“Scapegoat” is a term that has it’s origins in the Old Testament.
In the Bible, the scapegoat was a goat that was designated (Hebrew לַעֲזָאזֵֽל ) la-aza’zeyl to be outcast in the desert as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement, that began during the Exodus with the original Tabernacle and continued through the times of the temples in Jerusalem.
In modern usage Scapegoat means,
Scapegoating (from the verb “to scapegoat“) is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame as a scapegoat.[1] Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g., “Jimmy did it, not me!”), individuals against groups (e.g., “I failed because our school favors boys”), groups against individuals (e.g., “Jane was the reason our team didn’t win”), and groups against groups (e.g., “Immigrants are taking all of the jobs”).
Yes, those are from Wikipedia but they suffice for our purposes. Which brings me to this.
Feds Arrest Producer Of Controversial Anti-Islam Film On Probation Violation Charge
The producer of the controversial anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” has been arrested for violating terms of his probation and is set for an appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, is scheduled for an initial appearance before Judge Christina Snyder, who sentenced him in June 2010 following a bank fraud conviction.
Squirrel!
This, despite the now debunked, thoroughly debunked, lie from the Obama Administration that the root cause of the unrest in Egypt, Libya, and other Muslim nations is this stupid trailer that has been around since July but “spontaneously” caused protests that just happened to start on September 11 of this year.
So Nakoula is being scapegoated to try to distract the voting public from wondering why the Obama Administration continues to lie about what happened to Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi. Keep in mind that the President, Secretary of State, US Ambassador to the United States, Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and most sadly apparently the Director of Central Intelligence all lied to the public and the Congress about what happened. All continue at some level or another to perpetuate the lie that the attack in Benghazi was spontaneous and the Ambassador was killed accidentally. Or that other attacks were spontaneous and not orchestrated to occur on September 11.
I sort of expect politicians to lie to me, it’s their stock in trade. I’m truly disgusted that a General and a retired General would do that. They disgrace their uniforms and their oaths of office.
If any of them, including the President, had a shred of decency, they’d resign. Alas, none of them will and the popular media will continue to pretend that it was Mitt Romney who “shot first and aimed afterwards” and not the administration.
The depths of my disgust at their despicable actions and words have yet to be plumbed.
As I said before, if you want a media that will hold politicians accountable you have to vote for Republicans.
He should have been arrested for his terribly shot “movie.”
Not that the gist was wrong or anything…
There isn’t much of a chance that he or his “film” will be nominated for an Academy Award, but that’s not the point. Of course you know that. He shouldn’t have been arrested at all.
Two points here. First, since now-leaked intelligence indicates that al-Qaeda was ‘affiliated’ within a day after the attacks, did you expect that the Administration would out their sources so quickly simply to tell the truth? It seems to me that the denial of a terror link has more to do with protecting intelligence sources than some sort of rug pulled out from under the American people. And regarding your point that the media is more ‘honest’ with Republicans, it’s not like they were even remotely on the ball in challenging the garbage excuses made for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
And second; Nakoula’s conviction was tied to computer fraud. Therefore, there are three issues linked to his parole revocation. (1) using computers and the internet to an extent that violates his terms of supervised release, (2) using an alias, and (3) using bank accounts and funds without disclosing them to his probation officer. Finally, the U.S. Probation Office is an arm of the U.S. Courts, not of the executive branch. For more information, please refer to: http://www.popehat.com/2012/09/27/nakoula-arrested-update-on-innocence-of-muslims-filmmaker/
It’s a nice theory, but it’s wrong. The intelligence about Al Qaeda came not from the US, but from Libyan and other sources. They were quite public about it in fact after the attacks. Before the attacks, they warned the US that it was likely to be coming, but the government did nothing to protect out Ambassador or others.
I won’t rehash Iraq since it’s pointless to try to convince you. Other than after the initial invasion the media and Hollywood spent the rest of George Bush’s term attacking him, the war, the military, and anyone who supported any of them. Remember when Cindy Sheehan was a heroine? That ended the minute Obama was elected.
While the U.S Probation Office is an arm of the Courts, Nakoula was taken into custody by the LA Sheriff’s Office at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI is part of the Department of Justice, which is an executive branch office. You know which Obama crony runs the DOJ, right? When Nakoula was taken into custody, the Administration denied that he was arrested, just that he agreed to come in to answer some questions. At midnight.
Do you think that if this movie bashed Christians or Jews, he’d have been taken into custody? What if it bashed George W. Bush? Yeah, I thought so.
Or, maybe, the dude actually violated his probation, and being how he was… Oh, yes, in the newspapers and on tv and the Internet and in lunch boxes… His probation officer noticed that he’d done it and should be punished.
Yes, I know, far-fetched that somebody with legal troubles that lied to his cast about a crappy movie would ever actually DO something illegal, but, hey, we should at least entertain the possibility that he’s a criminal and not a political dissident.
And of course it’s mere coincidence that this relatively small time criminal was picked up after his connection to a movie seen by NO ONE was exposed and blamed for wide spread violence against US interests. No political agenda there, none at all. He’s a scapegoat pure and simple. I’d say that it doesn’t fool anyone, but obviously it does.
The filmmaker is a “useful idiot”. There have been many such “useful idiots” over the years; people who have done absolutely stupid crap that makes them a convenient target to aim public opinion at.
That said, you’re way off base in supporting him. The dirtbag violated parole and lied to his actors about what he was doing. He is a criminal who is being used as a distraction; he is NOT some martyr being persecuted for his actions.
As for the “trust Republicans” crap, how about Pat Tillman? Should there be discipline for the officers who lied to the family of a fallen soldier (and the U.S. public) to cover up a “friendly fire” death? Domestically, Ruby Ridge happened under a Republican administration as well; how about the honesty involved in that officially sanctioned murder? How many lies and half-truths were spun about the intelligence screw-ups that allowed the Sept 11th attacks?
By all means we should hold the Obama Administration accountable for what happened; but telling us to trust Republicans? The drink the Republicans are pushing on you may have a different taste, but it’s the same type of Kool-Aid that the Democrats feed their followers.
Understand that I am not supporting him, I am pointing out that the Administration is still, even after all this time, trying to blame the movie for an act of terrorism that was planned in advance. There were no protests at the time of the attack on the Consulate. The rest of you comment is quite bluntly, tripe.
I misread your last sentence. I thought you were saying that Republican politicians were more honest, which was not what you were saying. I agree that the mainstream media is more willing to overlook the lies of Democrats than those of Republicans. Mea Culpa.