Anders Behring Breivik, 32, is being named a suspect in the Oslo, Norway, shooting and bombing on Friday, July 22, 2011. (Facebook photo)

Empire burlesque, July 23, 2011 

There is not much to say about the horrific events in Norway, beyond this general observation. If a white, Christian nationalist carries out such atrocities, then he is, inevitably and always, a "lone nut," an outlier, emblematic of nothing but his own individual lunacy. But if a Muslim-- or any person of color or non-white ethnicity -- does anything similar (or indeed, far less serious in scope), why then, that perpetrator is emblematic of an entire race or religion or ethnic group: a group which must then be laid under collective suspicion, and collective harrasment, by the "security" forces (and the chattering classes) of the West. 

In the coming days, we will hear much about the tormented psychology of the Norwegian terrorist ... who,as Glenn Greenwald notes, will no longer be known as a "terrorist" at all -- precisely because he is white, Christian and a "patriot."