2016 June 20^th

Mona Charen had a column published on June 15^th. The Record-Eagle has, so far, chosen not to inflict Charen’s venom on their readers; that is very sound judgment because Charen’s antipathy toward the President passes beyond anything rational.

Charen begins her diatribe by writing, “Whole doctoral dissertations could be devoted to the question of wat makes President Obama angry and what does not. His Tuesday broadside against Donald Trump stood in marked contrast to Sunday’s somewhat–cold response to the Orlando Massacre. This is a pattern.”

But the President met with the families of the Orlando dead and with the survivors. Here are the President’s comments after the meeting: "Their grief is beyond description. Through their pain and through their tears, they told us about the joy that their loved ones had brought to their lives." The President, Vice President Biden and the Orlando Congresswoman all arrived on air force one with flowers for the memorial service.  This is an example of what Charen believes is “a somewhat-cold response.”

Then Charen describes the Fort Hood attack by “Colonel” Nidal Hassan who claimed he was motivated by Islamist extremists. (Charen has given Nidal a nice promotion from Major, which he was, to Colonel.) Obama has indeed been slow to indict the Muslim community as the responsible party in these attacks because the American Muslim community must be kept separate from radical Islam. Charen is not interested in this distinction and that is not surprising.

Charen is a dedicated supporter of Israel; so much so that one wonders where her principle allegiance lies. Israel’s primary antagonists are Muslims and specifically Iran, a country whose theocratic leaders are dedicated to Israel’s destruction. The agreement between Iran and the Group of Nations that arranged with Iran to limit its nuclear capabilities has put Charen in a rage. She blames President Obama for this agreement, which she believes is flawed, and will vilify him at every opportunity. This, I believe, is part of the reason for her hostility toward President Obama and for Muslims of whatever stripe.