If only Stephen Paddock were a Muslim
The New York Times If only Stephen Paddock had been of origin is us? a Muslim … If only he had shouted What happens when the killer was “Allahu akbar” before he opened fire only a disturbed American armed to on all those concertgoers in Las Vegas the teeth with military-style weapons … If only he had been a member of that he bought legally or acquired ISIS … If only we had a picture of him easily because of us and our crazy lax posing with a Quran in one hand and gun laws? his semiautomatic rifle in another … Then we know what happens: The
If all of that had happened, no one president and the Republican Party go would be telling us not to dishonor into overdrive to ensure that nothing the victims and “politicize” Paddock’s happens. Then they insist — unlike mass murder by talking about prevenwith every ISIS-related terror attack tive remedies. — that the event must not be “politi
No, no, no. Then we know what cized” by asking anyone, particularly we’d be doing. We’d be scheduling imthemselves, to look in the mirror and mediate hearings in Congress about the rethink their opposition to commonsense worst domestic terrorism event since gun laws. 9/11. Then Donald Trump would be So let’s review: We will turn the tweeting every hour “I told you so,” world upside down to track down the as he does minutes after every terror last Islamic State fighter in Syria — attack in Europe, precisely to immedideploying B-52s, cruise missiles, F-15s, ately politicize them. Then there would F-22s, F-35s and U-2s. We will ask our be immediate calls for a commission best young men and women to make of inquiry to see what new laws we the ultimate sacrifice to kill or capture need to put in place to make sure this every last terrorist. And how many doesn’t happen again. Then we’d be Americans has the Islamic State killed in “weighing all options” against the the Middle East? I forget. Is it 15 or 20? country of origin. And our president never stops telling us
But what happens when the country Turn to page 14