Hoda Muthana

[Dill]

(02-22-2019, 11:50 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: This is, quite honestly, a nonsensical argument.  A kid was vilified for wearing a MAGA hate and "smirking".  Conversely, a person who willingly joined ISIS, as vile an organization as has ever existed, is given more of the benefit of the doubt by some (many?).  You don't see a problem with that?

She willingly joined ISIS.  That seems like a solid foundation to judge a person on.

In that anyone is willing to give her even the slightest benefit of the doubt.  I get that you're very sympathetic to Islamic causes, but even so I would hope you'd be willing to condemn ISIS unequivocally, along with anyone who willingly joined their ranks.  You are in agreement on this, no?

LOL you "hope" that I'll condemn ISIS unequivocally--because I have given people so much reason to doubt that? Also I don't think they are an "Islamic cause" any more than white nationalism (which I hope you'd be willing to condemn) is an American cause.

And I guess I don't know or can't tell what "benefit of the doubt" could mean here.  Like maybe Muthana thought she was moving to Jordan and it turned out to be Syria?  Soon there'll be a video showing she is a good mother?  We should wait till we have the "whole" story?

At the moment my interest in Muthana concerns only two issues--

1) the legal ramifications of her claim to citizenship--the ones I can imagine, like difficulty assigning "state" status to ISIS, and ones I can't, like where the denial of her citizenship will lead as Trump officials cross legal/policy lines.

2) the policy effects--e.g.,  What use could be made of her and Begum's stories to counter ISIS propanganda; and how will ISIS use this and the Begum case for propaganda purposes within the US and the UK (and other places). How will these countries deal with ISIS "traitors" and how will that look in AFrica and Asia?

In short, I don't see any useful point in setting a MAGA smirker who spiraled into prominence on an amateur video beside a case brought before the world by news media seeking to report and inform--and then arguing over who got a "pass."   The proper distribution of vilification between these two may eventually become interesting to me as a register of MAGA grievance against the "unbalanced" liberal press, but I am just not there yet.