They just can't say it 

Have you noticed that the mainstream American media just can't say certain words or express certain ideas anymore? You know, like "Trump is innocent" or "Islamic terrorists"?

I know, Trump is often an obnoxious, self-absorbed boor, intemperate and vindictive toward his enemies, but that doesn't mean he's a criminal. The main reason so many—including myself—voted for him is the failure of Democrats to offer anything better; often what they offered was measurably worse. Given the direction of the Democratic Party to date, I and millions more will likely vote to re-elect Trump for a second term.

Living in California gives a distorted perspective of America and the values of tens of millions of us, which are not the values of California's urban centers, especially the Bay Area. Most Americans value family and are appalled at the idea of a child surviving an abortion being denied medical care or even actively killing the infant. The word not used by most media in this case is "infanticide" and rightly so. When children are so casually discarded and rebranded as "not viable human life," it's a short step to euthanasia of elders, first the terminally ill, then the mentally challenged, and finally an official policy of a "duty to die" for everyone. In Europe there are cases of chronically ill patients in their early 20s being euthanized. What passes for doctors in those countries more closely resembles the legacy of the infamous Nazi, Dr. Mengele, than the humanitarian Dr. Schweitzer who spent his life in service to the indigenous peoples of Africa.

Other words the media tends to choke on are anything complimenting Trump as president or as a human being. Did you know that Trump donates his salary each month to either a government department or national charity? Did you know prior to becoming president he sued the city of Palm Beach when he bought a segregated club, Mar A Lago, to open it to Jews and blacks? How about the time he paid to ensure a Mexican-American boy would graduate from college when he saw a news story about his terminally ill mom, or when he dispatched his personal plane to fly a sick Jewish boy for special care when no airline would accommodate his medical condition? Did you know that when American troops were stranded in Saudi Arabia after the first Gulf War in 1991, he dedicated his airline to fly a combat battalion home at the cost of gas only?

Other words not spoken or quickly discarded are "arson" or "terrorism" if any suspicion might be cast upon Islamic terrorists. The destruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris comes to mind. Before the ashes had cooled, national media, taking their cue from the French government, left unchallenged the assertion that the fire was accidental and not terrorist related. I've participated in arson investigations and never was the cause of a fire of this magnitude so easily dismissed as accidental without witnesses to verify the source of ignition.

France has an issue that our media and most international media refuses to address: a growing problem with Islamic-instigated violence against non-Muslims. France is a very secular state, with its Christian population living under virtual siege from both secularists and a growing and militant Muslim population. Last year, not reported in most media, France experienced 875 attacks, acts of vandalism or arson against Christian churches. Several major Christian churches were vandalized in the two weeks prior to the fire at Notre Dame. That doesn't mean that the Notre Dame fire was arson, but the media is far too quick to accept the "official explanation" without challenge.

Attacks on Christians globally are on the increase, so much so that Christians are now the most persecuted religious community in the world. According to former White House Press Spokesperson Dana Perino, since 2012 more than 23,000 Christians have been murdered for their faith. The Christian Charity "Open Doors" routinely reports on persecution of the Christian church, especially in Africa and in Muslim-majority countries. Open Doors reports that an average of 105 Christian churches or buildings are attacked or burned every month and that 345 Christians are murdered for their faith every month: 4,136 were killed for their faith in 2018. Did you hear that 120 Christians were killed by Islamic terrorists in Nigeria in March 2019, women and children killed with machetes, entire villages burned down? No major U.S. media outlet covered these stories.

On Easter Sunday, the National Thowheeth Jama'ath, a Sri Lankan Islamic terrorist group, murdered more than 310 people and wounded more than 500 in highly coordinated, technically advanced attacks on Christian churches and tourist hotels. They used high-grade military explosives and demonstrated technically advanced bomb-making techniques. The Sri Lankan government had detailed warning of impending attacks upon churches 10 days prior to the attack but failed to act.

Democratic Party leadership demonstrated its usual level of indifference, if not hostility toward Christians by referring to the Christian victims as "Easter worshippers" instead of referring to them as Christians. That's the problem with being "politically correct": You choke on the truth. Δ

Al Fonzi is an Army lieutenant colonel of military intelligence who had a 35-year military career, serving in both the Vietnam and Iraq wars. Send comments through the editor at [email protected].