In “Why Does Evil Make Liberals Stupid?“, John @ Powerline has a wonderful deconstruction of Megan Garber’s pomo-laden, near-incomprehensible essay in The Atlantic. Garber’s piece is:
… a good exemplar of the mushy liberal commentary that has proliferated in recent days. Authored by one Megan Garber, it is titled: “The Boston Bombers Were Muslim: So?” Before taking a close look at Ms. Garber’s article, let’s advise The Atlantic not to put away that headline. It could come in handy so often. “The Cole Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The Embassy Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The First World Trade Center Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The September 11 Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The Madrid Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The London Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The Shoebomber Was Muslim: So?” The Underwear Bomber Was Muslim: So?” “The Fort Hood Shooter Was Muslim: So?” “The Beslan Child-Murderers Were Muslim: So?” “The Times Square Bomber Was Muslim: So?”
On the Atlantic site, one commenter astutely notes:
This article seems premised on an exception that swallows the rule; that is, if we can identify a sufficient number of variances in anyone’s life, then we can’t characterize their violent act as being part of a particular, group-oriented strain of conduct. At the risk of breaking Godwin’s law, this would lead to our focus on Hitler as a unique, nonsmoking vegetarian and well-read individual whose acts could not simply be understood in the context of fascism/Nazism. But that analysis would glaringly miss the point.
