slaying

There. I said it. Everyone else is thinking it, and some others are saying it as well, but I want to go on the record as calling it what it is.

The killings in San Bernardino were allegedly perpetrated by Muslims. I didn’t say terrorists. I didn’t say radical Muslims. I didn’t say jihadists. I said they were Muslims. Because, if the police have accurately identified them, it’s true.

I don’t know what their motivation was. And I don’t care. The fact of the matter is, they were Muslims and we should call it what it is rather than withholding information from the American public to ‘keep people from jumping to conclusions’. Hey law enforcement, legislators, civil leaders, media – THAT’S NOT YOUR JOB! Report the facts. Let the American people come to their own conclusions.

The media coverage of this tragedy, like their coverage of all unfolding tragedies in the past several years, is nothing short of deplorable. I don’t want you to sensationalize the facts. I don’t want your opinion on the facts. I don’t want you to speculate on motives or suspects. I don’t trust you to tell me the time of day or current weather conditions. Why in the hell would I trust your jaded opinion on what could possibly have motivated people you have never met to do things that you couldn’t possibly have any knowledge of. If you have a crystal ball, perhaps you should use it to predict and prevent rather than react with speculation.

The fact of the matter is, whether you like it or not, the suspects were Muslims, and as a result, the powers that be have decided that they need to withhold information from the American people until they can coordinate a news conference where they parade a series of Muslim community leaders and the brother-in-law of one of the suspects in front of the cameras to ‘express their regret and sorrow’ and offer absolutely nothing of value to the American public.

Why didn’t they wait to identify the psychopath who shot up the abortion clinic last week in Colorado? Why didn’t they take the opportunity to coordinate with Pro-Life groups to express their sorrow and sympathy for the victims? Liberals routinely refer to Pro-Life groups as terrorists. If their hypothesis that identifying the San Bernardino suspects would incite potential violence against innocent, lawful, non-violent Muslims, then doesn’t it also hold true that identifying Robert Dear without performing damage control is tentamount to inciting violence against innocent, lawful, non-violent Pro-Life supporters? The only difference is, the current administration and most media outlets are more concerned with members of the Muslim community (American or otherwise) than they are with Pro-Life supporters.

To law enforcement, media and legislators – Don’t do damage control. Not for Robert Dear or Nidal Hasan or the Tsarnaev brothers or Ted Kaczynski or Syed Farook. Some people will undoubtedly jump to the conclusion that all groups who look, sound, dress, eat, pray, etc… like the suspects are somehow affiliated with the suspects. Guess what. Waiting didn’t change that. Parading poorly prepared Muslim community leaders in front of the cameras to deliver properly worded condolences that were backed up with a refusal to answer even the most basic questions didn’t help. If anything, it hurt.

To the Muslim community leaders who offered your condolences – Thank you. I believe that you stand in solidarity with all of America. I believe that you are as offended as I am. I appreciate your words and I appreciate your role in our communities. But the brevity of your remarks and refusal to take any questions made your comments look less than sincere. I can’t imagine how I could have handled it any better in the format that your remarks were delivered. I know it’s an active investigation, but refusing to answer general questions was a black eye on what should have been a simple and sincere message of disgust with the actions and solidarity with the community.

To those who believe that political correctness is more important than free speech – I wish I could offer my apologies for offending you, but I can’t. And if I could, I probably wouldn’t. I’m not sorry for calling it what it is and I won’t stop. Oh yeah, and – Merry Christmas!

To those who may eventually read this post – Comment. Give me your thoughts. Challenge me. Support me. Teach me a better way. You never know. Maybe I’ll listen.

Until then, ask yourself:

1. Why law enforcement is handling this case so delicately compared to other recent shootings?
2. Why ALL of the major media outlets whose coverage I watched were complicit with the delicate handling?
3. Why community leaders were standing by with comments almost simultaneous with the release of the name of the first suspect?

I can only think of one reason for all of the above: Because they were Muslim.