Blowing smoke

Dallas Dunlap's recent letter on the subject of political correctness as it applies to the Fort Hood shootings ("Some Call It Decency," in the Dec. 6 edition of Hernando Today) is interesting, but it think it (dis)misses the critical point.

In almost every incident of mass murder there are people who, after the fact, realize that they saw precursors of the event, but they said nothing. Often they remain silent because they're not certain and don't want to be thought alarmist and silly if they speak out. Sometimes they simply cannot believe where the connected "dots" seem to be leading. Infrequently they may even sympathize with the perpetrator on some level.

The Fort Hood incident is different in that those who perceived a pattern that could lead to murder almost universally did not come forward because they feared for their careers and reputations. It's one thing to make the personal choice to remain silent because of uncertainty or risk of ridicule, it's quite another to be forced to remain silent because of institutional barriers.

No one is suggesting that anyone should be persecuted or harassed because of their religion, but the truth is that Muslims have been de facto designated as a protected group by officialdom and challenging this Zeitgeist from within the system is risky.

I think that this is the point under discussion and that Mr. Dunlap has tried to obfuscate it by blowing smoke and insulting those who do not share his leftist belief system.

John S.V. Weiss

Spring Hill