Obama Disses Gold Star Mother

President Obama held a military town hall event yesterday at Fort Lee, Virginia. One of the questions posed to the president came from a Gold Star Mother who asked why the president refuses to say the words "radical Islamic terrorism."

Obama thanked her for her son's service and sacrifice, but then launched into a long-winded explanation, saying in part:
 

"The truth of the matter is that this is an issue that has been sort of manufactured. . . terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda or ISIL, they have perverted and distorted and tried to claim the mantle of Islam for an excuse, for basically barbarism and death.

"But . . . when you start calling these organizations Islamic terrorists, the way it's heard, the way it's received by our friends and allies around the world is that somehow Islam is terroristic. . ."

Obama's response was incredibly disrespectful to this Gold Star Mother. Her son's death certainly wasn't the result of a "manufactured" or contrived controversy. He was killed by a radical Islamic terrorist, and our leaders should not be afraid to say that!

As has been documented over and over again, there is a problem with violence within Islam. Our Muslims friends and allies know this. The radical Islamic supremacists kill plenty of Muslims they also consider to be infidels or insufficiently Islamic.

There is a reason:

That Islamic State calls itself the "Islamic State."

That the world's leading state-sponsor of terrorism calls itself the "Islamic Republic of Iran."

That the vast majority of terrorist attacks taking place throughout the world today are carried out by Muslims.

That disturbing percentages of Muslims living in Islamic nations support Sharia law and suicide bombings.

Islam has a problem with violence!

By the way, Obama also doubled down in his opposition to the idea of "extreme vetting" for refugees as a "religious test" that is somehow contrary to our values. The public overwhelmingly supports extreme vetting. Only 23% of voters oppose it.

Peres Passes Away

Shimon Peres, one of the founding fathers of the modern state of Israel, passed away this week. He was 93 years old. His political career spanned more than half a century. He held numerous cabinet positions, twice served as prime minister and most recently as Israel's president from 2007 to 2014.

During a celebration of his 90th birthday, Peres said, "We came to the promised land and now we must make it a land of promise." Israel today, thanks in part to the leadership and vision of Peres, is just that -- a land of immense promise.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Peres as one of Israel's "greatest leaders," calling him "a man of vision [and] of peace" whose memory "will be enshrined in my heart always."

Upon news of Peres' passing, tributes poured in from around the world and at least 80 world leaders will be attending his funeral in Jerusalem tomorrow. Among those attending will be President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, German President Joachim Gauck, British Prime Minister Theresa May, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, former British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince Charles.

But demonstrating the problem that Islam has with violence is the response of Hamas. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said yesterday, "The Palestinian people are very happy at the passing of this criminal who caused their blood to shed."

Zuhri added, "Shimon Peres was the last remaining Israeli official who founded the occupation, and his death is . . . the beginning of a new phase of weakness."

Hamas has also called for a "Day of Rage" to take place Friday, coinciding with Peres' funeral and the one-year anniversary of the "Stabbing Intifada" that began last September. And let me remind our readers that Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people to govern Gaza after Israel withdrew in 2005.

What a contrast. The Palestinians celebrate death. They erect monuments to terrorists. They name sports teams after terrorists. They pay jailed terrorists and their families. And in response to the death of a man who devoted his life to peace, they call for a day of rage, for more death and destruction.

Again, it must be asked, where is Israel's peace partner?

Follow-Up

I want to follow-up on several news stories from the past week.
 

• Guess whose vote cancelled out yours in the last election? Arcen Cetin. That's right -- the Turkish immigrant who murdered five Americans at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, last week. He is a permanent resident, not a citizen, which means that he should not be voting.

  However, records indicate that Cetin "registered to vote in 2014 and participated in three election cycles, including the May presidential primary."

  Liberals insist that voter fraud is a non-issue and that voter IDs laws, supported by 80% of Americans, are "a solution in search of a problem." Really? Non-citizens are voting in Washington and the dead are voting in California and Colorado. Yet the left fights tooth-and-nail whenever someone tries to stop it.
   

• Radicals in Charlotte are demanding that the black police chief resign. This demand comes in the wake of a black man, Keith Scott, being shot by a black police officer.

  When Scott was shot, police insisted he was armed with a gun. His family insisted he didn't own a gun. Well, here's the latest twist: The Associated Press reports that Scott's wife took out a restraining order last year because Scott "threatened to kill his wife and her son with a gun." Mrs. Scott said her husband "said he is a 'killer' and we should know that," and she warned police "he 'carries a 9mm black' gun."
   

• Protests against the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem continue to grow. Eight members of the New York City Council are now refusing to stand for the Pledge.

  People ask all the time, "Why can't politicians just get along and work for the common good?" Well, when we can't even agree that Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem represents a common good we can all respect, it's not surprising that it is so difficult to agree on other issues.