GARY BAUER

Thursday, May 23, 2013

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer


Islam In Europe

Peaceful, tolerant, socialist Sweden has been stunned by four nights of rioting in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods of Stockholm. One police spokesman said, "We have never had this kind of riots before in Stockholm, not this amount of riots and not this number of hot areas."

According to a BBC report, mobs of youth are starting fires, burning cars or shops, and then waiting "for emergency services to attend a fire before attacking them." That is a tactic commonly used by Palestinian jihadists.

We reported yesterday about the incredibly barbaric attack by two British-born Muslims who decapitated a British soldier at a base near London. They stayed at the scene for a considerable period of time while horrified onlookers listened to them spout the rhetoric of jihad.

Of course, following the predictable pattern, the British government and various news outlets were hesitant to describe this as Islamic terrorism "until there has been a full investigation."

But outraged Brits took to the streets chanting, "Enough is enough!" There were what appeared to be a few retaliatory incidents at several mosques. One mosque leader condemned the beheading, saying, "It was an appalling act of terror -- but it wasn't Islamic in any way. I wish it wasn't described like that."

This is the pattern we have seen time and again throughout the Western world. After every atrocity -- 9/11, the Fort Hood shooting, the London subway bombings, the Bali bombing, the Beslan school attack and a long litany of attacks in Israel -- we are told it had nothing to do with Islam. But go through the list of names of the murderous thugs who committed these atrocities and you will not find a Presbyterian among them.

Western governments and Muslim leaders are lecturing the wrong audience when they chant this almost magical incantation, "It had nothing to do with Islam," to those of us who are witnessing all of this horror. If it has nothing to do with Islam then there must be a lot of confused Muslims, because they almost always make sure to tell us it had everything to do with Islam.

Witnesses to yesterday's London beheading said the murderers shouted, "Allahu Akbar" -- "Allah is greatest." They stated, "We want to start a war in London tonight." Like the Tsarnaev brothers, they claimed the attack was in revenge for the war in Afghanistan, saying, "I killed [the soldier] because he killed Muslims and I am fed up with people killing Muslims in Afghanistan." (By the way, no one in the world -- not America, not England, not Israel nor any other Western nation -- kills Muslims more than other Muslims.)

One of the attackers even threated to kill children, saying, "You think [Prime Minister] David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start busting our guns? ...No, it's going to be the average guy, like you, and your children."

Let me say the required politically correct statement: Not every Muslim is a terrorist, nor was every German a Nazi. But it is true that virtually every terrorist who attacks the West is a Muslim.


"Swearing In The Enemy"

Ayaan Hirsi Ali experienced Sharia law firsthand while growing up in Muslim communities in Africa. She took refuge in the Netherlands, where she worked to expose Sharia's barbaric treatment of women. But radical Islamists there forced her to flee to America. She gained her citizenship last month and wrote a stirring column about her revulsion at the news that the Boston Marathon bombers were naturalized citizens like her.

Ali noted that data from a 2011 Pew survey suggests that "more than 180,000 American Muslims regard suicide bombings as being justified in some way." Meanwhile the political elites in Washington are engaged in a debate over immigration reform that appears to do nothing to make sure we do not allow in more people like the Tsarnaev brothers.

Ali wrote that the process of becoming a citizen was entirely bureaucratic. Never once was anything done to determine whether she or any of the other 1,834 people naturalized during her ceremony had the appropriate love for and knowledge of what America stands for to justify citizenship. She added, "I believe that we are entitled to filter out would-be citizens who are ideologically and morally opposed to the U.S. and pose a threat to its population."

How come it takes a naturalized American citizen, who grew up in Islamic countries and saw firsthand the horrors of Sharia law, to promote this commonsense idea?


Speaking of Understanding America…

There was a breathtaking exchange on the Constitution yesterday between Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI) and former IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. It was troubling to watch Commissioner Shulman. He said he went to law school and believed he took a course in Constitutional law. Yet this man, who was in charge of an incredibly powerful agency, appeared to be clueless about the owner's manual of the United States.

From now on I think all nominees for top level posts should be quizzed at their confirmation hearings about their knowledge of the Constitution. Maybe that would help curtail some of these scandals! Perhaps we could get some of the groups whose nonprofit status was delayed by the IRS for wanting to educate the public about the Constitution to offer remedial courses to the Obama IRS and Justice Department!


Don't Drop Values!

What irony! Just as GOP elites are convincing themselves that they should stop talking about values, a new Gallup poll finds that 72% of Americans believe the nation's moral values are getting worse.

When we say values, we generally think of the sanctity of life and normal marriage. But there are a lot of other values issues. Why is the American family disintegrating and why don't we hear politicians addressing it?

When Major Hasan receives over $270,000 in salary while awaiting trial and the people he maimed and wounded are denied the help they need because their wounds were "workplace violence," that is a reflection of a value judgment. (Republicans should be holding hearings about that too!)

Here's another one: President Obama is dipping into a values issue today by making a speech about why Gitmo should be closed. That is an expression of his values. He appears to get up in the morning worried about the constitutional rights of terrorists who try to kill American soldiers. Republicans should be pointing out every day that Obama's values are way out of step with those of the American people.

If Republicans leave all these issues off the table they will never capture the hearts and minds of the American people. If all they talk about is balance sheets and accounting issues, they will never be a majority party again.

That said, my friends, there are many very good conservatives in Congress who are fighting for our values every day. One of them is Rep. Jim Bridenstine, as you can see from his speech on the House floor defending the Boy Scouts and our traditional values.


Help For Oklahoma

If you would like to help the victims of this week's devastating Oklahoma tornado, please visit my Facebook page for links to some outstanding ministries.

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