Why Jon Stewart is wrong about Dylan Roof's terrorist cred

The word "terrorism" is one of those slippery handles that serves many masters.

It is always a term intended to heap shit on the people you're talking about. I think the English teachers call that a "pejorative."

It's a propaganda term, a political term.

That's why we time and again see last year's terrorist morph into next year's statesman, as has happened in the Middle East and in the UK, and most noticeably to Nelson Mandela.

Terrorist today. Icon of freedom, hope, democracy, everything good under the sun the next day.

So what happens when we apply this slippery propaganda term to Dylan Storm Roof?

As in, "Dylan Roof is a terrorist."

What does that word mean to America?

Terror/terrorist/terrorism.

That's what America has been fighting a no-holds-barred battle against since 9/11, is it not?

Terrorists.

Evildoers.

When we affix that label to Dylan Roof, we excise him from the body of that great dysfunctional family known as America. That label marks him as an outsider, an enemy, someone we've been fighting for years.

That's not who Dylan Roof is.

Dylan Roof is very much a member of that dysfunctional family.

Dylan Roof is every bit as American as apple pie and the second amendment.

Calling him a "terrorist" allows America to avoid looking at itself.

White gunman kills nine Black church-goers - Jews to blame!

I'm a regular reader of Mike Rivero's What Really Happened website. There's always been a lot of dodgy shit there, but a lot of good stuff too.

But when I read this pathetic attempt to pin the SC tragedy on some vague Jewish conspiracy, linked to at What Really Happened, I thought, hey Mike, ya gotta get some quality control happening in what you allow on your site.

Questioning what kind of pharmacology products Mr. Roof was on is fair game.

Speculating about how Obama might spin this tragedy for political purposes is fair game.

But "arch Zionist gun control hoax?"

Get the fuck outta here!

This is the kind of story that delegitimizes genuine resistance to Israel's crimes in the West Bank and Gaza.