Friday, July 17, 2015

Not within the template

Whenever a mass shooting has taken place over the past several years, the mainstream media was eager to politicize it. Whether it was blaming Sarah Palin for Jared Loughner in early 2011 or naming a Colorado Tea Party member in the Aurora movie theater shooting in 2012 or conjuring up a race called "White Hispanic" in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, the media seemed to have a fount of narratives in its arsenal.

With that in mind, do you care to venture a guess as to why there was no breathless MSM speculation regarding Thursday's tragic shooting?

A gunman unleashed a barrage of gunfire at two military facilities Thursday in Tennessee, killing four Marines and wounding two other service members and a police officer, officials told CBS News.

The shooter also was killed. Law enforcement sources told CBS News that the shooting suspect was identified as 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. According to a U.S. law enforcement source, Abdulazeez was born in Kuwait and came to the United States in 1996. It's unclear if and when he became an American citizen.

A U.S. official told CBS News that Abdulazeez was not on law enforcement radar concerning possible terror links or aspirations. The FBI was not aware of him as being any kind of threat.Officials will try to find out if Abdulazeez was motivated or influenced by ISIS.

The group has been calling for "lone wolf" style attacks in the U.S. on the military and police during the month of Ramadan, which concludes Friday. Over the Fourth of July holiday, federal law enforcement officials warned of the potential for an attack.

Yes, this tragedy is not in the media's wheelhouse since the shooter wasn't white (neither was George Zimmerman, but one of his parents was, hence "White Hispanic"), there's speculation this was an act of terrorism (Impossible!! The Obama administration eradicated such factions or something) and it occurred on premises where guns were banned (Yeah, we certainly can't trust military personnel with weaponry, eh?).

Now I'm certainly not advocating that the MSM call this an ISIS style "lone wolf" attack or declare Abdulazeez a member of any international terrorist organization before a thorough investigation is conducted. However, for the sake of consistency, it'd be nice if they apply that same standard to the other mass shootings instead of creating a narrative in an effort to propel gun control (conspicuously silent on it this incident) or tarnish the reputation of a political ideology they detest. Dare to dream.

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