Fort Hood: Routine

Hannah Arendt wrote of the banality of evil. Good God almighty, mass murder threatens to become routine.

The initial dispatches from Fort Hood were as chaotic as the scene itself. Reports of multiple gunmen proved false. The name of the alleged assailant confirmed the assumptions of many and the fears of others. An individual committed the enormity, yet Muslim Americans collectively anticipate a state of siege. The Fort Hood bloodshed was followed by yesterday's shootings in Orlando. More will come.

Only the reckless will draw conclusions about Fort Hood before a comprehensive account grows clear. As happened with Seung-Hui Cho, the story of Nidal Malik Hasan likely will include warning signs missed or ignored. Incoherence is in the air. If certain descriptions of Hasan's behavior and attitudes are accurate, then why did he enlist and why did the Army accept him? Truly, cognitive dissonance resonates.

We have our suspicions regarding the massacre and its motivations. The future will afford ample time to probe the details and to issue pronouncements.

We will close with this, however: Ethnicity and religion ought to pose no conflict with service in the armed forces of the United States. The supreme commander of the invasion force that defeated Nazi Germany was named Eisenhower. It is the responsibility of the individual soldier to live up to the same standard.