The President's Remarks Today

President Obama delivered a forceful defense of American values in the face of bigoted attacks by "the presumptive Republican nominee" on Muslim Americans.  He begins with an update on efforts to defeat ISIL/ISIS and the investigation into the Orlando massacre, then lays into the destructive, nonsensical blathering of a certain narcissistic dolt:

Key point:

"There's no magic to the phrase 'radical Islam. If someone seriously thinks we don't know who we're fighting, if there's anyone out there who thinks we're confused about who our enemies are, that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists we've taken off the battlefield."

That "certain narcissistic dolt" has bitten off more than his big mouth can chew.

BONUS:  Hillary Clinton also addressed the problem posed by Rump and Islamophobia.

Today's Cartoon Twofer: The Republican Party's New Normal

(click on image to enlarge)



(Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)



(Tom Toles, once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle)

Credit where due, the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle takes aim at the blister on humanity's ass, also known as the Republican Party:

THE REPUBLICAN Party, once small government’s champion, is now the party that breeds presidential contenders who would monitor schools and mosques, shut down parts of the Internet and exclude certain immigrants for no reason beyond the faith they profess. In the GOP debate Tuesday, those ideas — along with can-you-top-this rhetorical barrages aimed at illegal immigrants and Syrian refugees — received a generally polite reception, with constitutional, legal and practical questions contemptuously dismissed as “political correctness.”

True, the extremism that now passes for mainstream Republican thought, robbed of its shock value by the unfiltered ravings of Donald Trump, was punctured from time to time with expressions of dismay, incredulity and doubt.  [snip]

By and large, though, these ludicrous proposals went unremarked on by the Republican contestants, for whom bigotry, hatred and magical thinking are the new normal.

As true as ever, let's just say it:  The Republicans are the problem.  And they're a problem that's been around for longer than most will admit, and they're getting more dangerous all the time.

The Terrorists Are Already Here (Cont.)

Why a religion should not be judged by the words and actions of a few (h/t Raw Story).

Exhibit A:

The president of a Christian university encouraged his students to get concealed firearm permits so they could prevent the next mass shooting from happening there.

Jerry Falwell, Jr., head of Liberty University, a Christian school in Virginia, invoked the mass shooting this week at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. Fourteen people were killed and 21 were injured in the attack, which was carried out by a husband and wife who claimed loyalty to the Islamic State.

Falwell criticized President Obama for urging gun control in the wake of recent shootings, and made it clear he was armed during his speech at a convocation Friday night.  [snip]

He encouraged people to carry guns so they could "end those Muslims before they walk in and kill us,” Falwell said.  (our emphasis)

That would be the son of the late and not lamented Jerry Falwell, creator of "The Moral Majority" (one of the original -- if you don't count the KKK-- "Christian" right political organizations) which, it was said, was neither moral nor a majority.  Apparently being a soulless hypocrite is genetically transmitted.

Exhibit B:

A Florida man taken into custody for vandalizing a Palm Beach Islamic center, has a Facebook page containing posts attacking Muslims, with other photos showing him admiring guns, saying: “That AR-15 will put down any radical Islamic!! I wish they would!!!”

Acting on a tip, North Palm Beach Police arrested 27-year-old Joshua Warren Killets who confessed to detectives after being taken into custody, the Sun Sentinel reports. [snip]

While police did not release any details of his confession or motive, a perusal of his Facebook page shows a deeply-held belief in Christianity combined with hatred for Muslims and refugees.

In one photo, Killets can be seen holding a AR15 assault rifle next to a comment saying it would “take down any radical Islamic.”

In another, in what appears to be the same gun shop, he holds a handgun, with the caption: “Yea it’s bout that time!! The worlds gone crazy!! Ima be ready to protect mines !! Best believe!!!”   (our emphasis)

You be a mean motor scooter and a bad go-getter, white boy!!!

And, wait for it...

Still another posting shows Killets has recently been admitted to Palm Beach Atlantic University  — a “faith-based college” — in their Organizational Management program.

Seems like an intelligent, nice boy who's fully grasped the meaning of Christ's teachings.  Maybe they have a rifle team he can join.  Or possibly a KKK chapter he can organize.

Quote Of The Day - Hillbillies 1, Muslims 0

“I saw several of those gentlemen out there yesterday,” said [Muskogee County] Sheriff Charles Pearson. “The way they were holding their weapons, with the fingers on the triggers, you can tell a couple of these gentlemen have no idea about weapons safety. It’s like the Clampetts have come to town." --  from a news story about a gun- toting patriot hillbilly goober who accidentally shot himself in the arm while "guarding" a "Muslim- free" shootin' range with a bunch of other armed patriots hillbilly goobers in Oktaha, Oklahoma, this past Tuesday.  There's no word whether, when the bullet struck the ground, up came a bubblin' crude (oil that is, black gold, Texas tea).