Talk politics.

I'm still fascinated by this tragedy that happened because it seems pretty inexplicable right now. Of course news agencies have been looking into people who have had relations with the guy to try to figure out what may have motivated him. The testemonies are interesting in their variety. The guy was apparently calm and quiet (it's always the quiet ones) and lots of people were surprised. A worker at a store he frequented who is also muslim used to chat with him and he was surprised because the guy would mention that he felt islam should be an inclusive religion.

"I met him a few times and I saw him at services ... he appeared to be a very loyal American," Hendi told CNN's "Situation Room." "I know he told me once that he joined the military because he wanted to do something for America in the aftermath of September 11.

"He also told me once that he believed that Muslims who speak a language of exclusivity should not have room in the Muslim community -- that we must reject them," the chaplain continued. "And that's why for me, when I saw the footage yesterday about him, I said, 'Wait a minute -- is this the same guy I met a few years ago?' "

Aparently he felt however that The War Against Terrorism is a war on Islam, and being sent to Afghanistan soon. Also, he had been harassed often about his religion. He had his car keyed and a sticker that said 'Islam is love' torn from it.

Lastly, a few notes, there are some interesting questions that will be answered in the coming days.:

* Apparently soon before the incident he had a guest at his house, the first he ever had, for instance. Was he talking to someone who advocated this solution? Apparently he only talked to the person for 5 minutes.

* Some officers were concerned literally for years, as far back as his school. One student literally referred to the guy as a ticking time bomb to superiors after Hassan gave a powerpoint justifying suicide bombing.

* When he rented his appartment in Fort Hood he payed 6 months up front for the apartment and said he wanted no visitors.

* He was recently transferred from Washington to Fort Hood based on a poor performance review, what some people say was a demotion.

* A classmate of his says that he was an outspoken opponent of the war on terrorism and that it was a war against Islam. He brought this up in the classroom in a presentation~ in an environmental health class, even though it was off-topic. His classmate said he was outspoken about these views during the class year and often got in to arguments with people. The classmate says that Hassan was extreme in his views and brought the criticism upon himself, but it was a diverse class and he didn't see any harassment during that time. His final presentation for the class was a climate survey- on muslims in the military.

*"medical officers are a huge asset in the military, and are treated like gold. The fact that he had a major rank on his uniform means he outranked 95% of the people there and they are given a lot of leeway."

*The army has been burned by so many scandals recently involving harassment that everyone is afraid to "touch that third rail" and address suspicious actions of people who have minority culture, religion, ethnicity etc.
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Silver lining:
CNN is covering live coverage of army briefs about the army shooting. One thing that has come up with this is that the army is talking about looking into and reforming opinions about getting help with personal problems such as harassment. I guess a lot of people feel that it's sort of a personal thing and that telling anyone makes you a snitch. A psychiatrist on CNN also suggests the guy may have had other psychological problems besides harassment and depression.

We'll see if its anything more than just talk, but if it does bring light to harassment in the military, it would be at least one good thing that comes from this. Not just to prevent something like this, most people who are harassed don't turn to violence like this, but for the individuals that suffer harassment.

I'm expecting we'll see plenty bad consequences to come though. CNN claims that Islamic groups are bracing for a negative backlash.

Oh and I'm sorry this post is rather wandering, I'm still trying to collect information on what the heck happened.