America's Future

It was over twenty years ago that my son produced an essay for school in which he produced evidence illustrating the change in American’s attitude toward taking another persons life. I don’t remember the exact figures but the point of the paper was that over the past 100 years, the percentage of American’s that said it was “OK under certain circumstances to take a life” has steadily increased. His report ended after the Vietnam era at which time over 75% of Americans answered in the affirmative to that age old question. I have little doubt that these days it has risen even greater.

With the most recent events in San Bernardino and the wide reaching press coverage, filled with quite a few conjectures, political coverage, etc, etc, and the follow up articles that continue to suggest that Muslims in the US are not denouncing terrorism it has all the makings of a good old fashion lynch mob. The other evening I read an article that strongly suggested the country needed to round up all Muslims for internment in camps much like we saw in the second world war.

I must admit; from all I have seen and read over the past 15 years, any kind of solution seems out of reach. There is no effort and frankly I haven’t the slightest idea of how you bring the radical factions to the peach table and even begin a dialog on how to stop this. Some want to compare it to another Vietnam, but this is much larger; world wide and the enemy shows no fear of any country and is doing all they can to provoke anyone and everyone. Even the Russians with the famed KGB that was known to do whatever it took to defeat such enemies, is now in the crosshairs of ISIS and it appears they too are balking at exactly what to do.

And sadly, so very sadly, our own American news media continues to do their part to beat the drum and report only that which is “news worthy” rather than any kind of factual portrayal of all the news. Almost immediately after the San Bernardino shootings Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles, said, "The Muslim community stands shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Americans in repudiating any twisted mind-set that would claim to justify such sickening acts of violence." Tahmina Rehman, president of Buffalo's Women's Auxiliary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, criticized the shootings, noting that those who are truly faithful to the Quran live lives of peace and humility. Roshan Abbassi, an assistant imam at a San Bernardino mosque, said: "We are all against terrorism. ... We all want peace." Saira Khan, the sister of the shooter, said, "I believe that that's not Islam. Islam condemns killing or hurting of anybody. Any person."

This year, the black Friday gun sales, as reported by the FBI and backed up by a number of outlets reporting on retail sales, were up over 40% with a record of 185,345 background checks run on Friday alone. That doesn’t begin to record the number of sales through unlicensed sellers. In October over 1.9 million background checks were processed.

If there were a World Paranoia Clock similar to the Doomsday Clock, I would have to say we are fast approaching a mark similar to the One Minute to Midnight that the world faced at the brink of the 1962 Cuban missile crises. Unfortunately with so many social media outlets world wide, the ability to stabilize the situation through diplomacy is all but, if not already, impossible.

Are we to the point of our own Arab Spring? Were the prepper’s right all along? Are you like the rest of us red necks and have plenty of guns and ammo stashed in every room of your house? Are you praying every night and are you praying for peace or just a faster draw? Do you know where every Muslim lives and where their Mosque’s are?
By the way, as of this moment the Doomsday clock has moved ahead two minutes.
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]Three Minutes to Midnight