When the establishment media so often tries to turn attention away from the reality that much of the world's terrorism is perpetrated by Muslims in the name of their religion, it is refreshing to see a pillar of the establishment community actually acknowledge the elephant in the room.
That's what Chris Cuomo did shortly after 8:30 (Eastern time) on CNN's morning news coverage, with regard to the San Bernardino shooting. Apparently sensing other hosts searching for non-religious motives, Cuomo cut in:
"This Muslim thing matters," he said. "You don't see a lot of Christians killing... in the name of Christianity" -- with verbal emphasis on the Italicized words.
Cuomo, appropriately, then called for the perspective afforded by "discussion and time and context." There's the warning not to judge a whole community by individual actors and to wait for more investigation before people jump to conclusions. Yet, he insisted, that same perspective requires that analysts not ignore any motives that are religious in nature.
In the midst of so much wrongheaded ideological blather that usually surrounds mass shootings, Cuomo's uncharacteristically balanced comments came as a breath of fresh air. When good journalism happens amidst all the dreck, it's worth noting.
Transcript below:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Boy, there's so many things, Michaela, that make this tough to categorize into a neat box. A — multiple shooters: we haven't seen that, obviously, since Columbine; husband and wife team; the fact that nobody describes him as an extremist or having muttered anything sort of extreme. The family is shocked. This is a very tough one for investigators.
MICHAELA PEREIRA: And the fact that the wound, Chris, is still open from Colorado Springs. The wound is still open from Paris. The wound is still open from seeing that reporter shot down on the air. I've heard from so many of my friends in southern California, enough is enough. When are we going to see this kind of thing stop? Again? That's the refrain we're hearing.
CHRIS CUOMO: Look — and the Muslim thing matters, too — just does. Are all Muslims bad when Muslims do something bad? No. But at the same time, when you analogize it to — you know, a guy who might be a Christian and does something, you don't see Christians killing in the name of Christianity the way you do with Muslims right now; and it feeds a lot of the phobia; and it's something that requires discussion and time and context. And that's in short supply when people are angry.
PEREIRA: Yeah — sure does.
