There are a number of books about a terrorist attack on the Super Bowl. Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears and Thomas Harris’ Black Sunday are the most famous. In some ways, these books are reassuring. What could anyone do to stop a bomb plot? You know, anyone other than the heroic anti-terrorists in America’s (and Israel’s) employ. Best to pay your taxes, enjoy the game and trust Uncle Sam to keep you safe. That kind of passive, fatalistic mindset suits terrorists and gun grabbers alike. The former because it’s easier to annihilate people without situational awareness. The latter because it’s easier to disarm civilians if they think the government will keep them safe. Of course . . .
There’s nothing wrong with maintaining organizations dedicated to rooting out and destroying terrorists and/or arresting criminals – as long as they respect their Constitutional limitations. But there’s no way the combined efforts of local and state police – along with the DHS, FBI, CIA and the rest of the federal farrago of law enforcement agencies – can keep us safe. America is a huge country with tens of thousands of potential targets, and terrorists are clever people.
The last major terrorist attack on America, 9/11, was 13 years ago. The danger has not passed. Regardless of our government’s unconstitutional Patriot Act or current day policies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Columbia, Mexico or anywhere else in the world, Americans are now and always will be terrorist targets. It’s us, average ordinary citizens, that the terrorists want to maim and kill.
Like the audience at The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, we are at the sharp end. As such, we are the “first responders.” Disarmed, facing an enemy who cares nothing about human life, unarmed Americans can only respond by fleeing, hiding, countering with inadequate weapons or dying. Armed, we have a fighting chance.
Our security depends on the existence of a large indefatigable army of armed civilians. Not an army per se; millions of “ordinary” tooled-up Americans and alert to potential threats to themselves, their loved ones and society. Not to coin a phrase, it takes a citizen militia to protect a country.
The argument against armed Americans as a bulwark against terrorism: what good would they do? Where is there an example of an armed American stopping a terrorist in “the Homeland” (the government’s Nazi-like term for our country)? As far as I know, there hasn’t been one. Yet. So? Did we have to wait until 9/11 to install [mostly] impenetrable cockpit doors on airplanes? Besides . . .
Armed citizens have stopped psycho killers (i.e. active shooters without a political agenda). Assistant principal Joel Myrick’s actions at the Pearl High School shooting are one good example. Concealed carry permit holder Nick Meli’s intervention at the Clackamas Mall is another. Clearly, a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun. As some 85k to 1.5m defensive gun uses per year prove.
When it comes to countering terrorists, the antis prefer proactive policing. They like the idea of the aforementioned alphabet soup of law enforcement agencies holding all the cards (i.e. guns), surveilling Americans. When this proto-police state fails to prevent an attack on the public it claims to serve, they want [disarmed] citizens to rely on “professional” (i.e. government controlled) law enforcement. You know, to contain the carnage and clean up the mess.
Speaking to abcnews.go.com, Interpol’s top cop had something important to say about that strategy.
Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said today the U.S. and the rest of the democratic world is at a security crossroads in the wake of last month’s deadly al-Shabab attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya – and suggested an answer could be in arming civilians.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Noble said there are really only two choices for protecting open societies from attacks like the one on Westgate mall where so-called “soft targets” are hit: either create secure perimeters around the locations or allow civilians to carry their own guns to protect themselves.
“Societies have to think about how they’re going to approach the problem,” Noble said. “One is to say we want an armed citizenry; you can see the reason for that. Another is to say the enclaves are so secure that in order to get into the soft target you’re going to have to pass through extraordinary security.”
Guess which way the Super Bowl has gone? That said, I’ve got nothing against extraordinary security for extraordinary events. I wouldn’t/won’t attend a mega-event for the reason implied above (determined terrorists penetrating so-called secure enclaves to prey on a disarmed populace for maximum publicity).
Again, terrorists aren’t stupid. They’re more than smart enough to avoid protected enclaves entirely and attack genuine soft targets: places without armed guards, live surveillance, bomb-sniffing dogs and armed SWAT teams on standby. Places like . . . School Number One (SNO) in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia. Thirty-two armed terrorists participated in that attack which killed 156 children.
Adam Lanza’s murder spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School, James Holmes’ slaughter at the Cinemark theater and all the other recent mass shootings are amateur hour compared to a “proper” terrorist attack. I’m not saying that a few armed teachers or civilians will deter, delay or destroy determined terrorists. But they might.
Bottom line: it behooves us to have as many armed Americans ready for our defense in as many places as possible. That includes NFL football games.
I also don’t go to attend pro sports b/c I won’t wear a man’s name on my jersey and I am not into hero worship that results in millionaires making plenty for billionaires.
Words right out of my mouth…
This. I’ve nothing against sports, pro or amatuer, and civic pride or whatever you wish to call it, but it’s simply not a matter of great importance to me. I played basketball in high school and was quite the gym rat in college; good enough to flunk out of school in fact, but that part of my life is a closed book now. I’ll be returning to school this summer somewhere, something I should have done years ago. As to what steps I can and will take to ensure my safety, that remains to be seen. But I’ve probably gone to my last ball game years ago.
Tom
Sport = you doing physical activity. Watching “grown” men play childrens games is something else.
Yeah, thanks. Quite novel.
So you superior intellects will be curling up with your favorite Dostoevsky novel tonight?
I have no want to watch millionaires with overblown egos play a kids game.
Nope, I’ll be doing things that affect me like smithing on my savage 110. Football has no impact on my life.
I doubt smthing your savage will either.
Then wear a woman’s name on it.
Dirk, you could get a jersey in blood red with Shannon Watt’s name and the number 00.
69
Armed citizens can deter or stop shooters but they can do squat against bombers. They must be stopped at a distance. A bomb in place must be disarmed by trained personnel. Armed citizens, law enforcement and the military should all be on the same team and do what each is best suitedb to do.
Concealed suicide vest trumps concealed handgun every time.
No one said an armed public was a panacea. It does very well with lone or a few mass murderers . We have the “professionals”, sic., to help with that, if the would concentrate on the outside threats and not on LAW ABIDING citizens.
Disarmed & in condition white one can do nothing.
Armed & aware you at least have a chance of enough time to identify the threat & act against it.
Bombers wearing suicide vests have been stopped in the past.
Yes a bomb beats a gun, but one self aware armed citizen could cause a potential bomber to detonate prematurely, if confronted. The citizen may die, but…
The potential to save hundreds of lives in that process is there. Is it guaranteed, no, but at least there is an option.
Your point is?
M4’s don’t do jack against rockets/IED’s/bombs but our soldiers still carry them.
They are part of a team Einstein.
Umm, yeah, he already stated that professional agencies are necessary, as long as they respect their constitutional limitations. Oh, snap, somehow I didn’t see the part of your post after “must be disarmed by trained personnel”. It seemed to me you were implying armed citizens can’t do anything about a bomb, so whatevs. My bad, yo
“it takes a citizen militia to protect a country”. now worry of coining phrase. that’s essentially a modern terminology of what’s written in the constitution, is it not?
If you have studied American History and the forming of this Republic The citizen militia is supposed the whole of able bodied public of this nation. They are supposed to be set up by the states and are supposed to train a couple weeks out of the year. But see what we have… a select militia, NOT provided for by our constitution , and a standing Army only provided it stands for 2 years at a time only, with exceptions. The Navy is the only outfit allowed to stand on a full time basis .
The last major terrorist attack on America, 9/11, was 13 years ago.
Man, Americans sure have short memories. The Boston Marathon Bombing was April 15, 2013. Three dead and 264 wounded, some of them horribly, make that a major terrorist attack.
So the gunhaters want to argue that concealed carriers haven’t stopped a terrorist attack. Well, unless I missed it, our vaunted police system did nothing to prevent or mitigate 9/11 or the Boston Massacre.
I think those number are “sub-major” in his eyes. I agree but only because 3 pressure cookers two fanatics and some fireworks isn’t a logistically “major” unertaking from the terrorists prospective.
Ask the 270 casualties if it was a major attack.
I know Obama and Holder want to refer to it as “workplace violence,” but what about Fort Hood?
I tend to believe the terorists when they say they don’t hate us they hate our government, I’m not too skippy about it half the time either. Yes, they will kill us & yes government goons will be killed when they come for “terrorist” guns. War is just the imposition of ones will against another, thank goodness our war is peacefull so far, they don’t have this option. They see our disarmmament as a threat, imagine that. Terrorists attacked us so we get to rule their country, there are people that take exception to that, Randy
Don’t think for a second that the terrorists only hate our government. It’s our way of life…it’s who we are…what we represent. Freedom- for all. If you were in a room with an Al-Qaida member they’d cut your head off sure as sh$t. Wouldn’t think twice. This is part of why’ve have so much trouble with them. We try to negotiate/placate with someone who does not think like us and just wants us destroyed.
Ha sort of reminds me of trying to “compromise” with an anti-gunner.
Terrorists hate everyone else. Period. They move from group to group as their masters or the voices within their head dictate. For example, a soft target:
http://gawker.com/transit-to-the-super-bowl-was-worse-than-a-sauna-1514528102
This mess was brought to you by [mostly] well-intentioned people “hardening” the relatively soft Superbowl stadium. There probably is a representative of every race, creed, and color in that crowd. And it’s a terrorists wet dream – pass gas and five people drop; set off an explosion and dozens are killed or injured. Terrrorists, like honey badger, don’t care. And this scene is repeated to a lesser degree every day, twice a day, on public transit.
Terrorists hate freedom. Their stock-in-trade is control. They want to make sure their will overrules your ability do do what you want. That’s especially true if what you want isn’t what they want. It’s not especially about America as much as it is about forcing their will on others, wherever they may be.
Terrorists use fear and panic as weapons. Quite effectively. The picture is a good example of this. Are those people nervous? No. Terrorists lost. Are the people guarding where they are going nervous? Yes. Very nervous. Terrorists did EXACTLY NOTHING and the agencies are on high alert. We spent how much on Superbowl security? We have how many people on OT guarding (not protecting; that’s not possible) the crowd of fans? They back the fans up into an adjoining state, packed like sardines, so they can check them at the stadium entrance? The terrorists won, folks.
Again.
America is the terrorists’ target only because we represent the greatest threat to their goal of a word-wide caliphate in the fevered imaginations of the radical percentage of Islam that believes they are on a mission from Allah to force the entire population of Earth to submit to their will.
No bombings in Spain or England lately. Those countries have essentially surrendered. France and Sweden as well. Russia is trying to remain neutral due to large Muslim populations and only barely succeeding. America is the only credible threat to their will to dominate at this point. (JMHO?)
“No bombings in Spain or England lately. Those countries have essentially surrendered.”
You are obviously ignorant as to the facts.
There are constant arrests & convictions for terrorist offences in both France & the UK (& the rest of Europe for that matter).
Both nations have far more experience of dealing with terrorism than the US, so countering it doesn’t make the same mess as the Superbowl “security” exercise.
I see no reason for us to surrender to a few hundred ineffective radicals.
Keep telling yourself that. It’s called blowback. Most people in these third world hell holes didn’t know America existed until their mother daughter father or son had a bomb fall on their head. Guess what… They do now and America has a new enemy for life.
My neck is tougher than a boiled owl so I probably needent worry. My post was a bitch at what should have been a narrow focus overseas(anti terrorism) & turned into an oil grab & religion spreading & culture indoctrination. Thats how we make enemies, Randy
Oh, I agree that we/our govt do a lot of stupid stuff overseas and make enemies. But we also make A LOT of enemies just by being a “free” society.
“Oh, I agree that we/our govt do a lot of stupid stuff overseas and make enemies. But we also make A LOT of enemies just by being a “free” society.”
You’ve either been drinking the Kool-ade or you’ve merely fallen for the line. They don’t hate us for our Freedom – envy maybe, but not killing hatred. They hate the US Military and their commanders for assaulting them relentlessly even when they capitulate. They’re especially pissed off about what the bloodthirsty warmongers call ‘collateral damage,” each one of which was somebody’s loved one.
Calling off the war will be, in fact, “Giving” them their Freedom.
Here’s my plan: Call a cease-fire for a day, and if there are no attacks from them that day, then extend the cease-fire for another day. And so on.
One day of peace is better than none, right?
And, of course, the perpetual boogieman. “We have to take your guns to make you safe from terrorists who want to kill you because you’re free. Oh, hey, come to think of it, just hand over your freedom, and then they won’t hate us any more, OK? There’s a good boy.”
“You’ve either been drinking the Kool-ade or you’ve merely fallen for the line. They don’t hate us for our Freedom – envy maybe, but not killing hatred.”
Or I’ve met/seen/listened to the exact people I’m talking about.
““You’ve either been drinking the Kool-ade or you’ve merely fallen for the line. They don’t hate us for our Freedom – envy maybe, but not killing hatred.”;
Or I’ve met/seen/listened to the exact people I’m talking about.”
OK, they hate us for our freedom. Tell me then, is making war on them supposed to make them love us?
Just hours ago terror procedures our govt put in place packed thousands of game goers into subway tunnel. No genius thought this “might ” have consequences. Multiple people had to be evacuated by the same emergency services that put the plan together and were hospitalized. I am sure these wunderkins will get awards and praise for saving the super bowl from terror. Oh and they will also get lots of overtime and their agencies will get increased budgets. Anyone see how f’d up this all is.
They’re trying to increase the chances of a terrorist attack, not lessen them.
“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
Hey, if we had a terrorist attack at the Super Bowl, it would have the side effect of drastically increasing the national average IQ.
You mean to say that Team America won’t come and save the motherfracking day.
Fuck Yeah!
Somebody should have shown up to stop the merciless thumping of the Broncos. It was right there on the field, an act of unspeakable brutality and humiliation.
I usually have the Teevee running just for the background noise, but pregame they were reciting the Declaration of Independence. Since they had turned down that self-defense ad. this almost made me throw up. (Fox said that refusing the ad wasn’t Fox’s call, but the NFL’s)
A sane terrorist(oxymoron?) wouldn’t go near the super bowl. Pick a mall full of super bowl widows running up their credit cards to get payback on their hubbies, that’s what a sane terrorist would do.
Black Sunday. They turned a blimp into a big ass claymore.
A sane terrorist would do the Superbowl. Terrorists are political animals; they’re not out for just a body count. They could get a body count in a large number of ways.
What the terrorist wants is a huge concentration of mass media covering his political cause; the bomb is just a way to focus the media on his cause.
I’d attack on Black Friday. Hit a mall filled with shoppers. Better yet, go the pressure cooker route at multiple targets across the country. Those 19 hijackers could have hit dozens of targets very quickly. The government would be forced into trying to launch a nationwide dragnet.
Thank god terrorists aren’t that smart.
NEVER underestimate your opponent, especially if his intention is to kill you.
A couple of decades ago, some kid put plans for an atom bomb on the internet, and there was a freaking uproar. A few weeks later, a popular SF pulp had an article: “Build an atomic bomb and wake up the neighborhood” where they gave instructions on how to build an atomic bomb. They didn’t have any suggestions as to how to get 36 lbs of U-235 or 16 lbx. of Pu-239. The author said his motivation was to make sure that nobody would get into trouble for revealing what some hysterics thought was top secret data.
But at the end of the article, he said something like, but what would be the point? If you want to disrupt the lives of a few million people, just blow up a few power substations with conventional stuff like dynamite. Or even take down a few high-tension cross-country transmission lines.
And anyway, the “terrorists” have already said that what they want is for America to get our military the hell out of their country.
That last line. . . given that Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia, where the only US military presence was when they, in a panic, invited us there to protect them from the Iraqi’s, how exactly is it that the terrorists only want our military presence out of their country? I’m nauseated at the number of people, and among the armed intelligentsia no less, who blame the victim, US, for the acts of insane, evil people bent on destruction, death and imposing their hateful views on others.
I guess the bloodthirsty warmonger mentality is just a clone of the grabber mentality. Wrong, but so adamant you’d rather rationalize mass murder in the name of “keeping us safe.”
War is bad, and people who condone war are bad people.
And just for my information, what exactly are your masters trying to accomplish by perpetrating all that mass murder? Do you intend to just keep killing them until they all bow down and lick your master’s boots?
I’m surprised malcontents haven’t improvised or smuggled in rocket artillery on American soil yet. It took Israel some time to counter that and it still isn’t 100% effective.
I have stated this many times. Most Americans, unlike Israelis walk around with their heads burried in their backsides.
People stop paying attention to their surroundings, and the people in it. Of course no one is perfect, but this is just my observations. RF is right too, there are so many soft targets out there.
Because it doesn’t happen to us, Dan. We’re a large enough country with a large enough population that we can as individuals play that, “It won’t happen here” game. And to some extent it’s true. As an individual American my chances of getting hit by lightning or scoring big on the lottery are probably higher than getting caught in a terrorist attack.
I don’t fear the terrorist. It’s that tweaker on the dark parking lot with a sharpened screw driver that I watch out for.
When is the Super Bowl, anyway?
If you watch really carefully, you can see bits of it between about 18,000 commercials.
This is the only day of the year I actually pay attention to commercials. No real good ones this time around though.
But for some reason I want pistachios …
It’s been awhile since I read the Sum of all Fears, and I didn’t remember it being the Superbowl, but the Skydome and a lot of Denver bit the big wienie and the government generally blew it big time.
Yeah, there were points of brilliance on the part of Ryan and Company, but in terms of numbers the bad guys won.
Hardly a “trust in them” message.
Which points out the real object of “Counterterror:” Collect your paycheck; get reelected if required and desired; and retire.
The Dark Knight Rises.
Not Returns.
“Regardless of our government’s unconstitutional … current day policies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Columbia, Mexico or anywhere else in the world, Americans are now and always will be terrorist targets.”
WRONG!!!!! It is precisely BECAUSE OF “our government’s unconstitutional Patriot Act or current day policies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Columbia, Mexico or anywhere else in the world,” that is the REASON that Americans are “be terrorist targets.”
The PTB are aware of this effect – they call it “blowback” and of course the Ministry of Truth has never heard of such a thing.
End the wars, and the “terrorist attacks” will end. End the insane War on Drugs, and street crime will plummet. And of course, end gun control, because this is America, dammit!
Leon Kinghoffer, were he alive today, would disagree that terrorism would stop if we stopped the war on terror.
But I largely agree about the “war on drugs”, which is as counterproductive as 1920s prohibition.
“Leon Kinghoffer, were he alive today, would disagree that terrorism would stop if we stopped the war on terror.”
Oh, well. I give up. It’s your Karma, after all.
“WRONG!!!!! It is precisely BECAUSE OF “our government’s unconstitutional Patriot Act or current day policies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Columbia, Mexico or anywhere else in the world,” that is the REASON that Americans are “be terrorist targets.”
The PTB are aware of this effect – they call it “blowback” and of course the Ministry of Truth has never heard of such a thing.
End the wars, and the “terrorist attacks” will end.”
Bull. “terrorists”(actually Muslims, there are not really any other competent terror groups in the whole world) attack any nation, any ethnic group, and any individual who is non-Muslim, or a so called “apostate”.
They attack more than America; they attack anywhere they wish to gain power, land, etc.
Please stop using the killers’ names.
As least the fucking Seahawks won the SB finally, now I can go back to not caring.
Three bombers strapped with suicide vests each going to a different packed sports bar in any three major US cities and blowing themselves up during the Super Bowl, March Madness or any other prime sporting event would shut down the restaurant industry for weeks. That is an easy and pretty scary plan for the terrorists.
HEY tdiinva! THIS SUPERBOWL WAS SO BAD I TURNED IT OFF AT HALF ANYWAY… WENT AND WATCHED SOME PORN!! ‘STILL’ DIDNT SEE ANYONE GET SCREWED WORSE THAN DENVER!!! hahahaha… WHAT A BORING GAME!! MANNNN….
WANT A FRONTAL LOBOTOMY JUST SO I CAN FORGET THIS SUPERBOWL!! (or a bottle in front of me — always forget which it is??)
1) While an armed individual is the best counter to an potential spree shooter, an armed civilian May not be the best counter to some asshole with a bomb strapped to his chest, I won’t go into detail, but just because you cap the guy with the bomb, doesnt’t mean it still won’t detonate.
2) You seem to forget that we had a major terror attack in Boston this past April, just because the death count was lower, does not mean it was any less of a tragedy. A gun might’ve helped, but shooting some Eastern European guy because he dropped his bag and walked away wouldn’t have stood up in court.
3) I’ve been thinking about open carry demonstrations and have decided that we as a community are doing it completely wrong. Walking around with your AR15 that has every damn gadget that DEVGRU,CAG,MARSOC, and Navy EOD rock on their M4s and attired in the latest and greatest from 5.11 is not the way to win hearts and minds. So don’t be surprised when the 5-0 want to talk.
So how do we fix this? I understand that this might not be practical everywhere, but where I live in Colorado, CCL classes are available through the rec center. And I live 15 minutes south of denver. The political demographic could be best described as progressive conservatives (love right wing values, but guns are evil). So having a community event where there are firearm related activities would be a good idea.
3b) when you decide to ignore the above and rock your Ar15 for a demonstration at your local swimming pool, don’t be a total dick to the sheriffs deputies/ police officer/ state trooper when they arrive. I understand that you legally don’t have to provide them your name as you are not being charged, but, giving them at least your first name could help. Always keep in mind that all the officer knows is some bodies packin heat, and the officer is just trying to go home safe to his family at the end of the day.
If law enforcement arrives and has weapons drawn, hands on weapons, put your hands on your head just comply again they want to go home too.
If the cop is a complete asshole, remain polite, and calm, dont try to educate them on the law, this will more than likely just piss them off. Just be polite, and if the ask you to put down the camera, or not to film their face, don’t, that’s called being polite. Also do not give them a long winded explanation, just the spark note version.
4)for whatever reason there is a group of you on here who will find any reason to hate on law enforcement, more than likely you have been pulled over one too many times. Frankly, get the chip off your shoulder, be a man and move forward. There are good cops, there are bad cops. There are good gun owners, there are bad gun owners. There are good drivers, there are bad drivers. If your a bad driver I recommend you go back to drivers ed with Mrs Sexy Reacher Lady Who Was Like 22 And she Gropped Ypur Penis as you were learning how to drive.
5) smile!