The headline of this Washington Post story by Aaron Blake is “Trump often blames mass shootings on mental health. When the perpetrator is Muslim, he blames Islam.” There’s just one problem: nowhere in the article does Blake offer a single example of Trump blaming Islam for a mass shooting committed by a Muslim. The only evidence that Blake offers for his claim that Trump blames Islam for jihad mass murders is this Trump quote: “The Fort Hood shooter delivered a presentation to a room full of mental health experts before the attacks in which he threw out one red flag after another. He even proclaimed that, ‘We love death more than you love life.’ Not good. These warning signs were ignored because political correctness has replaced common sense in our society.”
Indeed. And a good example of the madness that has overtaken us is this Washington Post article. In reality, Western authorities, if not Trump, routinely ascribe what are obviously jihad attacks to mental illness. In this article are just a few of what are a multitude of examples.
There is also the simple fact that many of the mass shooters Blake mentions in this article really were mentally ill; in the establishment media’s frenzy to create a “white supremacist threat,” that salient point is often overlooked. Meanwhile, Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood jihad murderer, was clearly quite sane, methodically planning out his attack and calmly explaining its ideological roots both before and after his murders. But such facts interfere with the media narrative, and so Aaron Blake has to deep-six them.
“Trump often blames mass shootings on mental health. When the perpetrator is Muslim, he blames Islam.” By Aaron Blake, Washington Post, August 5, 2019:
President Trump invoked “racism, bigotry and white supremacism” in his speech Monday about the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. That’s a step he has resisted taking in the past when perpetrators of violence have demonstrated those characteristics, so it was notable.
But the bulk of his comments suggested the hateful ideology described in the El Paso shooter’s alleged online screed was merely a byproduct of other things — with mental illness being chief among them. “If you look at both of these cases, this is mental illness,” he said Sunday. “These are really people that are very, very seriously mentally ill.”
This is part of a demonstrated pattern for Trump, but it’s one that often gets ahead of the evidence. And there is one conspicuous instance in which the pattern doesn’t hold: when the perpetrator of such atrocities is Muslim….
To Trump’s critics, talking about mental illness is a way for him to avoid thornier issues. Those include gun control and the potential radicalization associated with his own rhetoric, which includes his recent racist tweets urging four nonwhite congresswomen to “go back” to their countries.
And there is some evidence that this is precisely what Trump is doing. That’s because, while Trump makes a point of invoking mental illness when it comes to large-scale tragedies, there is one instance in which he has never done it. And that’s when he’s talking about tragedies perpetrated by Muslims. In those cases, a hateful ideology isn’t a byproduct of existing mental issues; the ideology is the cause, full stop.
Trump has not made the kind of comments you see above when it comes to Sri Lanka, Paris, Manchester, Brussels or any other international tragedy perpetrated by Muslims. Nor has he done so when the attacks were domestic, such as in New York City, Orlando, San Bernardino, Calif., Boston and Fort Hood, Tex. About the only time he has alluded to mental issues with Muslim terrorists was in May, when he called the Islamic State “stone-cold crazy” and “nuts” and urged people to be on the lookout for its adherents.
A case in point is his big terrorism speech in August 2016. During it, he mentioned the Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Hassan.
“The Fort Hood shooter delivered a presentation to a room full of mental health experts before the attacks in which he threw out one red flag after another,” Trump said, referring to a slide show Hassan delivered to fellow Army physicians in 2007. “He even proclaimed that, ‘We love death more than you love life.’ Not good. These warning signs were ignored because political correctness has replaced common sense in our society.”
But were these “warning signs” like the mental-health “red flags” above? Nope. Even after talking about Hassan speaking to “mental health experts,” Trump never flagged Hassan as having some kind of illness. He argued that these “warning signs” pertained to Hassan’s ideology rather than his mental state. And he proposed a commission to study Islamic radicalization, not mental health…
Kay says
Wow! To many it won’t matter what the President said or what the real issues are. So many are simply against something if Trump is for it, that this argument to protect jihadists will take hold.
gordon miller (@dagmiller) says
This must be the condition on a grand scale as being deaf, dump, and blind. The Islamic terrorists are quite clearly followers of the teachings of their religion of hate, intolerance, misogyny, and crimes against humanity.
David Grisez says
It is important to accurately identify the motivation of murderers, especially mass murderers. When the murderer or mass murderer is a Muslim, it is important to accurately assess with out biases and political correctness the role that the teachings of Islam motivated the Muslim murderer. This is because Islam is filled in its teaching with many commands to carry out Jihad and to kill infidels in both the Koran and the Hadiths. And Muslims who follow these commands become violent dangerous people.
David says
Surely enough evidence has built up the muslims responsible for killings have two things in common.1:they are muslim. 2: they are inspired by the Koran. I rest my case.
Barb says
Washington Post is insulting all genuinely mentally ill people!
Washington Post should look at the IDEOLOGY / BELIEFS of the Murderers!
CRUSADER says
Barb, that’s brilliant!
Let’s expect journalists to actually do some hard investigative work —
and read a bit before reporting!
Christianblood says
The “West” continues to maintain a facade of vitality while in reality it is full of death and decay. It still can flatter and awe with glitter and gold, sexuality, sensuality, and a longing for the “good life”…The West is not failing but has failed. All its promises of freedom, happiness, rights, equality and so forth have been found to be but lies and falsehood….More below:
https://russian-faith.com/protocol-court-case-between-western-society-and-christ-n2368?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Angemon says
But remember: just because CB defends Russia on a near daily basis, extensively quotes from Russian sites, parrots Russian-anti-Western propaganda and defends Russia’s allies, like the number one terrorism-sponsoring state Iran, he’s not Russian…
Or so he claims…
<in any case, from that website:
https://russian-faith.com/trends-church-politics/many-top-us-christian-leaders-are-working-russia-again-n1035
Ups!
Christianblood says
Angemon
I am not a Russian but Russia is only one of the few sane and free countries that left in the world at the moment!
Angemon says
“I am not a Russian”
As I pointed before, I’ll say of that what you said of me not being American: something among the lines of “all the same to me”.
“but Russia is only one of the few sane and free countries that left in the world at the moment!”
A country where domestic violence is not a crime and where journalists looking into government corruption, as well as political opponents of the regime, tend to get thrown in jail or show up dead. “Sane and free” indeed… So “sane and free” Russia is that it’s suicide rate per capita is twice that of the United States…. Probably because of the centuries old history of state-sponsored vodka abuse. Not that’s a problem in Chechnyia, a de-facto sharia law, where drinking alcohol can get you thrown in jail. And if you’re an homosexual there, you either stay in the closet or on a “re-education” camp – your choice. But I guess the “sane” people running the country see nothing wrong with a sharia state in their territory…
“Sane and free” indeed. “Sane and free” indeed…
libertyORdeath says
The West is so terrible that the rest of the world relies on it for technology, economic stability, infrastructure, etc. That and the millions flocking to western countries despite it being so horrendous.
gravenimage says
christianblood wrote:
The “West” continues to maintain a facade of vitality while in reality it is full of death and decay. It still can flatter and awe with glitter and gold, sexuality, sensuality, and a longing for the “good life”…The West is not failing but has failed. All its promises of freedom, happiness, rights, equality and so forth have been found to be but lies and falsehood….
…………………..
christianblood has said many times that he *hates* freedom, human rights, and equality–so *of course* he considers these failures.
He has also said before that opportunity and hope are bad, because only without can one–according to him–be spiritual. He has, not surprisingly, lauded the sterile savagery of Islam for being so “spiritual”, and has described murdering Infidels as “spiritual”, as well.
This is, likely, why he so often demands that Muslims be allowed to conquer the West.
More, in reply to Angemon:
I am not a Russian but Russia is only one of the few sane and free countries that left in the world at the moment!
…………………..
Well, this is just really strange, given how often christianblood sneers at the very concept of freedom.
gravenimage says
The site russian-faith.com also has an interview with “The Saker”, who features Sheikh Imran Nazar Hossein, who says that Orthodox Christians should ally with Muslims in order to destroy the West–something that christianblood has espoused many times before.
Angemon says
“The site russian-faith.com also has an interview with “The Saker””
The Saker being a Dutch-Russian purveyor of anti-american propaganda married to an American woman and living in America. Also, nasty little guy:
http://cirilizovano.blogspot.com/2015/11/who-is-saker.html
gravenimage says
Here’s the article:
“An Insight Into Russian Christianity: Interview With The Saker”
https://russian-faith.com/church-politics/insight-russian-christianity-interview-saker-n1086
“Spiritually and culturally, the Orthodox Church is much closer to certain form of Islam (Sufism) and Hinduism (Dvaita Vedanta) than to western Christianity.”
J D S says
What’s the difference between Christianblood’s newsy report and the Washington Post newsy report? They both report FAKE NEWS…NO DIFFERENCE!
CRUSADER says
Trump doesn’t fit into the mould.
James Lincoln says
I’m sure that some Islamic jihadists fit the medical diagnosis of mentally ill.
That being said, the vast majority of them are not mentally ill – using a strict medical definition.
They believe in Islam, an evil ideology, and choose to conduct violent Islamic jihad because of those beliefs.
The free world needs to wrap their head around the fact that an Islamic jihadist is usually not mentally ill but is simply evil.
Yes, unfortunately, there is pure evil in the world.
mortimer says
Very good, JL. Most jihadists, like most Hitlerites or most Stalinists were not mentally ill … because …
it’s the IDEOLOGY, stupid.
mortimer says
Addendum: Jihadists do not see themselves as evil. They feel good that they are doing the will of Allah. They commit atrocities, tortures and assassinations and then kneel to pray to Allah to accept their human sacrifices.
They see their evil acts as ‘good’ acts and they do them with a clear conscience.
CRUSADER says
Lies and evil go together like truth and goodness do. They cannot be separated.
Jesus made it clear in John 3:19-21 that people loved the darkness (lies) and rejected the truth because their deeds were evil.
When we cling to sin and evil, we will always reject and despise the truth.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
A thought here is that in a way Islam, being a Moslem, is a form of mental illness. But the WaPo would never even consider that. The bad news is that Jeff Bezos is taking over the world.
By George says
It isn’t mental illness, it’s their damn Quran.
CRUSADER says
You have to be a bit mentally whacked to follow that senseless piece of nonsense — the Queer’an.
Warmac9999 says
Neither do the Muslims ascribe the murders as products of mental illness. They just keep quiet.
Lydia Church says
They twist everything he says. In classical idiot fashion.
Angemon says
Factual accuracy? On a newspaper? No need for that when “Trump often blames mass shootings on mental health. When the perpetrator is Muslim, he blames Islam.” makes a great soundbyte to preach to the choir…
ntesdorf says
Muslims do have a mental health issue. They believe in Islam, in the Qura’n and the Sunna of Mohammed. These are beliefs that a healthy mind would reject immediately.
mortimer says
Islam is belief in a fantasy world, but not really a disorganization of the mind. Most jihadists are well organized and well educated.
CRUSADER says
If most jihadists are of sound mind, yet they believe a fantasy then what could account for that ?
DELUSION sent upon them?
There is no greater delusion than Islam ☪️
and no greater rejection of God than believing in deception!
It is of great importance to observe that the opposite of ‘believing the truth’ is ‘delighting in wickedness’.
This is because truth has moral implications and makes moral demands.
Evil, not error, is the root problem.
The whole process is grimly logical:
First, they delight in wickedness, or ‘make sinfulness their deliberate choice’.
Secondly, they refuse to believe and love the truth (because it is impossible to love evil and truth simultaneously).
Thirdly, Satan gets in and deceives them.
Fourthly, God himself ‘sends’ them a strong delusion, giving them over to the lie they have chosen.
Fifthly, they are condemned and perish. This is extremely solemn teaching. It tells us that the downward slippery path begins with a love for evil, and then leads successively to a rejection of the truth, the deception of the devil, a judicial hardening by God, and final condemnation.
The only way to be protected from being deceived is to love goodness and truth. These, then, are the dynamics (devilish and divine) which are behind the final rebellion.
So instead of taking umbrage at God and accusing him of doing things we think he ought not to do (eg., sending delusion), we need to see the big biblical picture of how sin and rebellion compound and multiply, with more sin and deception resulting, until truth is rejected, lies embraced, and God rejected.
God can only confirm such folks to their own fate.
But while folks are not so far down that path, this passage serves as a powerful warning: don’t get to that place. Repent and turn from sin now. That is our hope. But to reject God and his truth condemns us to God’s just judgment.
We need to be making wise decisions now, before it is too late.
gravenimage says
Washington Post complains that Trump doesn’t ascribe jihad mass murders to mental health issues
……………….
In other words, he won’t lie about Islam.
Aussie Infidel says
“Trump, routinely ascribe what are obviously jihad attacks to mental illness.”
Normally jihadists would not be diagnosed as mentally ill; but they live in very abnormal society. For a start, most jihadists would be psychopaths, because they show no remorse for their evil deeds, or empathy for their victims. Also, they themselves are victims of dysfunctional Islamic societies. Their mindsets have been stultified and crippled by lifelong indoctrination with hate-filled verses from the Quran and Hadith, and the militant rhetoric from the imams in their mosques.
Jihadists suffer from mental health issues, simply because they are the end product of Mohammad’s medieval madness.
PRCS says
The “lifelong indoctrination” applies to the vast, vast majority of the worldwide umma.
Even more disturbing: former members of “xyz” religion–or none–who chose to ‘revert’.
An example:
mortimer says
Aaron Blake has apparently not studied the doctrine of jihad nor the history of Islamic jihads against kafirs. HE IS ABOVE LEARNING ALL THAT, because he lives in a fantasy where jihad has no jihad in it. In reality, jihad is an ‘essential teaching’ of Islam that all Muslims are required to conduct or be excluded from Islamic paradise.
A perfect example of jihad which shows jihadists ARE NOT CRAZY is the case of Major Dr. Nidal Hasan.
Major Dr. Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major serving as a psychiatrist was NOT insane. He was a psychiatrist who believed wholeheartedly in Islam.
His jihad against unarmed soldiers was not an act of madness, but cold, calculated planning, as are most jihad attacks. The incident, which lasted about 10 minutes, resulted in thirty people wounded, and thirteen killed — 12 soldiers and one civilian; 11 died at the scene, and two later in a hospital. Hasan was hit by at least four shots from local police officers. He was paralyzed by a bullet in the spine. He is now in jail and he did not use the insanity defense at his court martial.
Neither the tens of thousands of jihadists from historical periods nor the tens of thousands of Nazis who committed atrocities in the name of their ideologies were insane.
IT’S THE IDEOLOGY, STUPID.
mortimer says
Washington Post has low standards.
‘Journalists’, like Aaron Burke are allowed to state opinion after opinion without substantiating even one of them by citing examples or statements made by the accused. (Any excuse for a slander is acceptable, if the target is one that WaPo dislikes.)
For Washington Post, a slanderous accusation is all it takes to hang someone. Low standards indeed.
Washington Post is more like an unruly, lawless lynch mob than a professional responsible news outfit .
mortimer says
The HYSTERIA of ‘journalists’ like Aaron Burke and others like him is what is truly ‘INSANE’.
They are living in a rage-filled, hysterical castle in Spain where facts are not needed to create the deluded, alternate reality.
These hysterical ‘journalists’ seem to be saying ‘GET TRUMP AT ALL COSTS, EVEN AT THE EXPENSE OF JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY!’
Apparently, Aaron Burke has no concern for journalistic integrity. He has completely lost his way and become a propagandist.
CRUSADER says
It’s the stupid ideology.
Mario Alexis Portella says
Washington Post, like Islamists, equally wants to destroy civilization.
Trick_or_Treat says
I don’t have too much trouble agreeing with the concept that people who adhere to this doctrine and it’s ideology are all at varying degrees on the mentally disturbed nutter scale, depending on (just like the other mainstream satanists) just how far and how devoutly they are into it. Just like how the word of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit has POWER [in CAPs], to raise people in Godly conscience and consciousness (and much more besides), likewise all the words and deceitful doctrines of Satan also have much power in their own antipodean side of things, and which is ultimately to kill, and destroy, and confuse, and f**k peoples heads up (and all the rest that it is set on). But, at the end of the day, the bloody crux of the matter still remains a doctrinal and ideological one. It’s bloody islam and it’s damned koran (qur’an)!!!
No Muzzies Here says
The problem is, to an independent observer, ardent practice of Islam is indistinguishable from advanced mental illness. Both lead to injury or death. Both are severely delusional. Both lead to actions that are out of harmony with human nature.
Norger says
I don’t like Trump and thought he was too quick to throw out the “ mental illness” excuse for these mass shootings. It appears there were some obviously ugly ideological motivations, at least for the shooting in El Paso.
However, I suspect that Mr. Blake knows next to nothing about what Islam in fact teaches. Moreover, this “journalist” will never bother to educate himself. When a major religion teaches that its dictates must be imposed everywhere, but force if necessary, and that industrial scale mass murder of non-believers =religious piety that’s a global problem, an existential threat. The threat is different in kind and far greater in scale.
UNCLE VLADDI says
“Mental illness” (aka; “I didn’t do it! My brain made me do it! In fact, I didn’t do it at all! Only my brain did it!”) is the criminals’ favorite alibi to excuse their own criminal intentions and actions, right after the argumentum tu quoque critical thinking logical fallacy (aka fraudulent lie: “So what?! It isn’t a crime because you all do it, too!”) and as such, this is similar to Saturday’s Ottawa Citizen article blaming Ontario’s Conservative Premier (like a Governor) Doug Ford, for having the nerve to actually dare to blame murderous criminals for their crimes: the original hardcopy headline read: “PREMIER ATTACKS MENTALLY ILL WHO COMMIT CRIMES!”
https://nationalpost.com/news/ford-calls-mental-health-patient-detained-for-killing-roomate-an-animal