Saturday, August 22, 2015

Scott Walker's handful

Scott Walker

     So how many Muslims aren't radical terrorists?
     Take your time.
     You don't have to come up with an exact figure.
     I would say, "the vast, overwhelming majority."
     Or, for the mathematically inclined, 99.99 percent.
    First, because that's demonstrably true. While quite a bit of the bloodshed in the world can be traced to those acting in some crazed notion of Islam, the fact remains that almost all of the 1.6 billion Muslims are, like most people everywhere, trying to go about their business.
    If that weren't true, we'd all be dead. 
    Or a lot more of us would be dead. 
    Not everyone thinks this way of course. I've had otherwise sensible readers tip-toe toward it, saying, "Yeah, maybe, but what about ISIS and the mullahs in Iran." It's important for them to establish, at the very least, that Islam is more bloodthirsty than Christianity is, at the moment. 
     I think, in their view, it means they win. 
     But some aren't satisfied playing that sorta sad exercise in playing nyah-nyan-we're-more-peaceful-than-you.
    Scott Walker, on the campaign trail in New Hampshire this week, squinched his eyes shut and came up with an estimate of how many Muslims aren't murderous terrorists.
     His guess:
     "A handful."
     You can listen to the quote in context here.
     I imagine he'll eventually apologize—groups like CAIR are already demanding he do so. 
     Or maybe he won't. As Donald Trump amply demonstrates, being the big dog means never having to say you're sorry.
     Besides, this was no gaffe. It is a received truth of the Republican party that, just as Mexican immigrants tend to be rapists, murderers and criminals, so followers of Islam are hot to wage deadly Jihad, if not one and all, then the vast majority. Those who haven't struck yet are perhaps biding their time.
     This is important more than an illustration of gotcha politics. Scott Walker and his like-minded soul mates are in league with the terrorists they so strenuously condemn. The reason terrorists commit those acts is because they want to drive a wedge between Islam and the West. 
     So when hacks like Walker take the bait, they are doing the work of terrorists. Walker is what the Communists would call "a useful idiot."  A phrase that, applied to Walker, is only half true.
     The second half.

8 comments:

  1. "... when hacks like Walker take the bait, they are doing the work of terrorists." I like that statement. It must be so comforting for some knowing they can always rely on "the Muslims" to be the bad guys.

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  2. Why is it always Christianity vs. Islam? The Jews in Israel and some in the U.S.don't like Muslims much either, rightfully so, and maybe one can say does Israel want to drive a wedge between the west and Islam. Why was that comment removed before? Neil how about more commentary also on Israeli policy and what they expect of the U.S.?

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    1. Im addition, Neil, do you think many Jewish people agree with your opinion?

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    2. This Jew does. But I think it's also true that the majority of Muslim Arab governments today would happily see Israel erased, by one means or another.

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    3. Re: Commentator: Israel seems pretty occupied with the Palestinians at the moment, who don't bother with a lot of Islamic justification, to worry about the religion as a whole. "One can say" almost anything, but it's just idle fantasy. I remember removing a comment but I can't recall why: the typical reason comments are removed is because they're stupid. I have no idea whether Jewish people agree with me or not. In the United States, Jews seem to be divided between blind supporters of whatever Israel does, no matter how ill-advised, and those who would like to see Israel address its long term system problems before they ruin the place.

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  3. It would be nice to see informed public discussions of the troublesome tenets of any and all religions that didn't automatically venture into blanket condemnations of their adherents. The fact is that most modern believers do a great job of ignoring some of the more insane instructions in their holy books.

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