capitol and… mostly wandering around taking selfies? Not really very effective terrorists. It was a stupid, pointless move, and illegal — but a long, long way short of terrorism, except possibly on the very fringes of some three-letter organization's idiosyncratic definition.

gfodor 6y ago
I think you can stretch the definition of terrorism to meet them (the congress was evacuated in fear, it influenced political events) but the lesson of 2001- is that any dilution of the term of terrorism is no free lunch, and we ought to understand what will happen if we endorse our leaders treating something as terrorism vs another form of illegal act.
- JasonFruit 6y ago
  That's an excellent expression of my concern. Also, people who agree with some but not all of the ideas held by "right-wing terrorists" suddenly become terrorist sympathizers, and their friends "associate with known terrorists and terrorist sympathizers". Imagine the context you've heard those phrases in on the news, and what you thought was okay when it happened to those people.
  - gfodor 6y ago
    Yes, given this and the actual reality of the situation, I take the stance that we ought to respond to claims of terrorism around this (by our leaders, not individuals) with ridicule and derision, despite any merit, given how dangerous it would be to allow this to be treated by the authorities as a moral justification for a domestic War on Terror.
vdnkh 6y ago
> mostly wandering around taking selfie And the ones not taking selfies were running around with zip ties and IEDs. Just because some of them were idiots, doesn't mean they all were. Edit: how do you think these "idiots" got in? https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20m04s&v=cJOgGsC0G9U https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20m04s&v=cJOgGsC0G9U
- gfodor 6y ago
  Is there proof they had actual IEDs? Zip ties are bad, but they're not in the same universe as IEDs. If they had IEDs I'd be way more open to the idea of characterizing this as terrorism, and all that comes with it. Edit: It sounds like the cops say they found IEDs. I'll be following that closely to update my view on the proper response to this. Edit2: Actually the report is that the IEDs were not found at the Capitol or as part of that but near the RNC and DNC offices elsewhere, and a pipe bomb was found in a car. So there is no evidence that the people who entered the capitol were carrying bombs. The specifics in this case matter.

gfodor 6y ago

I think you can stretch the definition of terrorism to meet them (the congress was evacuated in fear, it influenced political events) but the lesson of 2001- is that any dilution of the term of terrorism is no free lunch, and we ought to understand what will happen if we endorse our leaders treating something as terrorism vs another form of illegal act.

JasonFruit 6y ago
That's an excellent expression of my concern. Also, people who agree with some but not all of the ideas held by "right-wing terrorists" suddenly become terrorist sympathizers, and their friends "associate with known terrorists and terrorist sympathizers". Imagine the context you've heard those phrases in on the news, and what you thought was okay when it happened to those people.
- gfodor 6y ago
  Yes, given this and the actual reality of the situation, I take the stance that we ought to respond to claims of terrorism around this (by our leaders, not individuals) with ridicule and derision, despite any merit, given how dangerous it would be to allow this to be treated by the authorities as a moral justification for a domestic War on Terror.

vdnkh 6y ago

> mostly wandering around taking selfie And the ones not taking selfies were running around with zip ties and IEDs. Just because some of them were idiots, doesn't mean they all were. Edit: how do you think these "idiots" got in? https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20m04s&v=cJOgGsC0G9U https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20m04s&v=cJOgGsC0G9U

gfodor 6y ago
Is there proof they had actual IEDs? Zip ties are bad, but they're not in the same universe as IEDs. If they had IEDs I'd be way more open to the idea of characterizing this as terrorism, and all that comes with it. Edit: It sounds like the cops say they found IEDs. I'll be following that closely to update my view on the proper response to this. Edit2: Actually the report is that the IEDs were not found at the Capitol or as part of that but near the RNC and DNC offices elsewhere, and a pipe bomb was found in a car. So there is no evidence that the people who entered the capitol were carrying bombs. The specifics in this case matter.