The bodies hadn't even been removed from the Promenade des Anglais in Nice when one of America's leading demagogues and most vile opportunists Newt "Poot" Gingrich was calling for "testing" every Muslim in the U.S. for adherence to Sharia, which to Muslims refers to "following a God-centered life." Going full metal wingnut, Poot went on to say that any American of Muslim lineage embracing Sharia should be deported, not mentioning how they'd be rounded up or to where they'd be deported. Of course, he didn't bother to state under which imaginary Constitutional or legal basis he'd conduct this ethnic/religious cleansing, but that's not the point of his rabble-rousing: stoking fear and loathing for partisan gain is.
"Sharia," or more specifically "Sharia law," has become the far right's catch-all shibboleth for broadly attacking Muslims here and abroad, including those who have allied themselves with us in fighting al Qaeda and ISIS, and in fact whose very existence is threatened by those fanatic Sunni-Muslim led organizations (most Shi'ite Muslims, for example). It's no use in enlightening Poot (who certainly knows better, but is a cynical demagogue to his core), but it needs to be understood that his words undermine our fight against the jihadists (who will certainly use Poot's words to recruit Muslims against the U.S.) and are fundamentally un-American.
No comments:
Post a Comment