If he were Muslim

Republicans would demand action if Paddock had yelled ‘Allahu akbar’

If Stephen Paddock had been a Muslim … If he had shouted “Allahu akbar” before opening fire on all those concertgoers in Las Vegas … If he were a member of ISIS … If we had a picture of him posing with a Quran in one hand and his semiautomatic rifle in another …

If all of that had happened, no one would be telling us not to dishonor the victims and “politicize” Paddock’s mass murder by talking about preventive remedies.

No, no, no. We’d hold instant hearings in Congress about the worst domestic terrorism event since 9/11. Donald Trump would tweet every hour “I told you so,” as he does after every terror attack in Europe, precisely to politicize them. There would be immediate calls for a commission of inquiry to see what laws we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We’d “weigh all options” against the country of origin.

But what happens when the country of origin is us? When the killer is a disturbed American armed to the teeth with military-style weapons that he bought legally or acquired easily because of our crazy gun laws?

Then we know what happens: The president and the Republican Party go into overdrive to ensure that nothing happens. They insist — unlike with every ISIS-related terror attack — that the event must not be “politicized” by asking anyone, particularly themselves, to look in the mirror and rethink their opposition to sensible gun laws.

So let’s review: We will turn the world upside down to track down the last Islamic State fighter in Syria — deploying B-52s, cruise missiles, F-15s, F-22s, F-35s and U2s. We will ask our best young men and women to make the ultimate sacrifice to kill or capture every last terrorist. And how many Americans has the Islamic State killed in the Middle East? I forget. Is it 15 or 20? And our president never stops telling us that, when it comes to the Islamic State, defeat is not an option, mercy is not on the menu and that he is so tough his defense secretary is nicknamed “Mad Dog.”

But when fighting the National Rifle Association, which more than any other group has prevented the adoption of commonsense gun-control laws, victory is not an option, moderation is not on the menu and the president and GOP have no maddogs, only pussy cats.

And they will not ask themselves to make even the smallest sacrifice — one that might risk their seats in Congress — to stand up for legislation that might make it just a little harder for an American to stockpile an arsenal like Paddock did, including 42 guns, some of them assault rifles, as well as several thousand rounds of ammunition and “electronic devices.” Just another deer hunter.

On crushing ISIS, our president and his party are all in. On asking the NRA for even the tiniest moderation, they are AWOL. No matter how many innocents are killed — no matter even that one of their own congressional leaders was shot playing baseball — it’s never time to discuss serious policy measures to mitigate gun violence.

And in the wake of last month’s unprecedented hurricanes in the Atlantic that wrought death and damage, Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, also told us that it was not the time to discuss “the cause and effect” of these superstorms and how to mitigate their ruinous effects. We need to focus on helping the victims, he said. But for Mr. Pruitt, it’s never time to take climate change seriously.

To take the Islamic State seriously abroad, but then to do nothing to mitigate real threats in our backyards, concert venues and coastal cities, is madness.

It’s also corrupt. Because it’s driven by money and greed — by gunmakers and gun-sellers and oil and coal companies, and all the legislators and regulators they’ve bought and paid to keep silent. They know most Americans don’t want to take away peoples’ rights to hunt or defend themselves. All we want to take away is the right of people to amass military arsenals in their homes and hotel rooms and use them on innocent Americans. But the NRA has these cowardly legislators in a chokehold. What to do? Forget about persuading these legislators. They are not confused or under-informed. They are bought or intimidated. Because no honest and decent American lawmaker would look at Las Vegas and Puerto Rico today and say, “I think the smartest and most prudent thing to do for our kids is to just do nothing.”

There is only one remedy: Get power. Register someone to vote or run for office or donate money to someone running to replace the cowards. This is about raw power, not persuasion.

Thefirst chance to change is the 2018 midterm elections. Forget about trying to get anything done before then. Just get power. Start now.