Below, I have linked to and quoted from two relevant and conflicting news stories that exemplify our society’s insane desire to demand “political correctness” over desired results in a time of crisis. Basically, a leading scientist was appointed to a commission to help solve the Gulf oil leak disaster and then removed from the commission for prior writings that expressed thoughts critical of homosexual activities and questioning the “racism” of diversity efforts on our society. Suppose this guy would actually have the best solution for stopping the oil spill and/or preventing such disasters in the future? Is the sensitivity to the gay community or the offense to a minority group more important than saving the Gulf Coast and the lives of all those affected by this disaster? President Obama is sending his “top” people to oversee the crisis and provide solutions. Imagine how their efforts will be hampered by trying to avoid any speech or action that might be perceived as offensive in the public eye. I hope that whatever solution is proposed to mitigate the situation doesn’t offend someone because of their sexual preferences or racial/religious hyper-sensitivity.
Political correctness in times of crises will be the death of our nation!
On NBC’s Meet The Press this past week there was some discussion about the threat of domestic terrorism. Senator Joe Lieberman (CT – Ind), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, and Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of Homeland Security, appeared to provide opinion about this threat.
The following news item from Voice of America reports some of the comments made by these gentlemen:
Isn’t this sweet? Arts & crafts and group hugs to soothe the savage beast. I’m thinking this is just another display of “al-taqiyya”(a strategy of deception against non-Muslims). Watch and decide for yourself.
On Christmas Day, Dec. 25th of 2009, an “alleged” Muslim terrorist tried to set off a bomb and bring down a passenger jet in an attempt to murder more than 250 people over Detroit, Michigan. Details of the event became clear faster than the response from the government. In fact it took three days for an official statement from the President, which tied the effort to a lone extremist. (wouldn’t want to rile up any sentiment among the followers of the ‘Religion of Hypersensitivity’ I suppose). I don’t need to make any link to Islamic advocacy groups criticizing the terrorism attempt because they haven’t!
Subsequent news reports have tied the alleged suspect in the attempted bombing to al Qaeda and have reported that US intelligence was awareof the ‘attacker’ before the event. The criticism of both the Administration and the intelligence community began to roil across the internet and news media.
Then, on Dec. 29th, a panicked report of someone loose with a gun shuts down the Capitol for hours.
Given the above connections I could not help but paronoically think that the O administration might have contrived the “capitol shooter” to deflect criticism of the Administration’s handling of a real terrorist event. After all, we have recently seen DHS call attention to “right wing extremists” being a threatand equating Islamic extremism with Right Wing extremism.
Sorry, but I think a few nuts running amok in Western society are not near the concern that millions of radicalized Islamists should be.
On October 6th, 2009, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter announced a new DHS-funded video to educate citizens about the eight signs of terrorism and how to recognize them. The video, titled “Recognizing 8 Signs of Terrorism”, includes a series of dramatizations with live actors to illustrate awareness to the following signs:
Surveillance
Elicitation
Tests of Security
Funding
Acquiring Supplies
Impersonation
Rehearsal
Deployment
As you will see in the following video, in all 8 dramatizations not a single person of Middle Eastern descent is portrayed as a terrorist. The terrorist actors are predominately white males, often with a shaved head. There is an African-American male “terrorist” that looks as normal as anyone on an American street. In fact, aside from a brief image of the Twin Towers the only evidence of a possible Islamic connection to terrorism in this video are two still shots of Islamic charities.
I, as a law-abiding American, find the blatant and moronic political correctness demonstrated by DHS and the producers of this video to be extremely offensive. Not to delve into the subject of profiling, but do not forget the truism that while most Muslims are not terrorists, most terrorists are Muslim!
Watch this and decide for yourself.
Here is the DHS press release:
Release Date: October 6, 2009
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano joined Colorado Governor Bill Ritter yesterday to unveil “Recognizing 8 Signs of Terrorism”—a video produced with DHS grant funding designed to educate Colorado citizens about the shared responsibility of recognizing signs of terrorist activity.
“The vigilance of individual citizens is critical to protecting our country from the threat of terrorism,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This video provides essential information on how to identify the warning signs and emphasizes the vital role of such assistance in state and local law enforcement’s counterterrorism efforts.”
“Eight years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it’s important to remember the United States is not immune from the atrocities of international terror attacks. Even in Colorado, we need to be prepared to prevent and respond to these types of horrific events,” said Governor Ritter. “Secretary Napolitano’s charge to empower the public with knowledge is a key component in creating prepared and vigilant communities across America. I encourage all Coloradans to see the video ‘Recognizing 8 Signs of Terrorism’ at the CELL because we all have the power to make a difference when we are prepared.”
Under the DHS State Homeland Security Grant Program, the Colorado Office of Homeland Security awarded $30,400 for the creation of the video, which was narrated by John Elway and Kim Christiansen and produced through a partnership between the Colorado Office of Homeland Security, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Colorado Information Analysis Center (CIAC) and the Center for Empowered Living & Learning (The CELL)—a non-profit institution dedicated to addressing the global threat of terrorism.
The announcement came during Secretary Napolitano’s trip to Denver, where she joined Governor Ritter on a tour of the CELL.
While in Denver, Secretary Napolitano also joined Attorney General Eric Holder, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller and Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske to participate in the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)* Conference.
Having read the official transcript of Obama’s Cairo speech from June 3rd, I was left with conflicting impressions and a number of questions. Given my default position to be critical of the President I will admit that I was impressed that he seemed to stand firmly against Islamic extremism, stating the truth of 9/11, and denying Holocaust deniers. But though I may agree with the basic statement of these problems I don’t necessarily accept his proposed solutions, no matter how vague or pandering these may seem.
I know that many bloggers and pundits, most much smarter than I am, have analyzed this speech using clear, concise logic and no purpose would be served by my rehashing of already made points or flawed analysis on my part. The speech made me pause at several points to question the meaning and intent of President Obama’s message to the Muslim world. Basically, I found many of his statements fit into three categories: in support of Islam, what the West must do, and how the West will pay for it. For now, I’ll list my quotes of concern below within the three categories. (and perhaps later expand the details)
Following is a 5-part series from Discovery Times about A. Q. Khan and the attempt to proliferate nuclear weapons and knowledge throughout the Islamic world. These can be found on YouTube but don’t group into the sequential series for logical viewing. I thought making them available in sequence would be helpful and highly recommend viewing these if you are curious about Islam and the bomb.
