Rightbloggers Discover the Real Victims of Norway Mass Murderer Breivik: Themselves
As you probably heard, someone bombed downtown Oslo, Norway and shot up kids in nearby Utoya, killing 93 people. it turns out that the suspect is not a jihadist but an anti-jihadist -- Anders Behring Breivik, a real deport-them-all, Norway-for-the-Norwegians type who denounced "multiculturalism," "political correctness," the war on Christmas, etc.
So, OK, he's a conservative. It would be sensible for conservatives to point out that, while they and Breivik share some views, they do not support mass murder as a means of promoting them, which is a large difference.
The sensible is, alas, usually too much to hope from rightbloggers, and sure enough, they lament that they are the real victims of Breivik's rampage, and that everyone is out to get them.
When the news from Norway first started coming in, many bloggers and some regular newspeople were not very careful about calling it for global jihad before the facts were known. (As for the alleged Islamicist group that originally claimed responsibility for the attacks, "American officials said the group was previously unknown," reported the New York Times, "and might not even exist.")
A stupendous example was provided by Jennifer Rubin, rightwing affirmative-action hire at the Washington Post, who immediately declared, "This is a sobering reminder for those who think it's too expensive to wage a war against jihadists... Obama would have us believe that al-Qaeda is almost caput and that we can wrap up things in Afghanistan," etc.
Those who can be bothered may follow a link from there to Rubin's update, in which she blames the attacks on "Undiluted evil. The dark side of humanity," which is a lot less specific than jihad and our cut-and-run Commander-in-Chief. Also, "That the suspect here is a blond Norwegian does not support the proposition that we can rest easy with regard to the panoply of threats we face," blah blah blah. It seems anything is a good argument for vigilance against Muslims.
When Breivik's identity and ravings became known, some people began to remember that right-wing nut groups have been getting bigger in recent years, and maybe it was time to pay attention.
"Killer personifies rise of new far-right," reported the Financial Times, connecting Breivik's hatred of multiculturalism with that of politicians like Geert Wilders of the Netherlands and blogs like Gates of Vienna, both of which Breivik had singled out for praise.
Gates of Vienna is a ferociously anti-Muslim site, where bloggers with Dungeons-and-Dragons pseudonyms like "Baron Bodissey" rail against the sons of Monhammed.
Handsome, stylish -- you know, if it weren't for the mass murder, he'd be a pretty good spokesman...
Like other rightbloggers, Gates of Vienna's "Fjordman" quickly bought into the Oslo jihad story: "Please keep in mind that the left-wing government of Jens Stoltenberg that was just bombed is the most dhimmi appeasing of all Western governments," he roared. "...How do you explain that as a response to Western 'aggression'?"
After the facts came out, the Gates of Vienna crew didn't show any sign of abashment, nor of mourning for the victims, who after all were in their view "dhimmis" and unworthy of attention. They did exhibit a form of PTSD, though, clinging as if shock-addled to the idea that Arabs *had* to have had something to do with it.
In "No Jihad Angle -- Or Is There?" Baron Bodissey agreed that Oslo resembled the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, but aha: "there almost certainly was an Islamic terror connection to the Oklahoma City bombing. I refer, of course, to the book The Third Terrorist by Jayna Davis..." The Baron buys Davis' "Islamic signature" conspiracy theory, which the sheeple "may never have known, thanks to the American government's actions and the media spin that followed."
Don't you get it? To protect his Muslim murderer friends, Bill Clinton told you that Oklahoma City was the work of wingnuts -- and you fell for it! Now Clinton walks free while Tim McVeigh lies a-moulderin' in the grave. Suddenly it all makes sense!
Later, the Gatesians mainly expressed concern for Fjordman's reputation, such as it is ("The idea that he could be capable of such an act is so outrageous, so deeply insulting, and so vile that I feel soiled simply having to discuss it here"), and anger about "the left's relentlessly malign attacks on anyone who sets foot outside the narrow multicultural ghetto." So according to Gates of Vienna, the real victim of the Oslo and Utoya attacks was Gates of Vienna.
Other rightbloggers agreed that, with the possible exception of the dead people, conservatives had suffered most from the attacks.
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