Razorsharp, in this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=305253) you seem to saying that it was illogical for the “Left” (and thus I kinda have to assume the police, FBI and whoever else was investigating it) to SUSPECT that Matt Hale or some of his followers or sympathisers were involved with the killings of Judge Lefkow’s mother and husband.
And yeah, I’m still missing it. Matt Hale is in jail for trying to have that particular judge killed. His sympathisers have posted her home address, photo and photos of her family on hate sites.
Her mother and husband are then found shot dead in their home.
Based on those circumstances I maintain that it was completely reasonable to suspect that neo-nazis might have been involved in the murders and to include them in the investigation.
Since we have a difference of opinion here I think it’s an appropriate topic for GD. Can Razorsharp or anyone else kindly explain the opposing viewpoint to me?
If he did try to have the judge assassinated, (as I think I heard on the radio), then it more a case of suspecting someone who has shown a propensity for such an act rather than suspecting someone because of his beliefs.
I think what Razorsharp was really objecting to was not suspicion falling on Hale and followers, but the media’s (very brief and limited) use of the murders as a “news hook” to throw light on American hate groups in general and to speculate as to whether “domestic terrorism” might be an under-appreciated threat. His exact words were:
And, as a matter of fact, after the murders but before the case was solved, I heard a lawyer for the Southern Poverty Law Center (Hatewatch Project) interviewed on the radio. He had some interesting things to say: Hate groups, while they might not be “running amok,” actually have been somewhat on the rise in America since 9/11/01, capitalizing on the inevitable xenophobia. Also, they seem to have shifted their focus – from blacks to Jews (as being, you know, the string-pullers behind all the bad stuff).
Yet I think this coverage was perfectly reasonable, from the media’s POV, and what damage, really, has it done to our society? The hate groups are real, they talk about violence and sometimes even about revolution, and we know very well that sometimes some invididuals, such as Timothy McVeigh, do more than talk. It is best we be reminded, now and then, that not all terrorist threats to America come from foreigners.