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Opinion
Nov. 15, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SHERMAN FREDERICK: Call evil by its rightful name

It's terrorism, Mr. President

SHERMAN FREDERICK
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This column is not for the politically correct moral relativist.

So if you can't stand the thought of clearly naming (and confronting) the evil of terrorism among us, I'd ask you to move along now. The rest of us need to plainly think about how the "can't-we-all-just-get-along" approach to public safety endangers everyone.


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    • Consider the current example of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who joined (or should we say was "embedded" with?) the U.S. Army and then massacred 13 unarmed soldiers at Fort Hood.

    So long as American liberals, beginning with President Barack Obama, can't muster the honesty to call the acts of evil by Maj. Hasan by their rightful name, our citizens remain sitting ducks for those who, at this very moment, plot to do us harm. This is a teaching moment, Mr. President. Repeat after me ...

    ... Nidal Hasan is a jihadist.

    ... Nidal Hasan committed acts of terrorism.

    ... Nidal Hasan is every ounce the terrorist as the 9/11 hijackers.

    ... Nidal Hasan warrants no less serious scrutiny than Timothy McVeigh, who, by the way, was a certified, no-question-about-it terrorist.

    Why is that not plain as day? Because for moral relativists (like our president), there is no right and wrong -- only shades of gray. They urge accommodation of evil in the name of tolerance.

    It's why we negotiate with Iran.

    It's why old ladies in wheelchairs get frisked at the airport while guys with beards and bombs in their shoes walk through unchecked.

    It's why police who pull over a Mexican national with drug priors in a routine traffic stop don't check the credentials of his look-a-like passengers in the car.

    It's why we forbid soldiers on a military base from carrying weapons.

    It's why the Las Vegas police run background checks on casino workers, but then can't sort the work cards by countries of origin like, say, countries on the terrorist watch list.

    Maj. Hasan is simply the latest sad case in point.

    Maj. Hasan spoke openly (and ignorantly) about how his Muslim faith demanded the severed heads of infidels. He argued against Muslim soldiers killing other Muslims in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He kept counsel with radical imam Anwar al-Awlaki, who had previous contact with two of the 9/11 hijackers.

    Investigators speaking on the condition of anonymity told reporters they wanted to investigate Maj. Hasan thoroughly but feared they would be "crucified" if they launched a probe into a Muslim officer communicating with his imam.

    So instead of a clear-headed, hard-nosed investigation of this budding terrorist, authorities demurred and, in deference to the punitive policies of the Obama administration, placed public safety behind political correctness.

    Even now, well after the massacre when it is clear Maj. Hasan the jihadist demanded scrutiny, our president still can't bring himself to use the word "terrorism."

    Instead, he tells us not to jump to conclusions.

    Jump to conclusions?

    Mr. President, Maj. Hasan talked with co-workers about cutting off the heads of infidels. He maintained ties to a radical imam and, finally, he killed 13 U.S. soldiers while screaming "Allahu Akbar!" And you ask us not to jump to conclusions?

    That's just crazy talk. So long as the president maintains that wingnut PC attitude which says the only moral clarity is that there is no moral clarity, his ability to make the hard decisions to keep us safe remains questionable.

    Stand by for more terrorism. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the unvarnished truth.

    Sherman Frederick (sfrederick@ reviewjournal.com) is publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media.

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    Debra wrote on November 18, 2009 11:06 AM: Amen.


    Tghomas O.Hecht wrote on November 16, 2009 12:24 PM: We have become so politically correct and tollerant that we tollerate intollerance. We prefer to be screwed by terrorists than be rude and call them by their name. "We are existentially threatened by the malice of the wicked enhanced by the hesitation and weakness of the allegedly virtuous" Winston Chutchill 1938


    Is Sherm on the CIA Payroll? wrote on November 15, 2009 11:05 PM: Is Sherm on the CIA payroll? Is Warren? Or, are they on the payrolls of any one or more of our other intelligence community entities?

    These are legitimate questions with a "yes" or "no" answer. Sherm? Warren?

    How many members of our intelligence community operatives will Sherm be getting drunk with this Holiday Season?

    How about Warren?


    cooperscopy wrote on November 15, 2009 10:19 PM: It is terrorism, plain and simple, and this presidents reluctance to call it that makes him unfit for the office he holds...

    http://cooperscopy.blogspot.com/


    Glenn Koons wrote on November 15, 2009 08:34 PM: Ideologically, Obama and his Dem Congressional minions are all socialist pacifist liberals. It is their PC sacrament to dis America , blame White Western Civilization for America's and the global problems to create victims that will be dependent on the Dem Party here. Then globally, the USA will simply be another Zimbabwe where we redistribute monies, tax the rich, forget our own national security, our own domestic energy resources which would make our military unbeatable and keep our nation warm and running up to speed. Liberals have to be PC because they have lost hope in American exceptionalism as well as the Creator who made America from its foundation a noble experiment for liberty and freedom. Liberals really don't like those two attributes because people tend to choose them over tyrannical government fiat. So, of course, Islamofascism must not be named as an enemy because Obama is an egalitarian who does not believe anyone, thing, idea can ever be equated as superior or right.


    Ron wrote on November 15, 2009 08:19 PM: Until the West and America in particular realize that their is absolutely no difference between what a so-called "islamist" believes and what supposedly "moderate Mulims" believe we will continue to have these terrible crimes perpetrated against us. I remember on 9/11, walking into a local arab run grocery store in my neighborhood and watching my neighbor celebrating the slaughter. They lost me then and will never get me back.


    John wrote on November 15, 2009 06:45 PM: They can't call it terrorism because then Obama will have a terrorist attack on American soil in the first 10 months of his watch while Bush didn't have one in seven years of post 9-11 administration.


    Tim Buck II wrote on November 15, 2009 06:36 PM: No way would anyone in the Army report aberrant behavior by a guy named Hasan up a chain of command headed by a guy with the middle name of Hussein.

    This will happen again. And again. Sooner or later, another SOA (Sailor of Allah) blows up an American warship.

    At that point, our leaders will again avoid a jump to a conclusion and once again attempt appeasement under fire.

    Good grief. What did the average voter expect would happen when they voted last November? This guy spent twenty years in Reverend "G__ d__n America" Wright's church and that guy is good buds with Louie Farrakhan. Think Obama's going to alienate the Black Muslims?

    Wow. The average American voter simply must be raw dumb. They'll spend the next several years paying - big time - for their mistake last November. Maybe a lot longer. It's a bit late to wake up to the mistake now.


    Vegas Quixote wrote on November 15, 2009 05:20 PM: Another diversionary story from the real enemy of the working class. To find out more about this war on the working class, see theamericaninjusticesystem.blogspot.com


    Black Saint wrote on November 15, 2009 04:52 PM: That Nation is on the down hill road to third world status!


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