Cruz explained his proposal to reporters on Tuesday night, saying it is “good law enforcement” to target neighborhoods that may be “festering jihadism.”…. “It is standard law enforcement — it is good law enforcement to focus on where threats are emanating from, and anywhere where there is a locust of radicalization, where there is an expending presence of radical Islamic terrorism,” Cruz told reporters on Tuesday evening in Manhattan. The Texas senator later compared his idea to ridding neighborhoods of gang activity and law enforcement’s efforts “to take them off the street.” Cruz added that there’s some precedent for what he has in mind: he pointed to the New York Police Department’s use of a “proactive policing program” under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Cruz’s original argument was bad. The clarification is worse.
It may be trite, but Georges Santayana was spot on: Those who don’t know history are condemned to repeat it- poorly, in the case of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Mordor). If your default response to terrorism is to advocate for treating Muslims as jihadis merely waiting for the order to strike- while you ignore the far more significant threat posed by Christian terrorism…you’re doing it wrong.
During WWII, Japanese-Americans were identified as threats because of their ethnicity and the color of their skin. OF COURSE they’re threats to America- JUST LOOK AT THEM!! THEY’RE JAPANESE!!! Except those who advocated for rounding up Japanese-Americans forgot one very important thing- their targets were American citizens whose only crime was Japanese ancestry and non-White skin. No one seriously argued that German-Americans should have been similarly mistreated…because “they” looked like “us.”
What Sen. Cruz is proposing is as immoral and inhuman as it is unAmerican…but I’d like to propose that we meet the Senator halfway. I’d be on board with what he’s proposing for Muslims…as long as he applies the same standards to Christians, who, as terrorists go, pose a far greater threat to the Homeland.
Go ahead, Senator; the ball’s in your court. Let me know what you decide.
