“After two decades in which U.S. foreign policy has been largely dedicated to rescuing Muslims or trying to help free them from tyranny — in Bosnia, Darfur, Kuwait, Somalia, Lebanon, Kurdistan, post-earthquake Pakistan, post-tsunami Indonesia, Iraq and Afghanistan — a narrative that says America is dedicated to keeping Muslims down is thriving,” columnist Thomas Friedman wrote, noting how alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan even bought into the “cocktail of half-truths, propaganda and outright lies about America that have taken hold in the Arab-Muslim world since 9/11.” Friedman suggested that President Obama could spark needed debate in the Muslim world by asking this question: “Why is it that a million Muslims will pour into the streets to protest Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but not one will take to the streets to protest Muslim suicide bombers who blow up other Muslims, real people, created in the image of God? You need to explain that to us — and to yourselves.”
The Anti-Defamation League singled out Fox New host Glenn Beck among the mainstream media for promoting hate and conspiracy theories. In its new report, “Rage Grows in America: Anti-Government Conspiracies,” ADL said that Beck has acted as a “fearmonger-in-chief,” and that his conspiratorial claims “create an intersection between the mainstream and the extreme.” In contrast, the report notes that conservative media hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, while being very critical of the Obama administration, “have usually dismissed or refused to give a platform to the conspiracy theorists and anti-government extremists.” Some conservatives have complained that the report focused on right-wing media and didn’t include left-wing offenders. But James Besser of Jewish Week noted that ADL has a long history of calling out Democrats and Republicans alike who cross the line.
The political fight over gun records, and particularly the “Tiahrt amendment” regarding release of gun-trace data, has reached the Fort Hood shooting. In a Washington Post commentary provocatively headlined “Enabling the next Fort Hood?” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean charged that “one of the many restrictions on gun data sponsored by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., meant that (Maj. Nidal) Hasan’s investigators were blocked from searching records to determine whether he or other terrorist suspects had purchased guns,” adding that Tiahrt legislation interferes “with preserving, sharing and investigating data on gun purchases by terrorist suspects.”
A Tiahrt statement on the issue said in part: “Contrary to what Mayors Against Illegal Guns have asserted, the Tiahrt amendment does not affect background check outcomes, does not affect who is permitted to own a firearm, and does not restrict law enforcement officials from accessing and effectively using all available firearm data for criminal investigations. Allowing the federal government to maintain a firearm registry of law-abiding American citizens who have passed a background test will do nothing to prevent terrorist attacks. Retaining a federal registry for 45 days or even 45 years will not make us any safer but will expose which citizens own guns and how many they own — something every violent criminal would like to access. Unfortunately, many opponents of the Tiahrt language, including Mayor Bloomberg, appear to be more interested in lawsuits against firearm manufacturers than about protecting law enforcement officers, the public, and privacy rights of law-abiding citizens who own firearms.”
