On decapitations and the status quo

Mr. Obama and his staff of intellectuals are pathologically against ever using terms such as "radical Islamist" or "Muslim terrorist" both because it is intellectually sloppy to use broad sweeping terms and because they still cling to the hope that matters can be settled through consensus.  It is the intellectual way to do things.

Even Mr. Bush was careful to never confuse the "war on terror" with a "war on Muslims".  Both Presidents realize that inciting a theologically based war would alienate millions and produce countless new groups bent on attacking the US and her allies.

But both Team Obama and Team Bush make a critical assumption that has been the bane of the West for the last several centuries; the Muslim world does not think in the same terms as the West.  Therefore, its citizens do not react in accordance with White House doctrine no matter how many think tanks and Ivy League scholars wish to tell them otherwise.

For despite the many number of attacks via suicide bomber and active shooter, the favored tactic for dispatching Western infidels is decapitation.  Daniel Pearl was one of the first people to be decapitated also was the first to be videotaped while being executed.  His case, and those that have since followed leading up to this week's decapitation of a French Catholic priest, should serve as proof that there is not going to be a peaceful consensus.

Decapitation derives from the Latin "caput" meaning head.  In the West, removing the head was for the most serious (capital) offenses.  The Taliban, al-Qaeda, and ISIS have all adopted this practice as a way of publicly decrying the seriousness of the offenses the West, and by extension Christianity, have inflicted upon them.  Washington DC may think by being polite and note using tens involving Islam or Muslim that are keeping things form getting personal.  Its a sham that isn't working and in my opinion is actually causing matters to escalate.

The terrorists are using decapitation to shock the public, when matter don't change, they look for more ways to increase the shock value.  I'm not sure how you get any more shocking than taking a priest and several nuns hostage during mass and then beheading the priest minutes later.

Young children and teenagers are seeing these images all over the Internet and are either becoming desensitized to the violence and/or sympathetic to the perpetrators.  The three-ring circus that we are still calling the Presidential election is not only alienating people from the political process, it may be encouraging isolated individuals to seek out other philosophies.

Last week, 19 people were killed in Japan by a lone individual armed with a knife.  In a country with a culture notoriously known for conformity, someone slipped right through the very system that was supposed to identify and help him.  If that can happen in Japan, it may already be too late for the US.  We no longer tolerate dissenting opinions, you have to be silenced and condemned for speaking out against the prevailing attitude.  This doesn't really change people, it just creates even more of a seething hatred for the majority.

England, France, Germany and Sweden have all had attacks perpetrated by immigrants.  Mr. Obama is not allowing any discussions linking increased immigrant populations to increased terrorist attacks.  Again he and his team appeared to be blind to the fact that immigrants are going to come here full of appreciation and love for the US.  Many will resent the West for creating chaos and destruction in their native lands and some, not all, may just want a little retribution.  To not recognize that possibility is just unrealistic and borderline irresponsible.

Hillary has yet to address this issue in any meaningful way and if she hopes to capture some hearts and minds of Republicans disillusioned with Trump, she need to do if you wants to be in the White House.  Trump's vitriolic tirades, unpolished and harsh though they may be, does address this issue which is why the Democratic party is left dumbfounded by his popularity.  This is not an endorsement of either candidate but rather to open some minds up to issues beyond egos and personalities.

Another major, brutal attack is going to happen because the US and Europe have done nothing to change the script.  Bombing the snot out of ISIS in Syria and Iraq does nothing about the threats already over here.  Whoever becomes the next President needs to have some better ideas.