zenpundit.com

[ by Charles Cameron — where two negatives (OPM and Secret Service) may make an ironic positive — a DoubleTweet ]
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On the one hand…

“@washingtonpost: Secret Service officers at White House lacked security clearances, officials say http://t.co/KkFANbdoCv”

— Mike Walker (@New_Narrative) June 10, 2015

— while on the other…

When you get a security clearance, deal is: You keep USG's secrets & they keep yours. One-half of that is now broken. http://t.co/E7YhFCFeTQ

— John Schindler (@20committee) June 8, 2015

Taken separatedly, they’re both on the sinister side — but together, almost dextrous?

[ by Charles Cameron — more for the fun and war games file ]
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There’s Aaron Zelin‘s piece,

The Islamic State's Saudi Chess Match – @azelin, @WashInstitute: http://t.co/48hnDEr1RD

— Aaron Y. Zelin (@azelin) June 2, 2015

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Then there’s this DoubleTweet from Daveed Gartenstein-Ross:

If you thought chess and war were exactly the same, prepare to have your mind blown. http://t.co/FVvx7QEqxc

— Gartenstein-Ross (@DaveedGR) June 4, 2015

and (brilliantly played!) Phineas Fahrquar:

@DaveedGR So, wait. My private doesn't promote to general if it makes it to the enemy HQ? Shoot…

— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) June 4, 2015

**

Both the linked pieces are worth your while:

Aaron Zelin, The Islamic State’s Saudi Chess Match

Giorgio Bertolin. Why chess is not the right metaphor for human conflict

[ by Charles Cameron — nicely done DoubleTweet from Hasan Hafidh ]
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Noting, as you no doubt know, that Sistani of Najaf, Iraq, is the “quietist” ayatollah followed by more Shiites than any other, the Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran included:

'Do not say Sunni are our brothers, say they are us' – Ayatollah Sistani

— Hasan Hafidh (@HasHafidh) May 28, 2015

And remembering that Rafidha is a derogatory term used by some unfriendly Sunnis for Shia…

'Rafidha are not our brothers, they are the brothers of Satan' – Salah AlFawzan (deputy grand Saudi mufti, govt-appointed) Who's sectarian?

— Hasan Hafidh (@HasHafidh) May 28, 2015

Elegant.

[by Charles Cameron — hunh? ]
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The Mufti that #Morsi himself appointed is to be made to agree his death warrant? This is Shakespearean in scope of morbid tragedy. #Egypt

— Rana Kabbani (@RanaKabbani54) May 16, 2015

Among those sentenced to death by Egypt is Emad Shahin. Took class w/ him at Georgetown on authoritarianism in Egypt. Dispassionate scholar.

— Arif Rafiq (@ArifCRafiq) May 16, 2015

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The Mufti must sign the death warrant of the man who appointed him. The professor who worked on authoritarianism in Egypt is sentenced to death by Egyptian authoritarianism. Strange loops indeed, Dr Hofstadter!

Dr Shahin has responded: Statement by Prof. Emad Shahin on his death sentence:

In another travesty of justice, an Egyptian court today issued a mass death sentence against more than 120 defendants in two cases known as the “Grand Espionage” and “Prisons Break.” I was falsely charged in the first case and I received the death sentence pending referral to the mufti. I repeat my absolute rejection of the charges against me and note that I am hardly the only victim of injustice in this case. Furthermore, I condemn the sham trials engulfing Egypt since July 2013 where wholesale death sentences on flimsy or no evidence have been the mark of the current military regime.

[ by Charles Cameron — NB: not claiming equivalency, simply documenting some provocative “compare and contrast” usage on Twitter ]
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Gun-toting Colorado teens pose for prom pics with Confederate flag as parents egg them on http://t.co/UXtCNOjGFi h/t @BenjaminNorton

— Hend (@LibyaLiberty) May 7, 2015

just sayin'. pic.twitter.com/GLHLxPgmES

— Hend (@LibyaLiberty) May 7, 2015

the wrong combination of flags and guns have a sneaky way of turning average people into violent bigots.

— Hend (@LibyaLiberty) May 7, 2015

Ok, there are more parallels between these prom kids & jihadis, as @Bilalhb pointed out to me. Shahada finger! pic.twitter.com/Y40IMzYbBP

— Hend (@LibyaLiberty) May 7, 2015

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We had a similar “gun, book and flag” DoubleQuote a while back, though I haven’t been able to relocate it, and as I remember noticing then, there’s a sort of parallax effect that can come into play, whereby some people see a close similarity and not much diference while others see a huge difference and little or no similarity.

Here’s that earlier DoubleQuote:

If you want more details about the un/fairness of the comparison, NRO had a piece on it titled Holly Fisher: Public Enemy Number 310,345,204

As someone who is interested in juxtaposition both as a means of making points and of raising questions, I find this parallax effect of great interest. I suspect that a decent, insightful study might reveal a great deal about the mechanisms by which humans fissiparate into antagonistic groups.

Fissiparate? Okay, maybe not a word yet, but useful all the same.