Vandalism Versus Terrorism

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Lately the word "terrorist" is being splashed around faster than a bottle of Trump Cologne in a busy kennel.  The use of the word is expanding to include all manner of indignities aimed at those who regard themselves as being superior to the rest of us.   

A terrorist used to be someone acting on behalf of a foreign government or movement whose aim was to cause serious harm to, or bring down, our national government, but now the same term has devolved into a quick description of anyone who pisses off someone who is in a position of authority and influence.  Domestic terrorists were people from within our own country who committed heinous and often deadly acts against their fellow citizens - mass shooters, people who blow up buildings, plane hijackers, etc., but that now definition is being stretched to include common vandals who unwisely target the wrong people.

US Attorney General and former Fox News talker, Pam Bondi, seems to have developed a particular penchant for use of the word "terrorist," which she employees to describe people who commit acts of violence against a particular brand of automobile, one manufactured by Elon Musk, a known Trump supporter and the world's richest human.   Bondi's boss, Don Trump, also used the emotionally-loaded term of "terrorist"  to vent his rage at vandals who did some digging damage and freelance graffiti-painting at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland a couple of weeks ago.

A portion of the graffiti reportedly said "Gaza is not 4 sale,"  a reference to Trump's stated desire for the US to buy Gaza and turn it into a seaside resort on the Mediterranean.

Trump said in a social media post on March 31st that Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom had informed him that the "terrorists" had been captured and were in prison, and that he (Trump) hoped they would be treated "very harshly."

The trio of "terrorists" included a 33-year-old man, a 66-year-old woman, and a 75-year-old man.  According to news reports, only the younger man was under arrest and authorities were still trying to figure out what to do with the older two.  It is unclear at this point whether any of them had tattoos or not.

People who damage property connected to the oligarch, Elon Musk, and property belonging to the President of the United States should be treated "very harshly," but people who wantonly damage and desecrate the US Capitol Building, which belongs to all of us, and people whose actions brought about the deaths of individuals charged with protecting that building and those who serve there, those vandals, and dare I say it, terrorists, are somehow victims of a corrupt political system who deserve to be free and perhaps even collect compensation for the indignity of having been formally charged, tried, convicted, sentenced, and jailed.

That just does not smell right.

Elon's property and Trump's property are somehow more important than our property, the Capitol Building of the United States of America, and the democracy for which it stands?

To me that sounds like a serious case of misplaced values, not to mention a flagrant overuse of hyperbole.

Get a grip Pam, and Elon, and Don.  While intentional damage to government property and beloved public landmarks could be classified as terrorism, especially if it involves violence and the institution of government itself is imperiled, damage to cars and private property clearly does not meet that bar.  

Just because people succeed in pissing you off, does not make them terrorists - and neither does skin color, body art, gender, where they pray, or with whom they crawl into bed!