MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell is under fire this week for using the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans to attack the United States Army as a greater threat than those crossing our Southern border. The statement is a vintage example of why many are turning away from legacy or mainstream media, including MSNBC (which has lost nearly half its audience since the election).
O’Donnell has long maintained his show as something of a safe space for the left, including declaring that no Trump supporter would be allowed to speak on his show because they are all “liars,” a label that now applies to a majority of American voters in the last election.
Yet, this statement stands out for many in its unhinged effort to spin the tragedy into a more favorable liberal talking point.
O’Donnell declared:
“The simple fact is, this country has suffered more deadly terrorism at the hands of American-born citizens who are veterans of the United States military than people who have crossed into this country at the southern border. It is very clear from the evidence that if you want to worry about terrorism in this country, the United States Army is a much bigger problem than the southern border.”
There are two curious elements to O’Donnell’s comment. The first is that Army training somehow makes veterans greater threats of terrorism. The military also tends to instill patriotism and public service in its members. Moreover, O’Donnell was referencing the fact that Shamsud-Din Jabbar served in the Army, even though he was largely trained as a human resources and information technology expert. His attack was not a McVeigh-like truck bomb, but the use of the truck itself — an unfortunately common terrorist method that hardly speaks to any Army training.
Second, O’Donnell makes reference to those crossing the Southern Border as opposed to others who have either crossed any border or have entered this country legally. Again, the suggestion is that there is something about military training worthy of special concern. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Zacarias Moussaoui, Richard Colvin Reid, James T. Hodgkinson, Thomas Matthew Crooks, Darrell Edward Brooks Jr., and others may beg to differ.
O’Donnell made specific reference to Timothy McVeigh, the domestic terrorist behind the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995:
“Timothy McVeigh parked a truck outside that building loaded with explosives in an act of homegrown American terrorism. Timothy McVeigh’s hatred of the American government was not tamed in any way by his service in the American military. So, too, with America’s latest terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve, with an American military veteran driving a pickup truck through a crowd to murder 14 people.”
Ok, McVeigh and Jabbar became extremists after they served in the military. However, all terrorists make such a turn — often in a sharp departure from their prior history and upbringing. What does that prove? It is the ultimate example of why correlation is not causation. It is a little better than the Latin corollary cum hoc ergo propter hoc (‘with this, therefore because of this’).
This is not to say that military service cannot produce PTSD and other forms of mental illness related to service. Rather, the effort to portray veterans as a greater threat than those crossing our borders illegally is specious. Indeed, the concern over the lax border controls (including but not exclusively at the Southern Border) is that we simply do not know who many of these individuals are. There are obviously many people (and countries) in the world who want to harm the United States. While they would previously attempt to get through airports and other entries, they are now far more likely to do so across an open border. Terrorists can be rational in their means even if they are irrational in their ideology and criminal acts.
Some on the left have picked up on O’Donnell’s spin, often citing a CBS News analysis of the data showing 26% of mass shooters over six decades have had military service or training. That is higher than the less than 10% of the population that has served. However, again, that is correlation not causation. Notably, that is less than a quarter of the mass shooters. What of the remaining? There are other correlations, such as religion or mental illness, that have equal or greater correlations. Any of them are capable of driving a truck into a crowd of people.
Moreover, the point seems to be that the concern over terrorists crossing the borders is overblown. There has been growing alarm over people on the terrorist watch lists who have been apprehended at the border. However, the great concern in Congress is the number of “gotaways,” which may now be in the millions.
The O’Donnell spin is ultimately more telling in terms of the media than it is the military. In the immediate wake of this horrific attack, the effort was to emphasize that the culprit was a veteran and not an undocumented person. It shows a certain mania in the media. We should be looking for patterns in these attacks. However, false causal connections drawn for political purposes will undermine not advance such efforts.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
Mockingbird Media toady run by terrorists telling us to look the other way. We need massive spending cuts. I’m hopeful but if Trump and our “representatives” don’t get this done then limited hangout is the phrase of the day and we are truly on our own.
“We need massive spending cuts.”
I would change your emphasis slightly. We need massive GOVERNMENT cuts. Reducing spending is extremely important, and was probably the primary motivation for Trump voters last November. I also realize that reducing government power will almost automatically reduce spending. However, in my opinion, the truly urgent need is to drastically reduce the POWER that the Federal government wields to run our lives and tell us what to do and not to do. We may not be able to pare that power back to the literal limits on it imposed by the Constitution, but that should be our unwavering goal.
Hear hear
You commenters are a bunch of cl0wns. Taking the bait on an “issue” that means nothing.. Turley plays you f00ls.
If odonnell is nuts, you commneters are just as or more nuttier.
Blatantly obvious how those on the left are always anonymous in writing and ware masks in public.
calling someone a cl0wn is not leftist, you commnted as an anon. You cl0wn.
learn to spell
learn to think.
You commenters are a bunch of cl0wns
And this is your very first time here and that’s what you immediately noticed? It’s not like you come here every day – despite quickly realizing with your first visit that your host is playing you as a “f00l”?
You have all the qualifications to be another cowardly Anonymous Democrat Useful Idiot. One who has finally found some minor meaning in their life by trolling Professor Turley.
Old Airborne Dog
“. . . the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street . . .”
It was *Islamic* terrorism — a bloodthirsty desire to murder innocent “unbelievers.”
That means that you will never hear from the officials in charge the two words “Islamic” and “terrorism.” Nor will you hear from the MSM the words “Muslim” and “terrorism.” Nor will you hear from our public intellectuals (with very rare exceptions) any explanation of what causes Islam to be inherently violent.
You will, though, hear tons of deception. In the form of deflections (the murderer was former military). And smears (“Islamophobia”). And scare tactics (you’re endangering innocent Muslims). And the obscene blame the victim (Americans deserve it).
From 9/11 through today (and throughout Islam’s bloody history), there have been countless acts of *Islamic* terrorism. If you don’t name it, and identify the causes, those barbaric acts will continue.
It would be interesting to know the political affiliation of all those that have committed heinous acts?
I wonder if this leftist fool counted the THREE THOUSAND KILLED in one moment in 2021 when doing his math.
I just saw a clip of Jessica Tarlov citing the same BS with the intro being SINCE 9.11. Notice that they start the day after 3000 people were killed my Islamists.
O’Donnell needs to take his lunacy to the next step – Cars kill people therefore we need Car Control ASAP!!! Where are the radical Dems when we need them. Can’t they see the car manufacturers need to be sued for accountability for all the terrorist acts being committed and put out of business? This would not have happened if the terrorists did not have easy access to cars!! We need background checks and an onboard AI to determine if the driver is fit to operate! OH WAIT – that is crazy talk, right? OH WAIT – this is the same argument we use for guns – they kill people, right? OH WAIT – the NOLA terrorist could have just walked into the French Quarter and started spraying, etc. HMMM – seems like leftist rhetoric is stupidity dressed in absurd solutions! Big Surprise.
Wait! YOur rant is the same as ODonneells’ – you’re just as if not more crazier.
Timothy McVeigh’s reason for his attack against the government was due to the Governments actions at Waco.
The Unabomber serial killer went to Harvard. So did mass murderer Amy Bishop.
Since O’Donnell also went to Harvard, he may be at risk of becoming a serial killer and mass murderer.
Except he seems like too much of a pampered, privileged azzhole to resign the multi-million dollar annual salary that NBC pays him to foment hatred against Republicans, conservatives, military, and anybody who does not watch and buy into his crazed propaganda.
The logic is on par with a psychopaths’.
Maybe this scumbag wants to round up the roughly 18 million veterans like me and see if he can find a terrorist. Willing to bet he finds more pouring in our southern border
You lack common sense.
Thank you for your service, eh.
Another valid reason to not watch MSNBC.
What diff does it make if one dies or dosent watch msnbc?
I suppose people like you need to hate to live.
Most elites believe that their money will protect them from terrorism.
It’s sad that some people will believe Mr. O’Donnell’s flawed logic. Thanks for pointing it out.
We obviously have big, unsolved problems with dysfunctional border security and veterans mental health. 21 suicides per day is atrocious, as are 75 fentanyl overdose deaths, and another 130 drug-gang shootings.
It’s pure escapism to take two such complex, gnarly, hard-to-solve problems, face them off against one another, and through comparison belittle the seriousness of one.
Yes, it will not be easy dismantling the criminal networks of Mexican cartels working with China chem-suppliers, and U.S. urban gangs as retailers. They are clever and adaptive, certainly able to overmatch slow-witted federal, state and local bureaucracies. Yet, we the voters have done our part in throwing out feckless Presidential leadership and recalling some of the worst D.A.s. We’re on the cusp of diligent law enforcement, and have to be ready for what will be an ugly but necessary correction. If a nation like El Salvador can muster the willpower to smash its criminal gangs, certainly we can, too.
The U.S. Army does a lousy job of transitioning enlisted personnel back into civilian life. Generally, ex-soldiers are cut loose in financially-weakened status, and there is no psychological readjustment program. Remember, going throgh basic training, the Army engages in brutal psychological reprogramming to develop warriors — first breaking down the self-image, then building back-up a robotic order-obeying killing machine. When the Army is done with someone so tampered-with psychologically, they essentially wash their hands of the monster they have created. And yes, because some resilient % are able to adapt successfully back to civilian life, the Army can just ignore the ones who can’t. This is reckless psychological experimentation, always has been, and finally needs to be taken responsibility for at the highest level.
When you have two areas of irresponsibility to address, you don’t pick one over the other.
What hogwash, I was in the USMC, never ever met any soldier who was a a mental case. I got discharged, no problem got a job, never needed “adjusting”. Just becauase one was in combat doesnt make them mentally defective.
The USMC was fun, learned, and met good people.
BTW: “When the Army is done with someone so tampered-with…” What absolute BS man.
You missed my point. We agree that serving in the Army or Marines “doesn’t make them mentally defective”. I stated that SOME who serve come away damaged psychologically. We’re talking about the exceptions. Are you denying that PTSD exists in some? Alcoholism and other self-medication? Relationship problems? Can’t you hold two conflicting thoughts in your brain at one time?
They had problems before entering the service.
These Propaganda specialists have missed the forest through the trees. The rest of us fully understand that they push “a” story out to cover “the” story. They believe sane people believe a word they spout, we don’t, we view them in the insane world of the View gaggle.
O’Donnell is of the same ilk that paraded against, and spit on us when we returned from Vietnam. He is a vile man who did not have the courage to serve himself but is of the mindset that with his Harvard degree he has license to disparage we that have proudly served.
I have not forgotten or forgiven.
I wonder what O’Donnell’s position would be on whether the facts that all of the 9/11 terrorists and most of all the remaining terrorists worldwide were Islamists would mean that the Islamism should (similar to his position on Vetrans) be considered a threat to civilization itself?
If you want to stop mass killings, ban democrats from owning guns. Americans must be vigilant. These killers live and associate with others daily.
O’Donnell and MSNBC are poster boys for the kind of free speech that the curse side of the balance rather than the part that blesses us.
Sadly, the hate that gets spewed from such sources is the price we pay to have free speech. One has to question why such sources were not the targets of the Biden Administrations efforts to censor or stifle free speech. Of course we know the answer to the question even as we ask it….they are all birds of the same feather.
Now I suggest that we can attack them and their agenda and do so using our own free speech.
The key is we must do so and do so with vigor and effect and not relent the least bit.
The Good Professor is on the right path on this but just seems to want to settle for pontification.
When the Left, especially the media gets ahead of the facts and reality and gets down to just plain outright lying….then legal actions should be initiated in Federal and State Courts and force them to confront their Sins. Start taking money from them when possible and use the proceeds to fund yet more legal actions and make them pay for their lying and using the media as the vehicle for those lies.
I bet the wages a good Lawyer could earn doing that would far exceed anything GW pays Professors.
Larry O’Donnell is a fool, and no one listens to him anymore. However, the issue he raises is a genuine concern in many ways. A friend that I know who served in Afghanistan for several tours came home with the same symptoms of PTSD. He was given a small comfort dog trained by the DoD to help these vets. He was adjusting well to his civilian life and family when the VA decided he no longer needed the dog and took it away. The dog had become a part of this man’s family, and his young children were traumatized by losing their friend and pet. This, in turn, had a deleterious effect on the vet himself. He seems to be still doing OK, but I wonder just how well our VA and military authorities take care of those who suffer and sacrifice so much for the rest of us. Hopefully, this tragic case will cause some to think about this and make changes in how these soldiers are deprogrammed from that which they are trained to do, i.e., break things and kill people.
The VA sucks and is never to be trusted.
Try a Patient Advocate; read him the Riot Act.
The V.A. should act only as a PPO healthcare insurer allowing veteran patients to use extant ambient providers or “Care In The Community” permanently.
The V.A. attempts to “treat” pathologies in substandard facilities with low-budget, incompetent providers who are incapable of functioning in the free healthcare markets of the private sector.
I suspect Harry Truman contrived the Veterans Administration as a Potemkin Village to sell socialized medicine in America. It has had the opposite effect ever since. Every 20 years, they have to “reform” the VA to “fix” its problems. The problems keep coming back.
You could say the same thing about any socialized medical administration in the world: might work ok for about 20 years until the interest groups all figure out how to game the system. Leftwing pols don’t know how to say “NO!”
The VA should be privatized. For that matter, the Social Security and Medicare Administrations should be privatized as well. The government collects the funds, but private entities compete to administrate the programs.
The Swedes are way ahead of us on this, but even the Swedes haven’t fully faced reality. Guaranteeing benefits creates Malmo ghettos, but that’s another subject by itself.