"Hate"

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board summarized the horrific events in Orlando in the following way:

A young American Muslim pledging allegiance to Islamic State is now responsible for the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. Can we finally drop the illusion that the jihadist fires that burn in the Middle East don’t pose an urgent and deadly threat to the American homeland?

We hope so after the Sunday morning assault on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that killed at least 51 and wounded 53 as we went to press. The killer was Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, the son of immigrants from Afghanistan who was heard shouting “allahu Akbar” (God is great) as he fired away. Mateen attacked a popular night spot for gays, who are especially loathed in Islamist theology.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, and it rarely does so unless it played some role. CNN and others reported that a U.S. official said Mateen made a 911 call during the attack in which he pledged allegiance to Islamic State and mentioned the 2013 Boston marathon bombing.

We’ll learn more about Mateen’s ISIS ties in the days ahead, but it hardly matters to the victims whether the would-be caliphate planned the attack or merely inspired it. As we learned again after December’s murders in San Bernardino, ISIS propaganda over the internet can all too easily reach Muslims alienated from American society. Young men who are second generation immigrants seem to be especially vulnerable to calls for jihad.

The response from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were wholly predictable. Although both deigned to use the word "terror" (surprising—but since that conclusion was a slam dunk, hard for even the most PC among us to avoid) but refused to attach a defining adjective (e.g., "Islamic") to it, they pivoted within seconds to a discussion of "hate" followed by calls for gun control. As usual, Obama lectured to country against Islamophobia, although indirectly with a warning against "hate" associated with a "religion."

I can see it now. A group of Obama and Hillary operatives, sitting around a table in some Washington meeting room on Sunday morning, discussing how to best frame a terror attack that works to the political advantage of their nemesis, Donald Trump.

Operative #1: Well, we could just call it Islamic terror—after all that is what it is. Add a little reality to the mix, a little toughnes—that would blunt Trump's approach.

Operative #2: Are you nuts!? We can't do that.

Operative #3: Well, we can always fall back on gun control.

Operative #2: Yeah, that has to be part of it, but I don't know ... not sure that will work with some of the demographic we're trying to poach from Trump.

Operative #1: Of course it won't work, but it will allow us to change the subject ... and the media will eat it up.

Operative #2: Wait a minute. What if we emphasize "hate."

Operative #3: Hate of what?

Operative #2: "Hate" as in "hate" crimes. The Orlando attack was a hate crime, right?

Operative #3: Yeah, that will allow us to characterize Trump's positions on Muslim immigration as nothing more than "hate"— he's no different than ISIS, really.

Operative #1: That's a little extreme, don't you think?

Operative #3: True, but it fit's right into our current narrative—Trump the racist, the bigot, the loose cannon and now, the "hater."

Operative #2: I like it! We can roll it out slowly. I'll get HRC's tweet-person to work up a couple of tweets -- see how they play. HRC can discuss "hate" in TV interviews tomorrow morning.

Operative #1: Let's do it. "Hate" is our new meme! Think about it—our candidate can condemn "hate" but never have to explicitly condemn what precipitated it..

I suspect I'm not the only person in this country who is experiencing deja vu. Rather than focusing on domestic versions of Islamic terror and real-world actions that might help us combat it, many Democrats try desperately to change the subject when they encounter a set of circumstances that make them uncomfortable. It looks like a "conversation about 'hate' " might be this event's diversion.

The GOP, more properly in my view, tries to keep the focus on Islamic terror in our midst, suggesting, correctly I think, that the politically correct group-think that pervades the national government is making it increasingly difficult for federal investigative agencies to find and neutralize potential threats. Hamstrung by existing laws and the PC approach that discourages aggressive enforcement, the FBI investigated the Orlando terrorist twice and allowed him to continue to roam the streets.

In an odd way, the meme-miesters are right—"hate" does sit at the core of all of this. Islamists hate the West, they hate our culture, our religions, our freedom, and our opportunity. They hate anything that is antithetical to Sharia law. They will kill to express that hatred, and they cannot be negotiated out of it.

Democrats think that if we tip toe around the problem, PC will prevail. Islamists see only weakness in that approach, spurring them on to even greater atrocities.

It's long past time to call out Islam, not out of hatred, but out of concern. To speak bluntly with words and actions. To tell this world religion that it MUST heal itself. That if it does not, the future will be ugly, just as it was for the 49 innocent young people who died in Orlando, Florida over the weekend.