Watching MSNBC and CNN tonight cover the motivations for Nidal Hassan’s terrorist attack on Ft. Hood revealed more about the people covering the news than about the terrorist in question. I am writing this from memory and will add video and transcripts when they become available.
I lingered on Chris Matthews longer than my normal stop at MSNBC when flipping through the cable news channels because he actually acknowledge that Hassan was motivated by radical Islamic beliefs. If I had just switched channels I could have respected his coverage for a rare return to sanity. However, I continued watching and saw Matthews stating that what really worries him is that right wing political groups will use this to foment hatred against all Muslims. Huh? What about worrying that many people avoided confronting Hassan’s behavior and statements for fear of going against political correctness? What about the real danger that other fanatics are among us and aren’t stopped from becoming violent because too many people are afraid that they will be branded as intolerant if they speak up.
In all the conservative commentary on blogs and talk radio that I read and hear, I keep seeing conservatives going out of their way pointing out that while there is a violent element in Islam, the vast majority of Muslims in the US and around the world share our values of freedom and tolerance. Matthews must only pay attention to radical fringe groups that no doubt exist, but are not representative of 99.99 percent of people with concerns about Islamist terrorism. I wish he would be worried about the much more prevalent radicalism on the left that presents a real threat to core American ideals of freedom and justice.
One of Matthews’ guest, a female Arab-American professor (will fill in name when I find transcripts / video of the exchange) chastised Matthews for “infantilizing Muslims” by treating them like they cannot handle any criticism. The professor is a Westernized Muslim and certainly no conservative based on other views she stated during the exchange. However, she clearly was uncomfortable with Matthews condescending attitude.
Switching over to Lou Dobbs last broadcast on CNN, Dobbs had a discussion with three guests about why we can no longer have straight, honest discussions about topics like what motivated Hassan. Two of his guests kept diverting the discussion. “We have to recognize the stress that Hassan experienced, we have to stay neutral until a court decides, blah, blah, blah.” When the third guest pointed out that there was plenty of evidence of Hassan’s radical hostility toward the US military and his support for violence, the lefties became more shrill in their denials, one of them saying that unless you had direct experience of Hassan’s views, you can’t possibly justify any discussion implying that he was motivated by radical Islamist views. Lou Dobbs pointed out that he had interviewed a direct eyewitness of one of Hassan’s outbursts, that his show was not a court of law and that we should be able to have a rational, frank discussion. I don’t always agree with Lou Dobbs, but he did well on his last debate on CNN.
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