Obama keeps the blindfold on

How convenient it would have been if the man responsible for the horrific massacre in Orlando hadn't been named Omar Mateen; his parents hadn't been from Afghanistan; he hadn't had ties to a radical imam; and if he hadn't made two mysterious visits to Saudi Arabia.

Let's say we were talking about some guy named, say, Martin Lewis, from Oregon, for example, who had a history of mental health problems and was yet another name on the long list of shocking murderers the U.S. has known. How convenient that would have been for the administration. Then the debate would have been about the Second Amendment and the right of American citizens to bear arms, and not about the fight against Islamist terrorism and the Islamic State group.

But what can you do -- that isn't the case, despite what U.S. President Barack Obama would like. The fact is that even Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president who understands the real fear that exists in America today, talked about jihad on Monday and even proved she was willing to utter the words "Islamic terrorism." Clinton might be attacking presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, but between us, she's taking the same line he is on terrorism. Hey, did you forget there's an election in November?

Obama is becoming more and more of a puzzle. Despite everything that has come out by now about the Orlando massacre, including the shooter's declaration of allegiance to the Islamic State during the terrible incident, and the fact that Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, Obama still isn't convinced.

As far as the American president is concerned, there is still no proof that Mateen received instructions from beyond the U.S. borders. But this is where the president is mistaken. Times like these are when he should speak clearly. True, it's not clear whether Mateen operated under the direction or the inspiration of the Islamic State, but what does it matter? The spirit of the organization has reached America. The Orlando shooting was in fact the fourth Islamist terrorist attack to take place in the U.S. during Obama's term in office. This might be the right time for Obama to admit the truth, even if it doesn't jibe with the 44th president's worldview.

We can laugh at Trump until the cows come home, but what he said Monday about it being time to put an end to political correctness and call a spade a spade was actually right, and it's what is expected in crazy days like these when America is battling terrorism and a state of emergency has been declared in Florida's Orange County.

You can't defeat a disease unless the doctor makes an accurate diagnosis. And you can't win a war unless you identify the enemy. And to prevent generalizations and slander against an entire sector of the American population, they need to speak clearly and not allow the real debate to be sidetracked, because doing so doesn't serve the interests of Muslims in America. In fact, it hurts them.

If the debate in America today is about weapons restrictions, that means that Islamic terrorism won twice: once with the mega-terrorist attack Saturday, and again in Washington, which is writing another chapter of the Saramago's novel "Blindness." America is lucky this is an election year: The current administration can go on living in denial, but not the candidates for president, and certainly not the American public.

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