Ideological Blindness on Rise in America

Disease and injury are the typical causes of blindness but there is a new source of blindness on the rise in America - ideology.

Ideological blindness manifests itself in things like the following:

The president saying "These things just don't happen in other countries." when responding to the attack in San Bernardino. Apparently, it skipped Mr. Obama's mind that the French crowd before him had just suffered their own horrific attack that left ten times the number of dead and wounded than the U.S. attack; or

It taking American authorities nearly three days to be willing to call the attack terrorism despite clear evidence available early on such as huge ammunition stores, a dozen pipe bombs, numerous weapons, in the attackers home and the attacker arriving in full assault gear; or

It continuing to insist that climate change is a bigger threat than radical Islam; or

Citizens seeing suspicious activity but being afraid to say anything for fear of being accused of profiling as was the case with the neighbors of the attackers; or

The president calling for more common sense gun laws and citing the fact that current laws allow those on the terrorism "no fly" list to legally buy a firearm in the U.S.. Why would anyone rational person have any faith that the system that allowed this to happen in the first place is the same system that can fix it?

American needs to have the ideological scales plucked from its eyes before it is too late.

What Was Secretary of State John Kerry Thinking?

Less than a year after the attack in Paris on the satirical French newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, that left 11 dead and 11 injured, and only 5 days following the massacre that killed at least 135 people and wounded hundreds more in another attack on the French capital, Secretary of State John Kerry said the following during remarks at the U.S. Embassy in Paris:

"There's something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that,...There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of - not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, 'Okay, they're really angry because of this and that.' This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate."

So mass murder is just a matter of magnitude? Wow, John! Mighty nuanced of you.

And this guy lectures and chastises other Americans about "our values"? I suppose I should just be the better person and give him the benefit of the doubt that this just came out wrong. Really, really, wrong.

Compromise Syrian Refugee Plan

Lest my readers and especially my critics think I am unsympathic to the plight of the refugees trying to flee the civil war in Syria, I offer the following plan that would provide safety to them while at the same time ensure our own security.

Accept the 10,000 refugees - Muslims, Christians,  Jews, Yazidi, etc.

Settle the women and children (all girls and boys under 15 years old) with the general US population. Place the men in refugee camps where they will be safe while we take the time to properly vet them to ensure they have no ties to terrorism. No time limit will be placed on this process - it takes as long as it takes. If they become impatient, we can offer to send them to another safe location in a different country.

Those that successfully assimilate into American society - learn basic English, have found productive work, have no criminal record, and are not on any public assistance - will be able to become permanent residents and even seek naturalization. Everyone else will be repatriated once it is safe.

I think this is a perfectly reasonable compromise. How many, liberal or conservative, agree?
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