I'm not going to link to any articles. I'm not going to embed any videos. I'm not going to quote any politician, talking head, or pundit. It's out there - it is, in fact, everywhere - and you can find it for yourself if you want to. But here is the point:
This new wave of breathless anti-Muslim sentiment is both deplorable and despicable, and I sincerely abhor everybody who is participating in it.
Creating a database in which all Muslims must register? Internment camps? Ending immigration from "Muslim" countries? Beginning a "Judaeo-Christian" government propaganda program? These are all ideas that have been suggested and discussed over the past week.
France, which, if you recall, was the country that was actually attacked, has responded to the attacks by reaffirming their stance that they will still accept their previously-declared quota of Syrian refugees. They have mourned, they have increased their military response to ISIS, and they have declared a temporary state of emergency.
America, which, if you recall, was not attacked last Friday, has responded hysterically, with politicians and pundits doing their best to stir up fear, hatred, and bloodlust among the general American population. The way that most news organizations have responded to the Paris attack has been particularly disgraceful. It is now obvious that the poorly-informed idiots that make up our media are incapable of learning lessons from their past behavior. After the way the American media cheered on and pushed the march to war in Iraq, one would have thought that they'd be more cautious before throwing aside the tattered remnants of their journalistic integrity and reverting to being the warmongerers they had been a decade ago.
Of course, if you thought this intellectual and moral growth was possible, you have been proven completely wrong.
What is happening right now is sick. It is pathetic. It is disgraceful. As Americans, we constantly tell ourselves all about our greatness, all about our exceptionalism, all about our brilliant commitment to human rights and the betterment of humanity.
It all seems like bullshit right now. What is happening is that the lowest common denominator is winning, and we are left with nothing but hatred and fear. A great country doesn't do this. An exceptional country doesn't engage in open bigotry and the tarring of an entire people because of the actions of a couple of murderous psychos. A country committed to human rights and the betterment of humanity doesn't offer policy prescriptions that hearken back to the Japanese internment camps of World War 2.
What is happening to this country?
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