Quote Originally Posted by Schmedlap View Post
Nobody else has asked, so I will.

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that he is a terrorist. Let us also assume that he was acting alone - a lone wolf, a loner, a loser, whichever you like. Now, for the question: so what?

If he is a terrorist, should this make his crime more troubling than if he were not a terrorist?
Excellent question!

Yes.

A guy going postal because of personal issues doesn't have the attractive or inspirational potential of politically motivated terrorism. In other words, terrorism can have an effect on the psychological/moral level in a way that a guy slicing up his neighbors in his apartment and eating them with fava beans and a nice chianti does not. The former is a cause, the latter, a curiousity.