POLITICAL CORRECTNESS VERSUS REALITY IN SAN BERNADINO

I saw a disturbing editorial cartoon this morning, just one day after the shooting in San Bernadino. There was a chicken labeled domestic terrorism and an egg labeled right wing media. It asked the questions "Which came first? Which caused which?" What planet is this cartoonist living on? Syed Farook was inspired by Bill O'Reilly to go to Saudi Arabia and marry a Saudi Arabian, and then come back and shoot up a California Christmas party? In what alternate universe does that make sense? Most of the mainstream media would summarily reject such a preposterous notion, and I am mystified as to why a responsible newspaper would print such a cartoon.

The mainstream media is still searching for a reason why Syed Farook would do such a thing. Just as they are still searching for a reason that Nidal Hassan would shoot up Fort Hood. And they're still wondering why Abdulhakim Muhammad shot up the Little Rock recruiting office. And it's still a mystery to them why Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez shot up the Chattanooga recruiting office. May I make a modest suggestion? Radical Islam.

The mainstream media didn't have any trouble finding a reason why Robert Dear shot up an abortion center. Those bad nasty religious fanatics, the Pro-Lifers inspired him to do it. I assume that's the point the silly cartoon was trying to make, but its publication was badly timed.

Question: If it's so easy to jump to conclusions blaming the right for violence, why isn't it just as easy to jump to conclusions blaming other groups for violence?

Answer: Political correctness.

According to the tenets of postmodern political correctness, you must avoid criticizing some groups at all costs and at the same time take every opportunity to criticize others. Criticizing anyone associated with Islam runs counter to the current politically correct storyline which ipso facto makes any minority victims and any conservatives either villains or nincompoops. Here is a fact that the mainstream media needs to wake up to: villainy knows no boundaries. Of course there are villainous conservatives, but they are far outnumbered (and outgunned) by villainous jihadis. Take off the blinders. Admit the truth. If a home-grown radical Islamist commits a violent act, don't stick your heads in the sand and pretend you can't figure out why they did it.

THE NEW ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE

NBC’s Skyler Wilder says that Olympic Gold Medalist David Wise leads an alternative lifestyle because at age 23 he has a wife and child and attends church regularly. [See his report here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/wrc/news/david-wises-alternative-lifestyle-leads-olympic-gold]. Wilder finds it amazing that Wise, whom he characterizes as a child, acts like an adult. I had no idea that acting like an adult was now an alternative lifestyle. I think Wilder’s article gives near-conclusive evidence that the mainstream media in general and NBC in particular is out of touch with reality. What David Wise has done with his private life is exactly what the vast majority of Americans have done with their private lives for the past 200 years. It is tragic that we as Americans are now letting the media be the arbiter of what is normal and what isn’t. Under the sway of the media we have become a nation where responsible married men are oddballs and the surest path to becoming an iconic hero is to be an entertainer who dies of a drug overdose. Once upon a time in America we made heroes of soldiers [e.g. Alvin York], astronauts [e.g. John Glenn], and educators [e.g. Albert Einstein]. Now our heroes are singers, actors, and sports figures—and the more they misbehave, the higher their star rises. Meanwhile, back in the real world we still have people who hold down steady jobs, try to be good parents to their children, and work hard at staying married to the same person. Such people, who are now considered pursuers of an alternative lifestyle, built this country. And if the supply of such Americans ever runs dry, we will be in big trouble.