By Don Irvine.
The New York Times editorial board tried to lay the blame for the terrorist attack on an Orlando nightclub by an avowed ISIS supporter on Republicans who don’t support gay rights:
“Omar Mateen shattered the tenuous, hard-fought sense of personal safety that many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have begun to feel as the movement for equality has made significant gains in recent years. His bullets and the blood he left behind that early morning were a reminder that in many corners of the country, gay and transgender people are still regarded as sinners and second-class citizens who should be scorned.
While the precise motivation for the rampage remains unclear, it is evident that Mr. Mateen was driven by hatred toward gays and lesbians. Hate crimes don’t happen in a vacuum. They occur where bigotry is allowed to fester, where minorities are vilified and where people are scapegoated for political gain. Tragically, this is the state of American politics, driven too often by Republican politicians who see prejudice as something to exploit, not extinguish.”
The Times completely ignored the fact that Mateen called 911 during the attack, pledging allegiance to ISIS and mentioning the Boston Marathon bombers during the call. The Times is instead trying to make it solely a hate crime so they can blame Republicans, who they feel haven’t been sensitive enough on gay issues. This also is a way of providing cover for the Obama administration.
Yet even President Obama recognized Mateen’s motivation—calling him “self-radicalized”—recognizing that the attack was more than a hate crime, even though he wouldn’t use the words “radical Islam” when talking about it.
Why did the Times fail to mention ISIS even once in its editorial? Because this latest attack on American soil only underscored the failure of the Obama administration’s efforts to combat domestic terrorism. It also highlights the fact that a Clinton administration wouldn’t be any better at preventing future attacks, which doesn’t bode well for the Democrats in November.
