The white youngins rioting were as drunk as hell. Surely you don't think there rioting was some serious ideological statement. I suspect some of the Muslim punks in Australia and France were as well, but that would not be PC to suggest. By the way, were those Lebanese guys who started this Muslim or Christian?
Torrie, I have no way of knowing. I suspect there are problems on both sides, but I do find it rather humorous to see all this angst about racial strife.
What's the difference between what is taking place in Australia and what happened in France? I don't remember any handwringing over race as an issue when only Muslims were involved. I remember people getting upset because only Muslims were involved, but I don't remember people thinking it was racially motivated.
Now there's whites involved, and of course it's an issue of race. Look, if people don't sit by and watch their towns and other property torched, I don't necessarily see it as an issue of race.
Yes Muslims were targeted. And perhaps a message needed to be sent so that people are on record knowing this isn't going to be a one-way street like it was in France.
"Enough is enough. If you want to play, we're going to accomodate your ass."
"Surely you don't think their rioting was some serious ideological statement."
Evidently many were drunk, but that does not mean that there was NOT a serious ideological statement being made.
I'd draw particular attention to Wretchard's blog over at the Belmont Club. He is an Australian of Philippino extraction who is one of the most perceptive and erudite commentators in the blogosphere.
http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2005/12/breaking-violence-breaks-out-again-in.html
Note not just the initial blog entry, but also his comments within the comments section. He has much more to say there.
Here's a snippet:
"I've been warning about this [perceived political correctness undermining public confidence] for some time now, both with respect to the torture debate and in an old post called the Three Conjectures. Like most people in Oz, I have Muslim or Middle Eastern friends and the way I got it figured is if we don't start cracking down on the Osamas and the Zawahiris and the al-Arians because they are draped in this bogus human rights shield, then the Joe Samadis and the Bill Mansours of the world are gonna start catching it. What's the use of being innocent if the guilty go scot free? One day if a nuke goes off in Sydney or Manhattan all the bets are off."
The anglos may have been "revved up by beer" as Wretchard notes, but the "tectonic pressures" built up relate to extremely serious social, political, and geo-political issues.
Please check out Wretchard. I think you'll see that this was most likely much more than a simple "rumble" at the beach.