What’s our message?: After the Orlando shooting, America must define and distribute widely its message in order to combat self-radicalization.
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There’s certainly in America today, following a mass shooting early Sunday morning in Orlando, carried out by 29 year-old domestic terrorist, Mr. Omar Mateen, that killed 49 people and injured more than 50, a sense of déjà vu.
The media has begun its parade of punditry, along with airing gruesome B-roll ad nauseam; politicians are making the case for why the Orlando shooting should and shouldn’t be the catalyst for stricter gun laws and a more deliberate alienation of Muslims, Muslim-Americans, Americans who have Muslim relatives, look Muslim or have a Muslim sounding names; and communities all over the nation are shaken, horrified, grieving, and questioning whether the terror unleashed on the LGBTQ patrons at Pulse nightclub represents the new normal.
Indeed, the aforementioned scene is familiar. Not long ago, in December of 2015, our country was transfixed on the San Bernardino mass shooting, a horrific occurrence wherein a radicalized married couple – the husband, Mr. Syed Rizwan Farook, an American-born U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, and the wife, Mrs. Tashfeen Malik, an Pakistani-born lawful permanent resident of the United States – took the lives of 14 individuals (and themselves, soon thereafter) during a training event and holiday party.
If the good guys had guns, would they have been able to defend themselves? Are we losing the war against radical Islamic terrorism? Are we even aware that we’re at war with radical Islamic terrorism? Should, as President Barack Obama contends, individuals who are known to frequent websites that promote radical Islamic terrorism or who are on the no-fly list be prohibited from buying guns? Should, as Mr. Donald Trump advocates, Muslims be banned temporarily from entering the country?
An unfortunate pattern of violence is forming and these questions accompany it. The question that would break up this monotony and, more to the point, what would underscore the need to prevent the self-radicalizing these domestic terrorists are under-going is: What is America’s message?
What the Orlando and San Bernardino shootings have in common is that they were carried out by American citizens who were inspired by, and converted to, the teachings and lifestyle associated with radical Islamic terrorism. Like with any organization, its members are lured in by messaging, or in this context, propaganda. When attempting to convert, great attention is paid to advertisement; or in other words, adverting one’s attention. The same method can be used to retain, but America, for whatever reason, hasn’t yet made this a priority.
After the Orlando shooting, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that she’s been focused on tackling the issue of self-radicalization. President Obama, who last week formally endorsed Mrs. Clinton for the job he’ll be soon leaving, said Mr. Mateen became inspired by extremist information on the internet.
Clearly, finding extremist information on the internet doesn’t require more than a search or two. And on the back-end, it simply requires content producers to create, edit and post. So then, given the simplicity of upload and sharing content to the web, why is there not – other than the coded-language by Mr. Trump – a greater proliferation of pro-America, patriotic-centric messaging?
Sure, we may have ready the boots on the ground, but where is America’s air (broadcast) game? Why is America, a land populated by some of the greatest media companies in the world, losing the proverbial war of words? Could it be that America has aimed so much for the status of “melting pot” that it lacks a distinctive message?
America, in the fight against radical Islamic terror et al, must create a distinctive and carefully crafted message and promote it earnestly if it has any chance at retaining its citizens and winning this war, because the war will not be won with violence alone, as part of the battle requires the pen and not the sword.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
Photo: Getty Images