http://www.examiner.com/article/dem-rep-barbara-lee-calling-terrorists-islamic-extremists-would-anger-themJanuary 17, 2015 12:01 AM MST
Joe Newby
While appearing on MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes," Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said the Obama administration was correct in refusing to refer to Islamic terrorists as "Islamic extremists," the Washington Free Beacon reported Thursday. The reason, she explained, is that doing so would anger them and possibly cause them to engage in even more terrorism.
"They’re responsible for ensuring our national security. We have to be careful in our language and how we — I don’t want to see any more anger and hostility or violence in the world," she said. "Our response to terrorism is a response that makes us safer that begins to dismantle and degrade terrorist organizations, not create more havoc, anger, and hostility in the world.”
Apparently, that means not saying anything that might hurt their feelings or make them angry. The Free Beacon noted that the administration's "acquiescence" on calling Islamic terror what it is has been the subject of hot debate over the last week. "The catered response signals a fear of ISIS, Al Qaeda, and their extremist allies," the Free Beacon said.
Not concerned with the feelings of those who support the recent attacks against the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, France has strongly responded in both words and action. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, for example, said France is at war with radical Islam, jihadism and "against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity."
"We are not a collection of communities, we are one nation, a Republic with values: generosity, solidarity, fraternity, secularism," he added. "We must also be lucid: antisemitism, racism, hatred of the other, these things are intolerable... Journalists were killed for drawing, police were killed for protecting us, and Jews were killed because they were Jewish. This is what is intolerable. The indignation must be total and permanent."
The administration, on the other hand, has taken a much quieter stance. While appearing to condemn Islamic terror, it has bent over backwards to remain politically correct. Last weekend, the administration refused to send a high-level representative to join 50 world leaders in a march against terrorism in Paris, choosing instead to send an ambassador. The administration later said that was a mistake after coming under fire from both liberals and conservatives.
On Friday, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh discussed the left's refusal to call Islamic terror what it is. He encouraged his listeners to "remember everything you've heard over the last 20 years about liberals and bad guys. Let's not criticize them. Let's not demean them." He then cited former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said Americans must "empathize with our enemy."
While speaking at a Georgetown University event last December, Clinton said that so-called "smart power" means “showing respect, even for one’s enemies; trying to understand and, insofar as psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view.” This, Limbaugh said, "is what we have brought to the State Department."
Liberal politicians aren't the only ones who suffer from what Greg Gutfeld called "truthophobia" regarding Islam. A number of so-called "mainstream media" outlets suffer from what appears to be a "fear of the facts," smearing anyone sounding the alarm against Islamic extremism as Islamophobes.
Radical Muslims like Anjem Choudary, however, haven't felt the need to restrain their speech. As we reported this week, Choudary blamed freedom for the Paris terrorism and said anyone who insults Islam or Mohammed -- even the Pope -- faces death. A number of people in Muslim countries around the world celebrated the attacks and called the killers heroes, unconcerned that their rhetoric would anger those who oppose Islamic terrorism.
The Free Beacon said that Lee's comments are not surprising. "She was the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization to use military force to invade Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks," the Free Beacon added.
