Tag: Muslim

Somali Refugee Attacks Students With Knife and Car

Today was a terrifying day for Ohio State students.  Somali refugee Abdul Razaq Ali Artan plowed his car into a group of students on campus and came out swinging with a kitchen knife.  11 were sent to the hospital with injuries.  Although originally reported as an active shooter, 18 year old Artan appears to not have had a gun.  He was shot and killed by the police.

Artan had posted anti-America posts on his Facebook page prior to the rampage.  He seemed to suggest that America was interfering with Muslim countries.  After the attack, Hassan Omar, president of the Somali Community Association of Ohio called it upsetting, adding “We are American and we don’t want somebody to create this problem”.

Shortly after the attack, the Twitter universe erupted with calls for more gun control, including a tweet from Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee decrying the “senseless shooting at an Ohio State University”. While the scene was still fresh, former Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine added that he was “Deeply saddened by the senseless act of gun violence at Ohio State this morning.”  Ohio State University is a gun free zone, and apparently the only shooting was when Artan was shot by police.

In addition to the hero police officer who stopped the attack, there were other heroes on the scene.  In one class room, military students protected their fellow students by closing them in a room and standing guard at the door.

The press is not speculating about the motive.  Our prayers are with the injured and their families.

When the Left does it

What do you do when there is a class of Americans who are refused services, discriminated against in public, and made to feel unsafe in what are normally safe spaces?  If you are wearing a safety pin, you rush to their aid.  Right?  What do you do if you are a conservative?

Time for conservatives to put their money where their mouth is. When someone refuses to bake your cake or make your dress, you recognize that person for what they are and take your business elsewhere. We are Americans. We don’t need safe spaces, safety pins, or the government forcing people to serve us. If Sophie Theallet is too bigoted and hateful to take Melania’s money, why would she want to give it to them? There are plenty of dress designers in the world who will be happy to serve the First Lady of the United States.

All that aside, oh the irony. Sophie Theallet writes a letter about how she wants to overcome bigotry and prejudice because she is an immigrant to this country. Her method of overcoming? Being bigoted and prejudiced by refusing to serve an immigrant.

Another incident came last night when Mike Pence took his family to see Hamilton on Broadway.  If there is one thing the Hamilton experience has taught us, it is that we are far more alike than we thought.

The crowd booing Mike Pence demonstrated the sort of hatred that the alt right had of Obama.

Victor Dixon demonstrated the sort of ignorance that many right wing radio and cable commentators had about Obama bringing Sharia law to the US. The fact that he actually felt like he has to lecture Pence on their administration representing all Americans demonstrates the sort of bigotry and bias that Republicans have been accused of for the last 8 years.  

Funny side note, the thing that scares the Left the most about Pence is the Religious Freedom Act.  That could actually be used to protect Sophie Theallet if Melania decided to sue her for refusal of services.

Trump’s call for the theater to be a safe space is a reaction to their hatred and ignorance. But it’s also the same sort of snowflake behavior we have mocked the left for over the last 8 years. Republicans aren’t supposed to call for safe spaces and apologies. We’re supposed to put our big boy pants on and ignore it, stand up to it, or decide we don’t want to spend $1,000 a seat to be discriminated against and move on. Maybe we should give him a pass. He was a Democrat up until recently.

A theater in Broadway is going to be full of liberals. This isn’t a surprise to anyone.

The Hamilton incident was a great role reversal. I could picture the exact same thing happening in an all white church in the south in 2008. Obama and his family come to that church one Sunday morning. The parishioners boo him, they all voted for McCain. Most of them believe Obama is secretly a Muslim. All of them believe he is a racist.

The pastor gets up and admonishes them to stop booing. And then he turns to Obama and says this:

“We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our religious freedoms, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights. We truly hope this sermon has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us.”

Obama leaves. The interaction is widely reported in the media. Vice President Joe Biden gets on his twitter account and types:

“Our wonderful President was harassed at an all white church in the South this morning. Church should be a special and safe place. The pastor was very rude to a very good man, Barack Obama. Apologize!”

So view this whole incident through that lens. And then ask yourself if you are one side of the same coin, or something different and better.

Internment Camps? Not So Fast.

Perhaps you have seen the memes and posts about how Trump and his team are planning on setting up a Muslim registry based on internment camps.  Maybe you have been chided by your friends to stand up to Trump and not let this happen.  I’m happy to report, the “Muslim Registry” as described by the Left is largely a myth.

While Trump and his team have certainly earned the award for the worst communicators, Carl Higbie is clearly not calling for internment camps for Muslims. He’s not even calling for a ban on Muslims or registry for all Muslims. If you cut though the shock and hype, they are talking about re-activating NSEER (National Security Entry-Exit Registration).

This was a program that started in 2002 and lasted until 2011. It was a program for visitors on visas from specific countries and required fingerprinting, questioning, and in some cases for individuals to keep in touch during their visit. This “registry” was not for citizens. The countries covered by NSEER were mostly Muslim countries, but also included North Korea. Aspects of the registration program were ended in 2003, the rest of the program faced and easily overcame legal challenges.

The program is still law on the books. It was effectively disabled by President Obama in the third year of his Presidency when he removed all of the countries from the watch list. Both Higlie and Kris Kobach (who helped design NSEER in the first place) have proposed to Trump that he reactivate NSEER. That, folks, is your “Muslim registry” based on “internment camps”.

The US is not the only country that has a registration system for certain visitors.

Canada, for example, requires registration including fingerprints and photograph for visa holders from 29 countries. 90% of those countries are Muslim. Canada is not alone. At least 16 countries use a biometric registry for certain visa holders. They include Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Netherlands, Germany and Italy.

Keep this in mind when your friends tell you that a “Muslim registry” is the equivalent of internment camps.