There is no question we are at war with Islamic terrorists. If you do not believe that, you are completely disconnected from reality. Whether or not the terrorists are interpreting their (false) religion correctly is up for debate. But one thing seems fairly clear: not all Muslims have an extreme view of Islam.
But it is also clear there are radicalized Muslims among us. Just ask the folks in San Bernardino CA. Or New York City. Or Washington DC. Or Oakland CA. Or Bethesda MD. Or Savou IL. Or Chattanooga TN, or a host of other places.
So the $64,000 question is - what is the ratio of good Muslims to radicalized Muslims in the US? I have no idea, and seriously, I don't think anyone else does either.
I've given this a lot of thought lately. The pundits are all over the road. Some think ISIS, al-Qaeda and others of their ilk are misinterpreting Islam, and that Islam is a loving peaceful religion. Other pundits point to passages in the Quran that instruct followers to kill infidels. Are those passages referenced being used out of context? How does Sharia Law fit into this?
Like most Americans, I am very ignorant of Islam. So I got a Quran to seek out answers to these questions. It is a slow read.
I hear that many, if not most mosques in the U,S. have radicalized elements in them. That is a scary thought. Is that true? Again, I have no idea, but I sure would like to know.
There are too many people in this country who have convicted all Muslims in their mind. They are scared. I get that. But they have allowed hate to blind their vision. We need to hate and kill the people who want to kill us. That is where our focus needs to be.
Donald Trump wants to "temporarily" prevent Muslims from entering the country. Besides the fact that this bigoted proposal penalizes innocent people, there is no way to do it. Muslims can easily lie, which means you'd have to determine non-Muslims and let them in. There's no way to do that either. Trump's insane plan smacks of FDR locking up thousands of innocent Japanese-Americans during World War II. Most consider that a dark spot in our history.
And now Ted Cruz has proven he needs a bed at the asylum too. He wants local law enforcement to patrol Muslim neighborhoods.
???
Aside from the fact that most local law enforcement officers have little or no training in finding radicalized Muslims, where are these Muslim neighborhoods? I live in a middle to upper middle class neighborhood in a major American city. A city with a large immigrant population from everywhere on the planet. There are hundreds of homes in my neighborhood, and I'd bet the ranch there are Muslims living here. I don't know who or where, but they live here. They live everywhere.
It is Gestapo-like proposals like Cruz has put forth that gives Republicans a bad reputation among sane people. That is not who we are. I am about as conservative as they come, and am outraged by both of these proposals. Unfortunately, two of the three Republican candidates still standing think this way. One is a conservative and one is a liberal, so that doesn't seem to matter. The third candidate, not exactly a conservative, has no chance of being nominated, even though polls show he would handily beat Hillary in a general election, while Cruz basically ties with her and Trump comes up a big loser.
The two Democrat candidates are socialist losers who would finish driving America into the ground with their proven to be failed liberal policies. Looking at the original 17 Republican candidates, it should have been a cinch to come up with a great candidate. But instead, we have a bigot, a Gestapo-like candidate and a moderate who cannot be nominated.
How the hell did this happen?
Well, the tea party does not adhere to Ronald Reagan's 80% rule (if you like a candidate 80%, vote for that person). The conservatives are looking for a 100% candidate, so they threw out Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal and everyone else. When the tea party threw out Mitt Romney four years ago, we got Obama for a second term. Thanks for nothing.
Meanwhile, the Republican "establishment" did all they could to destroy the non-establishment candidates, despite the belief that most Republicans want nothing to do with outdated, old-order party members. Typically old white men like John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Lamar Alexander, Peter King, et al.
That's how we get Trump for a front-runner.
I imagine I'll be attacked for this. I can visualize the comments now. But being a conservative doesn't mean keeping your head stuck in the sand (or elsewhere) and not seeing the big picture. A picture that shows Hillary Clinton very close to becoming the President of the United States. God help us.
I've given this a lot of thought lately. The pundits are all over the road. Some think ISIS, al-Qaeda and others of their ilk are misinterpreting Islam, and that Islam is a loving peaceful religion. Other pundits point to passages in the Quran that instruct followers to kill infidels. Are those passages referenced being used out of context? How does Sharia Law fit into this?
Like most Americans, I am very ignorant of Islam. So I got a Quran to seek out answers to these questions. It is a slow read.
I hear that many, if not most mosques in the U,S. have radicalized elements in them. That is a scary thought. Is that true? Again, I have no idea, but I sure would like to know.
There are too many people in this country who have convicted all Muslims in their mind. They are scared. I get that. But they have allowed hate to blind their vision. We need to hate and kill the people who want to kill us. That is where our focus needs to be.
Donald Trump wants to "temporarily" prevent Muslims from entering the country. Besides the fact that this bigoted proposal penalizes innocent people, there is no way to do it. Muslims can easily lie, which means you'd have to determine non-Muslims and let them in. There's no way to do that either. Trump's insane plan smacks of FDR locking up thousands of innocent Japanese-Americans during World War II. Most consider that a dark spot in our history.
And now Ted Cruz has proven he needs a bed at the asylum too. He wants local law enforcement to patrol Muslim neighborhoods.
???
Aside from the fact that most local law enforcement officers have little or no training in finding radicalized Muslims, where are these Muslim neighborhoods? I live in a middle to upper middle class neighborhood in a major American city. A city with a large immigrant population from everywhere on the planet. There are hundreds of homes in my neighborhood, and I'd bet the ranch there are Muslims living here. I don't know who or where, but they live here. They live everywhere.
It is Gestapo-like proposals like Cruz has put forth that gives Republicans a bad reputation among sane people. That is not who we are. I am about as conservative as they come, and am outraged by both of these proposals. Unfortunately, two of the three Republican candidates still standing think this way. One is a conservative and one is a liberal, so that doesn't seem to matter. The third candidate, not exactly a conservative, has no chance of being nominated, even though polls show he would handily beat Hillary in a general election, while Cruz basically ties with her and Trump comes up a big loser.
The two Democrat candidates are socialist losers who would finish driving America into the ground with their proven to be failed liberal policies. Looking at the original 17 Republican candidates, it should have been a cinch to come up with a great candidate. But instead, we have a bigot, a Gestapo-like candidate and a moderate who cannot be nominated.
How the hell did this happen?
Well, the tea party does not adhere to Ronald Reagan's 80% rule (if you like a candidate 80%, vote for that person). The conservatives are looking for a 100% candidate, so they threw out Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal and everyone else. When the tea party threw out Mitt Romney four years ago, we got Obama for a second term. Thanks for nothing.
Meanwhile, the Republican "establishment" did all they could to destroy the non-establishment candidates, despite the belief that most Republicans want nothing to do with outdated, old-order party members. Typically old white men like John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Lamar Alexander, Peter King, et al.
That's how we get Trump for a front-runner.
I imagine I'll be attacked for this. I can visualize the comments now. But being a conservative doesn't mean keeping your head stuck in the sand (or elsewhere) and not seeing the big picture. A picture that shows Hillary Clinton very close to becoming the President of the United States. God help us.
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