Giorgio: America After Paris

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Paul Giorgio, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Paul Giorgio

I was not going to comment on the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday. The national media has been covering this story extensively as they should. There is nothing I can add to the discussion about terrorism, that hasn’t already been said.

The City of Light was plunged into temporary darkness by suicide bombers and gunmen who killed innocent people at a variety of venues including sidewalk cafes and a club, the center of Parisian life. Paris will recover as America recovered after 9 11 and Boson did aft the Marathon bombing. Life , however ,will be different as it always is.

My concern is not with the response to the terrorist; my concern is the response to innocent people. I, like everyone has a knee jerk response to the bombings and the shootings. But we must step back and take a long view.

V for Vendetta

I am reminded of the movie V for Vendetta. The plot was simple-people gave up all their rights to the British Government because of a terror attack. That government and the laws it put into effect was far worse than any suicide bomber. What rights are the people of France willing to give up to feel safe temporarily? Will they give up their rights until they have none left? Will they be left only with fear? I hope not.

The motto of the French Revolution and now of France is Liberte, Fraternite, Equalitie- Liberty, Fraternity and Equality. Let us hope that those words are not a casualty of Friday’s terrorist attack.

The attack has reshaped the Presidential election in the United States. This will only continue in the short run and we will turn back from foreign affairs and security to the economy.

In the meantime, the Republicans are using the attack to their advantage.

Stop the Jingoism now

On Monday the right wing jingoistic rhetoric got out of hand. You had some Republican candidates for President saying that we should only allow Christian -Syrian refugees into our country. You even have Jeb Bush runni9ng a TV commercial saying that we need to only be concerned about Christians and Jews.
Here is the First Amendment to the United States Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Can we get more UN American than we are right now?

Over 20 Republican Governors have said that they would not accept Syrian refugees in their states, including our own Governor Charlie Baker. Baker should know better. Among the presidential candidates are three Governors who all oppose Muslim immigrants, these include Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, himself the son of immigrants and John Kasaich.

Trump and Carson doubling down

As expected, both Donald Trump and Ben Carson doubled down on the issue, with Trump calling for the closing of mosques. Maybe Trump can triple down and call for the closing of all Jewish Synagogues and Temples. Why stop with one religion. How about Hindus or Buddhists? It appears that Trump and Carson will not be happy until they create a Christian Nation.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said he would introduce legislation to ban immigration from about 30 nations with “Jihadist” elements. His bill would include France.

This anti Syrian and anti Muslim rhetoric is because it appears that one of the terrorist in France fled Syria and entered Europe. That is one person out off 600,000, but I am guessing that there may be more. We need to be vigilant not cruel. A vast majority of these people are fleeing a war.

Let us remember the lessons we learned in World War II, when we and the world turned our backs on the Diaspora of Europe, who were fleeing persecution in Germany. In that case they were Jewish in this case they are both Muslim and Christian.

We need to insure the safety of our fellow citizens without trampling on the rights of others and without demonizing a religion because of the views and actions of a few.

If we do what Donald Trump is suggesting, then the terrorist have already won.