No One is More American Than I Am (Cenk's Response To RW Anti-Muslim Commentary After Ft. Hood)

[ihavenobias]

By Cenk Uygur

Predictably, after the Ft. Hood shooting some idiot conservatives are suggesting that we do some sort of before allowing them into the US military. Who is "we"? Who gets to do this exam? What, presumably more American people like whites or Christians?

Why don't Muslim Americans decide which Christians get to enter the US military? Oh, does that sound offensive? Does it sound weird? Why should it sound any different than Christians getting to decide which other Americans they will allow into the US military?

A lot of people are rightfully making the point that you can not generalize about millions of Muslims in this country based on two guys. Just as you cannot generalize about all right-leaning white Christians (let alone all Christians in their entirety) based on what domestic terrorists like Tim McVeigh did, or Terry Nichols, or Eric Rudolph, or Scott Roeder or ...

But there is a more important point here. Muslims Americans don't have to prove a damn thing to you. They are Americans just like anyone else, whether like it or not. They are not 80% American. They are not 90% as American as you are. You don't get to judge how American they are.

Here is the inalterable fact that the right-wing of this country has to get used to - Muslim-Americans are 100% American. There are no degrees of how American you are. They have the same exact rights, privileges and responsibilities as any other American does. They don't have to answer to you.

I'm agnostic now, but I was born Muslim. My whole family is Muslim. They're all Americans. Not one of them is one percent less of an American than any other race or religion in this country...





PS---Vote 11/13-11/30/09 to in the 'best political podcast' category!

[kestrel91316]

1. K& effin' R.

[maddezmom]

2. K&R

:kick:

[OhioChick]

3. K&R n/t

[abq e streeter]

4. i find myself admiring Cenk more and more

[DavidDvorkin]

5. Right! And the same applies to naturalized citizens ... Oh, wait

Naturalized citizens can't be president or v.p. So they aren't really 100% Americans, after all.

[Kajsa]

6. You tell them, Cenk!

Islamaphobia is alive and well in the US!

:(

K&R

[ihavenobias]

26. Not only that, but it's acceptable to many people. n/t

[Kajsa]

41. I know!

That is very wrong, on ALL levels.

:(

[NYC_SKP]

7. K&R. n/t

:thumbsup:

[clear eye]

8. That kind of talk from white Christians has always sounded weird to me,

even when it's in defense of a minority. Opposing the term "Americans" to, say, black citizens or Muslim citizens. Just like Cenk said, once you're a citizen, either naturalized or native-born, you're just as much an "American" as they are. The only folks who have any justification for questioning other people's "Americanism" are Native Americans, as far as I'm concerned.

K & R.

[JDPriestly]

9. Religion has very little to do with that shooting in my opinion.

The shooter was paranoid. Had he been a Christian, he would have found some other reason to shoot people. He should have been excused from military service when his paranoia first became evident, when it was first obvious that he no longer had a sense of humor and had lost trust in a lot of people. People like this man are fertile ground for extremist hate-mongering religious leaders of all kinds. Think about those crazy people who take their Christian passion about abortion to such a point that they kill doctors. They are more like this killer than Jesus. Above all, this man should not have been treating mentally ill or psychologically traumatized people. Certainly he is responsible for not getting help for himself much sooner, but most of all his superiors who must have noticed that something was wrong are at fault for not giving this man the medical discharge when it was needed. Of course, had he been a civilian, he might vented his murderous passion in some other way. This is a tragic situation, but it isn't just Muslims who commit these horrible acts. I'm not excusing the killings, not by any means. I'm just pointing out that people do these things for various reasons.

Ironically, this man may have an insanity defense. Depends on the facts.

I need to explain that I automatically think in terms of "OK. What's the defense here." Just habit.

[Cha]

10. Bless Cenk's clear headed heart~

Thank you, ihnb.

[rhett o rick]

11. k & r

[autorank]

12. You don't have to prove a single thing - AT ALL. You're a fellow citizen!!!

Although I do like your politics, even if I didn't, the fact that you might be a Muslim (and I didn't even know that until now) is irrelevant. I think that's the view held by the vast majority also. If there were ever a threat of widespread backlash, it has long passed.

I wish people would open their eyes and see that this poor man was treating trauma victims from the war non stop for an extended period. That's the first cause you'd go to in speculating but why do we even have speculation. This is a tragedy. Let the Army investigators figure it out.

In the mean time, you're right, you have nothing to prove and I have nothing to judge (although one column on Afghanistan troop increases was a little off;) but ya know, we're all a little off and it has nothing to do with religion).

Thanks - highly recommended

[ihavenobias]

59. He's corrected course WRT Afghanistan FYI.

Better late than never.

;)

[indimuse]

13. right on, Cenk!

KNR! ;)

[indimuse]

14. right on, Cenk!

KNR! ;)

[jgraz]

15. Exactly!

[Stargazer09]

16. K & R

I agree 100% !

[winyanstaz]

17. K & R.....

I want the religious persecutions by the far right to stop.
I want the religion OUT of government.
I want the Constitution INFORCED....and the criminals cleaned out of our government too.
I guess I am looking for a miracle.

[katty]

18. K&R

[snagglepuss]

19. K&R

[libodem]

20. Cenk is Brilliant

He articulates so smoothly much of my free floating anxiety. Where I kinda go crazy over bigotry and get frustrated and angry with how senseless it is, Cenk keeps a cool head and tells it like it is. I relish TYT clips and usually watch all of them first when I'm in the video section.

[FiveGoodMen]

21. A point that will have to be made repeatedly. But it'll be worth it.

[Enthusiast]

22. Right on, Cenk!

But these Right Wingnuts have bought into the notion that this is a 'Christian nation'. They have had this pounded into their heads from every right wing source so now they believe it. If left up to these nutters they would force every school child to say the 'Our Father' every morning at school.

The Muslim Dr. that did the shooting was a victim of abuse from this same kind of wingnut idiot. Can you imagine some of the shit he had to endure? Not that this in any way excuses his behavior.

[Divine Discontent]

23. we all have the same rights if we're legal citizens, and therefore "American!", agreed.

I just saw the story of the hyper-religious guy in Mass. who told his coworker her Gay marriage was 'bad stuff', and was fired. Beyond the fact that it was workplace harassment based on sexuality that is stated in the workplace rules there, and it's legal in Mass., he basically acted like she didn't deserve the same rights as an American as he did, because of what HE thought.

The bigots make excuses for why they want to place themselves over others... all US citizens are worthy of that 14th amendment!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

24. Absolutely...

But it's sad that we have to even bring this stuff up.

K&R

[clear eye]

25. I've also read people posting that "we" should be more tolerant of , say, African-Americans

And I always marveled that the ostensibly "liberal" poster didn't include African-Americans in his/her concept of "we".

People can totally lack self-awareness when it comes to bigotry.

[TicketyBoo]

27. Do you think we can step outside

the "political correctness" boundaries long enough to recognize the fact that some radical elements of the Islamic faith have hijacked the religion and are waging a war of terrorism on the United States in the name of Allah?

I do not propose any sort of "patriotism test" for any American, but surely there must be some sort of procedure to weed out people (all people) who put their religious beliefs ahead of their sworn duty. If not, this is bound to happen again because those who are out for American blood have seen another way to come after it. Those radical elements are praising this murderer as a hero.

So, we all need to get real about this before we drown in the blood of political correctness.

[BlueMTexpat]

48. What is "politically correct" about making the point that

anyone who was born a US citizen or naturalized as a US citizen is 100% American? That is a fact.
In my opinion, no human being who deliberately sets out to kill another human being is a hero. But when a US Senator (POS Lieberman, for example ... such an expert, he!) goes on national television to call a very disturbed man's act an act of "terrorism" ... and that person happens to be a Muslim, in the anti-Muslim environment that is the US today, it goes beyond the pale and gives the crazies a basis to retaliate against innocent people. They don't distinguish between who is "radical" and who is not.
As for "waging a war of terrorism" in the US, your rhetoric specifically targets Muslims when it is clear to me that most of the radical elements who have hijacked religion and who are waging a war of terrorism against their fellow citizens within the US call themselves "Christian."
I call a spade a spade.

[ihavenobias]

64. Yep. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

28. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, ihavenobias.:thumbsup:

[dtotire]

29. Right On. Thanx for posting n/t

[ejbr]

30. k & r !!! n/t

[Violet_Crumble]

31. It's not just the RW that have that problem....

I've seen some posts here at DU from people who claim to be left wing that have that same attitudes....

[20score]

32. Right on. K&R

[pleah]

33. K&R

[Wetzelbill]

34. K&R

[democracy1st]

35. K & R

[burning rain]

36. Cenk's wrong. Agnostics are unAmerican.

You can't be a good American without being superstitious. Try running for office without being a godbotherer.

[ihavenobias]

61. No, get it right!

Agnostics are *sort of* American. You were thinking of atheists.

;)

[burning rain]

63. Heh! Good one!

.

[rosesaylavee]

37. No. This just ain't going to happen.

He's right - who makes up this exam and what is the criteria? Once again the RWingers prove they have no critical thinking skills. If Hasan's supervisors had done their job or any of his co-workers had spoken up, those 13 service men/women would still be alive. THAT's where our focus should be - that system is the one needing fixing.

[tbyg52]

38. Right arm! Left pit! Loose tube! Solid state!

:kick:

:patriot:

[CherylK]

39. K & R!!!

:patriot:

[Turborama]

40. I just heard O'Lielly say "We can't kill them all, so we have to win their hearts and minds"

This on a Muslim hating TV channel that's http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x392974">broadcast all over Pakistan.

:kick: & R

[clear eye]

62. Tell me it ain't so.

Pakistanis see Fox!!

No wonder some of them cheered when they saw the World Trade Towers come down. urrgh. (I wish there were an emoticon for pulling one's hair out.)

[ThoughtCriminal]

42. Who decided Kareem Rashad Sultan Kahn could be a U.S. Soldier?

[Rhiannon12866]

43. K&R. Very well stated, as usual...

How many Americans know what Muslims believe, anyway? I certainly had no clue and I went to a (high) school that had required religion courses, but my classmates were either Christians or Jews. After September 11th, I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about the Muslim faith, so I sat down with the family encyclopedia and read as much as I could find on it. One thing that stuck in my mind was that murder, to Muslims, is the worst thing imaginable, that killing another person is like killing his entire family. Obviously, those Muslims who kill are violating the basic beliefs of their religion, just like that of any other faith. Every religion has those who commit crimes and are pretty terrible people, but blaming any religion for the sins of the few is bigotry, at best. :-(

[lonestarnot]

44. Right the fuck on!

K & R!

[Number23]

45. "Muslims Americans don't have to prove a damn thing to you. "

DAMN RIGHT. :applause:

[Robbie88]

46. This is great! K&R

n/t

[avaistheone1]

47. I love Cenk.

:loveya:

[Beartracks]

49. Cenk, yuda mann! n/t

[Window]

50. WooHoo! Don't be tardy for the party. K/R

:kick:

[vaberella]

51. He is exactly right. Thanks Tom.

I'm fed up with the parahiazation of Muslims in this nation. And we all know it's not even going to stop there. Anyone who has a "look" that fits the mold will experiencce the same shit. I remmeber in New York a few years back when a set of Seiks(spelling) were manhandled in public, forced to go down on the (New York public street---42nd street) and yelled and searched because they fit a mold and some lady thought they were "terrorists." Where does this BS end?! Huh?!

[whoopingcrone]

52. Right on, Cenk, and besides that...

there's no way to identify who "is" and who "isn't" a "Muslim" by looking at them!
Just like Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Atheists, Muslims come in all colors.
Just like all the other "Americans".

[Solly Mack]

53. K&R

[spiritual_gunfighter]

54. One of my favorite posts from Cenk so far n/t

[SallyMander]

55. "Why don't Muslim Americans decide which Christians get to enter the US military?"

"Oh, does that sound offensive? Does it sound weird? Why should it sound any different than Christians getting to decide which other Americans they will allow into the US military?"


That is awesome. :toast:

[Douglas Carpenter]

56. kick and recommend!!

[whathehell]

57. Muslim Americans don't have to prove a damn thing to you (or me)

but they might to a recruiting officer.

Just sayin'

[-Publius-]

58. Well said

This article comes closer to capturing Cenk's feelings on air that many I've read.

[ShamelessHussy]

60. That is why I am soooooo proud to be an American!

Our shared and common Ideals remind us of who we are, especially when we forget (like especially after the berlin wall came down, which have seem to exponentially become worse to this very day)... if the reTHUGs think enough of us have forgotten who weTHEpeople are, they have sorely (palin) misunderestimated.

well said Cenk :toast:

[OhioChick]

65. Kick n/t