Sep
23
2025

Free Palestine!

(With the Purchase of One or More Palestines of Equal or Greater Value)

New Hampshire had its own Intifada Incident at Sky Meadow Country Club down in Nashua, where a Saturday night wedding reception was in progress. One person, 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare, was murdered while shielding his family from the perpetrator. Two others were shot and four more reported non-gunshot injuries.

The "suspect", one Hunter Nadeau, shouted "Free Palestine" at some point in his rampage. According to witnesses, but who could make something like that up?

News reports (like this one) invariably hasten to add:

Some shooting witnesses said they heard Nadeau yelling phrases like "Free Palestine," but investigators said they do not believe the shooting was hate-related.

"We don't have any evidence at this time that Mr. Nadeau was motivated by hate-based motivation. In fact, I would say that the evidence leads us to believe this was more likely Mr. Nadeau was simply trying to make a number of statements to create chaos in the moment," New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said.

Jim Geraghty seems a tad incredulous about that:

Ah, well. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow, of course. But also John Formella.

But on that whole "Free Palestine" thing, Noah Rothman points out what should be, but isn't, obvious: Palestinian Statehood Declarations Are an Insult to Palestinians. About the recent declarations of "Australia, Canada, Portugal, and the U.K" (and probably soon France):

Nothing about this status quo suggests that the Palestinian territories are ripe for statehood. In fact, granting that status now functionally consigns the Palestinian people to subjugation at the hands of the authoritarian and terroristic cabals under which they’ve languished for so long. It seems that no one gave much thought to the Palestinian people in all this. No, Israel was the target of this maneuver. In that sense, this long-sought dispensation to the Palestinian nationalist cause is an insult to the Palestinians themselves. It’s not about them and it never was. It’s all and only about the Jews and their borders.

It's a quid where nobody's expecting, let alone demanding, pro quo. A reward for barbaric atrocities which will only result, eventually, in continued barbaric atrocities.

Also of note:

  • Down the rabbit hole. So Ann Althouse asked Elon's Grok AI: Where in traditional/social media is alarm being raised about "Christian nationalism"? Included in Grok's response was "a concise, well-formatted chart". And the sources cited were the usual litany of lefty sources: the Nation, the Guardian, the LA Times, the WaPo, the NYT, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, LGBTQ Nation, and … whoa, the Concord Monitor?

    Or, as we like to say: Pravda on the Merrimack?

    Yes. You can read Grok's entire response here. And here's the bit referencing a PotM op-ed from September 16, which

    Links Kirk's Christian nationalism to Hitler's church co-optation, alarming over Trump's mourning as prophetic and its anti-democratic implications.

    Well, that's enough to track down the column in question. It's from "Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt", identified as "founding minister of the Tree of Life Interfaith Temple in Amherst." And, sure enough, she does not shrink from making the argumentum ad Hitlerum:

    Those who study history will recognize the parallels of Trump and the rise of Christian Nationalism in this country to the rise of Hitler in Germany before World War II. Primarily, Hitler was masterful at building loyalty and support within the German churches, eventually making his government and religion one. And we all know the result.

    Still, even as I watch out my window and see ICE agents gathering up all the undesirables and see Trump targeting only Democratic cities with military control, all in support of this Christian Nationalist agenda, I remember Anne Frank and I refuse to allow my spirit to be broken.

    Fascinating! She's Anne Frank! And, finally, that led me to Rev. Dr. Stephanie's very own personal website and (yes) her blog. And, if you are intrigued, don't miss Rev. Dr. Stephanie's Tree of Life Interfaith Temple. Where you can sign up for the Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program. The nine-month program (offered "primarily online via video conferencing") will set you back $2500 for tuition and about $50 for books.

    Something Anne Frank missed out on doing.


Last Modified 2025-09-23 5:45 PM EDT