Tag Archives: terrorism

No, ISIS … POTUS is no ‘idiot’

It’s one thing for Americans to disparage their own president, even to call him unflattering names.

When a foreign power does it — let alone a mortal enemy of the United States and the rest of the civilized world — well, that’s quite another matter.

The Islamic State has issued some kind of scathing statement in which it refers to Donald John Trump as an “idiot.” The ISIS statement says, in part: “… There is no more evidence than the fact that you are being run by an idiot who does not know what Syria or Iraq or Islam is,”

ISIS has it wrong

An “idiot” does not parlay a stake in a business handed down to him by his father into a multibillion-dollar real estate enterprise. An “idiot” doesn’t produce a successful reality TV show, nor does an “idiot” run a successful beauty pageant.

There. That’s about as close as I’m going to come to saying something positive about the current president of the United States.

He is naïve, ignorant about the complexities of the government he runs; he is morally unfit to hold the office he occupies; he speaks clumsily; he bereft of core governing principles.

An idiot?

No. Far from it.

What is troubling to this American is to hear such a description coming from a terrorist organization that beheads prisoners, kills innocent victims, hides behind children, sends suicide bombers to terrorize others — all in the name of Islam. These are religious perverts who have no right to speak for true-blue adherents to a great religion.

Perverting that religion sounds, if you’ll pardon the use of the term, like the action of a group of idiots.

Put another way, Trump well might be an SOB, but he’s our SOB.

How does a ‘one-state solution’ work?

Let’s revisit for a moment Donald J. Trump’s statement that backs away from a decades-old U.S. policy in support of a two-state solution for lasting peace in the Middle East.

The president, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he could support a “one-state solution” if both sides agree to it.

Hmmm. How would that work?

One side would be the Israelis. The Palestinians are on the other side. A one-state solution, I am going to presume, suggests that Israel would be the sovereign state that would operate under a peace agreement. How do you suppose the Palestinians — who say they want an independent sovereign state — would react to that? My take is that they wouldn’t stand for it.

This is why previous presidents of both parties have supported a two-state solution that would allow Israel and the Palestinians to live side by side.

Yes, there remains a huge hurdle to clear: The Palestinians must accept Israel’s right to exist and they must cease the terrorist attacks — launched by groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah — against Israeli citizens.

If there can be an accord reached, it appears that the only option is for a two-state solution.

Why, then, did the president back away from what all of his predecessors have sought for the embattled Middle East?

Moderator deserves a good word

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Elaine Quijano has earned a good word on this morning after the vice-presidential “debate.”

The CBS News correspondent/anchor didn’t do a great job refereeing the exchange between Democratic nominee Tim Kaine and Republican nominee Mike Pence.

As I look back on it after a good night’s sleep, my conclusion is that it wasn’t totally her fault. She sought to reel in the fellas, sought to keep them answering the questions, she sought to avoid the constant interruptions that were initiated by the amped-up Kaine.

She got caught in a buzzsaw of campaign rhetoric, throwaway lines, talking points, insults and, oh yeah, the occasional policy differences that emerged from the candidates.

I want to echo something I heard last night from the post-“debate” analysis about the best question of the evening. It dealt with candidates’ religious faith and how it informs their public policy.

Both men exhibited clear understanding of faith and explained in clear and concise language how it works for them in their public life. Bravo to them both for ending the evening on somewhat of a civil note — and bravo to Quijano for the question.

As we’ve been seeing, though, in these joint appearances, the media moderators are becoming a bit of a distraction. Dating back four years ago when CNN’s Candy Crowley corrected GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s incorrect assertion that Barack Obama didn’t call the Benghazi attack an act of terrorism, media and politicians have been waiting for future moderators to interject themselves into the political dialogue.

Quijano, unfortunately, became part of the story again last night.

From my perch out here in Flyover Country, though, I believe she delivered a creditable effort at staying above the fray. I only wish the candidates would have done a better job of focusing on the issues at hand.

NYC, state and federal cops deserve high praise

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Donald J. Trump sought to put the expected political spin on the arrest of a man suspected of detonating a bomb in New York City.

Yes, the Republican presidential nominee said that Ahmad Khan Rhamani will get “room service” in a New York hospital, he’ll be treated by the finest doctors in the world and will be represented by a top-flight lawyer.

I’ll now say something good about the law enforcement officials who performed an amazing bit of investigation in making the arrest.

Someone set off a bomb that injured 29 people in New York. Police were able to find remnants of another device they found and using forensic evidence gathered at the blast site, they managed to locate someone they called a “person of interest.”

Then they arrested Rhamani and charged him with attempted murder.

What do we know for certain about the suspect? Not enough yet to make any broad assumptions.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/breakingnews/the-latest-bomb-suspect-facing-attempted-murder-charges/ar-BBwmPTM?li=BBnb7Kz

The local police, along with state law enforcement officials and federal agents worked in a coordinated fashion to make an arrest.

I guess I should add that Trump went on “Fox and Friends” this morning to criticize the NYPD … before the department was able to announce the arrest of a suspect in the bombing.

We are a jumpy nation at the moment. Someone committed an act of terrorism. Was it Rhamani, a naturalized U.S. citizen who had made trips recently to Afghanistan and Pakistan? We’ll know in due course.

Was he acting as an agent of a known radical Islamic terrorist organization? We’ll get to that fact as well.

I believe it is wise at this moment to thank the local, state and federal authorities for the tremendous bit of police work that has resulted in the arrest of a suspect in this latest spasm of violence.

Let us now allow the justice system to do its job.

Olympic splendor always provides chills

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At this very moment, I am watching the parade of nations at the start of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

I’ve written already about how I’m a sucker for pageantry.

The Olympics’ opening ceremony always fills me with pride.

Sure enough, I enjoyed watching the Americans march into the stadium. I always enjoy the Greek Olympic team lead the parade per the custom, given that the Olympics originated in Greece in 776 B.C.; it also fills me with pride in my own Greek heritage to see them lead the thousands of other athletes onto the stadium floor.

The Rio games have been beset with questions, trouble and the potential for disaster. The world’s sincere hope is that the Brazilians conduct an Olympics that will make them proud.

Given that this is the first Olympics ever held in South America, I’m betting the Brazilians are up to the task.

I’m also an unfettered idealist. I always hope — and occasionally expect — the best. The Rio Olympic planners have everything in the world at stake here. The images I’ve seen of the host city are spectacular in the extreme. Then again, all host cities make sure they show off their best when the world comes calling.

Worries about Zika, terrorism, contaminated water and filthy streets all are legitimate concerns for the Brazilians.

I am aware that the Olympic spirit alone won’t protect the competitors from harm. A good bit prayer and good karma, though, well might do the trick.

I’ll be sending them all plenty of both for the next two weeks.

‘I, alone’ will cure the nation’s ills

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Two words stood out for me after I heard Donald J. Trump accept the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.

They comprise six letters, all told.

“I, alone” will repair the things that are afflicting the nation.

There. He said it. He’s is The Man. He will do it all by himself.

Trump will make Americans safe from international terrorists; he will restore “law and order” to our communities; he will toss out the Affordable Care Act and create a new health insurance system; he will renegotiate “great” trade deals; he will bring jobs back to the country; he will build a wall that keeps illegal immigrants out.

Well, government happens to be a partnership. At least that’s how the framers built it. They created a legislative branch to write the laws, an executive branch to administer them and a judicial branch to ensure that they do not violate the U.S. Constitution.

As has been said many times: A president proposes, but Congress disposes.

Trump, though, sees it differently. He’s going to grab the government by the throat and throttle it long enough to accomplish all that he intends to do.

However, he’s got a tiny concern with which he needs to deal. It’s the 535 men and women — many of whom have egos as large as Trump’s — who comprise the two legislative houses perched atop Capitol Hill.

Trump got the convention crowd fired up. He gave a pretty good speech. He was disciplined and “on message.” I give him props for that.

One, however, heard only a smidgen of humility and that occurred in the very first line of his speech when he accepted the party’s nomination for president.

He’ll hit the trail now. He’ll take his message — whatever it is — to the battleground states. Trump will seek to persuade voters that, by golly, since he’s built that business of his all by himself that “I, alone” will be able to repair the damage done to the country.

Which brings me, briefly, to this final point.

The country he and his surrogates described during the past four days does not resemble in any way the country I’ve seen emerge from the fiscal meltdown it suffered eight years ago.

The nation’s military isn’t “decimated.” The economy is recovering; yes, it could be a stronger, more vibrant recovery, but then again, it’s never reached perfect economic pitch. Crime has gone down, not up — and there’s plenty of data to back that up.

I get that political conventions are intended to put the other party in the worst possible negative light. Republicans did a great job of it this week, even though they distorted the truth beyond all recognition.

Their nominee completed the distortion by declaring that “I, alone” am able to do all these things to “make American great again.”

Now … bring on the Democrats.

Terrorist tragedy hits France yet again

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France and its heroic citizens are grieving yet again.

This time the terrorist — or terrorists — employed a new and ghastly method of delivering death and destruction.

It came tonight in the form of a truck that plowed into a crowd of revelers celebrating Bastille Day, which is France’s independence day.

As I am writing this brief blog post, the death count stands at 80. Officials, though, think that number will increase.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/truck-attacker-kills-up-to-80-in-nice-bastille-day-crowd/ar-BBulpVJ?li=BBnb7Kz

The world is shocked and in grief over the tragedy that struck in Nice.

World leaders are issuing the appropriate expressions of condemnation.

What now?

It’s not yet clear whether the driver of the truck was from the Islamic State or al-Qaeda. Officials can’t ask him, because French police opened fire on the vehicle and killed the driver in the hail of bullets.

My sense is that we’ll know pretty damn soon just who this guy was and for which organization he was working — if it turns out he was a terrorist agent.

U.S. officials earlier today confirmed that Omar the Chechen indeed was killed this past spring in a U.S.-led attack on ISIS forces in Iraq. No one, quite naturally, believes Omar the Chechen’s death spells the end of ISIS, given that he was a top-tier commander of the terrorist organization.

This is the kind of “war” the world is fighting against these radical Islamist monsters. They attack so-called “soft targets,” causing uncontrollable fear among their victims. Is it at all possible to detect every single attack before it occurs?

As we’ve learned to our horror once again, the world is fighting a cunning and ruthless enemy.

What’s more, the world has received yet another stern lesson on the need to hit the terrorists hard — and keep hitting them hard for as long as it takes.

Profiling Muslims a possibility … seriously?

don trump

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, thinks profiling Muslims is something that U.S. law enforcement should consider.

Yes, that’s right. The nation that proclaims itself to be the champion of religious freedom, where the government doesn’t care which faith you worship … or even whether you worship at all, should consider singling out Muslims, according to Trump.

But wait a second! Hasn’t Trump proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States? Who, then, is he suggesting we profile?

Oh, I get it. That would be Americans!

I’ll set aside the obvious — in my view — un-American aspect of such a proposal.

How does one identify a Muslim? Would it be the scarves that women often wear? Would it be the names of the individuals being profiled? How does law enforcement discern who deserves profiling and who doesn’t?

I ask these questions because Muslims come from all ethnic backgrounds. What about the red-headed and freckle-faced Irish man or woman who converts to Islam? Or the blue-eyed blond from Scandinavia?

Oh, and then you have, say, the Palestinian who happens to be Christian. I have a bit of experience with meeting someone of that ilk. In 2009, my wife and I toured Bethlehem on the West Bank. Our tour guide? A young Palestinian who proclaimed his love of Jesus Christ as “our Lord and Savior.”

Trump told CBS’s “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson this morning that we ought to follow the model set by Israel, which he said profiles Muslims.

I’ll just add one more bit of personal privilege here. Having traveled to Israel and endured the grilling by security officers at David Ben-Gurion International Airport, I can state without reservation that the Israelis profile everyone who leaves the country through the Tel Aviv airport.

Take my word for it, you haven’t lived until you’ve been interrogated by an Israeli airport security guard.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/donald-trump-muslims-profiling-224529

Trump told Dickerson he hates “the concept of profiling.”

Fine. So do I. So should all Americans.

Bad options await GOP convention delegates

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If you’re a Republican intending to take part in your party’s presidential nominating convention, you are facing at least two seriously grim options.

The Dump/Never/Anyone But Trump movement has resurfaced — more or less — in the wake of presumptive presidential nominee Donald J. Trump’s latest volley of outrageous rhetoric.

It goes like this: Convention delegates might be given a chance to opt out of voting for the candidate to whom they are pledged. Thus, the belief lingers that enough of Trump’s delegates might decide to abstain on the first ballot and then free themselves to vote for someone else on a subsequent round of balloting.

All hell would break loose.

This bodes poorly for the GOP as it prepares to face the Democratic nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

So does the alternative, which is to nominate Trump.

Why the grim outlook?

Option No. 1: Nominate Trump and let him go down in flames.

Trump’s campaign is in a state of disarray. He made an empty pledge to become “more presidential,” only to revert to his insults, name-calling and innuendo. The Orlando massacre brought out the latest from Trump, when he boasted about “being right” about the threat of Islamic terrorism — while the nation was mourning the loss of 49 lives in that nightclub.

He is likely to continue railing, ranting and raving. He suggested the president of the United States might have some nefarious motive in refusing to identify the threat as coming from “radical Islamic terrorists.”

Trump’s hideous innuendo has managed to anger many within his party. Some key officeholders have pulled their endorsements. House Speaker Paul Ryan has told members of Congress they are welcome to “vote their conscience.”

Some of then actually might let their conscience support someone else, which might also carry over to their constituents out here in Voterland.

Option No. 2: Let the delegates pick someone else.

This is highly unlikely to happen. The reason might be the reality that Trump won more delegates than anyone else, by a mile, during the primary season. He collected a record number of GOP-primary votes. He won 38 states fairly and squarely.

To deny him the nomination after he won the war of attrition against 16 primary foes would be seen as a serious slap against those who voted for him.

If the delegates mount their coup and deny Trump his nomination, well, then you’re talking about a serious revolt occurring with the Republican Party.

The first option look bad for Republicans, given the nature of Trump’s temperament.

The second option looks even worse, given the reaction that would occur from those who have backed him to the hilt.

Good luck, GOP convention delegates. You’ll need it.

As nation grieves, Trump boasts

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“Temperamentally unfit … ”

We’re likely to hear that a lot during the next few months as Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns for president of the United States against Donald J. Trump.

Examples? We’ve got plenty of them.

The latest example of temperamental unfitness presented itself in the hours after this past weekend’s slaughter of 49 people at the Pulse, an Orlando, Fla., nightclub.

The nation went into shock at the most gruesome mass murder in U.S. history. Trump’s response was to send out a tweet that boasted about how he predicted that Islamic terrorists were going to strike.

Trump said he called it. He was right. The president of the United States has been “weak” in the fight against terrorism, he said.

Republican insiders now are saying that Trump blew it badly by bragging during this time of national bereavement. “Only an a**hole says ‘I told you so’ the same day 49 people are killed on American soil by a terrorist,” said a New Hampshire Republican, who, like all respondents, completed the survey anonymously, according to Politico.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/trump-orlando-response-224479

The massacre in Orlando has been generally categorized as an act of terror. The killer — an American — seems to have been radicalized by his fealty to the Islamic State.

It’s also been called the “worst act of terror on U.S. soil since 9/11.” That’s now a given.

I now shall remind us all of what national security officials said in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Almost to a person they predicted then that we’d get hit again. That the terrorists had smelled our blood and they wanted more of it.

It’s also been a given that we would feel this kind of pain.

Trump’s braggadocio was so profoundly inappropriate that it only feeds the narrative that Hillary Clinton is going to recite time and again as she campaigns for the presidency.