For the first time, some Americans are feeling the panic many of us experienced when the left was electing and re-electing Obama. We knew this would lead to freeing up money to Iran, the largest sponsor of terror in the world, as well as undermine Israel’s security. To many of us, Obama was a radical leftist and scared us- yes to the same degree that Trump is scaring you now!
Americans picked Obama because we were sick of Bush. Obama was the anti-Bush. Trump is the anti-Obama. The pendulum went from one end to another extreme end. To every action, there is an equal (and even greater in politics) opposite reaction. Hence- Trump.
Since 1979, Iran has been telling the world that Israel is the small Satan, and that America is the big Satan. Carter’s destabilization of Iran began a cascade of unprecedented terrorism in the world. The Bush invasion of Iraq further led to the formation of Daesh/ ISIS. The radicalization and escalation of Jihadists has been on the rise since, and now the world has become a center stage for terrorism from Paris to San Bernardino to London.
Unfortunately, the most efficient way to unify the haters of America is to insult all Muslims. Iran will pull out the “I told you so” card. This offensive move is exactly what ISIS wants- to place pressure on moderate Muslims and by discriminating against them, out of desperation, polarize them with the radical ideology. If there are more terrorist acts between now and the elections, especially in America’s backyard, Trump will gain more followers. More terrorist activity will lead to more extreme Trump rhetoric, and will cause his approval ratings to soar as a response to panic.
The choice then becomes Trump vs. Clinton, rather than perhaps the more moderate Rubio.
Already, social media is inundated with Muslims comparing Trump with Hitler. Hate speech forces us to choose an extreme. The comparison to Hitler undermines the suffering of Holocaust survivors and those of us whose conscious is still filled with the PTSD of the ovens. These comparisons outrage and sadden Jews who stand with Muslims against Trump’s hate speech. ADL’s Greenblatt immediately issued a condemnation of Trumps stance against Muslims.
Not only is a racial/religious profiling such as “no more Muslims” unconstitutional, but such talk will metastasize to other groups. After the Iranian revolution, many of us denied our Iranian heritage, out of fear of being attacked. We said we were Persian, and made sure to follow it with “Jewish.” Any Middle East looking person will be seen as a potential terrorist.
We need to keep our sanity, even if our leaders fail. We need to stop hurting one another. At this point, American Muslims stand to lose their freedom in the society at large. If America is to remain great, we must work together to ensure safety AND freedom, to defend The Constitution AND protect our citizens. We have entered a new era of radical politics as a response to radical Jihad. We must not fight each other, but the radical ideology.
As an optimist, I am grateful to Trump for bringing our ugly dinner conversations to the political stage. Although some feel there are sparks of truth in Trump’s words, let’s not burn down America. Let’s stop swinging from one extreme to another. Our Nation is greater than our individual fears.
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