There are days when I do not address something which appears so obvious that I gather most people do not need to dwell on it. Tancredo’s comments about bombing Mecca were a case in point, where one loose tongued, unknown politician (outside the politically addicted crowd and his consituents) screwed up royally. And given the fact there have been years of statements we are not at war with Islam, and years of actions to prove it, I tended to believe the proper course would to not give these kinds of statements status by giving them attention.

But of course, when attention is given and status is achieved, then one must come out and address the comments. Reading through all the comments out there in the blogospere, it is not surprising Hugh Hewitt’s comments best express what I think is the issue (presented in reverse order of how he presented them)

have been hearing from people who urge that Tancredo is just voicing the updated version of the MAD doctrine which kept the USSR at bay through the long years of the Cold War. That’s silly. Destroying Mecca wouldn’t destroy Islam. It would enrage and unify Islam across every country in the world where Muslims lived.

No doubt. Our entire effort in Iraq and Afghanistan (and Lebanon and Palestine) is to demonstrate to Muslims there is another way to live together and keep your faith. In the US Muslims and Jews and Christians and non-believers all live in harmony and support of each other. There is more curiousity about each others views and moral foundations than fear, distrust or hate. I am not going to be Pollyanish here and say there is not tension. What I am saying is the tension is marginal in comparison to the unity demonstrated in small simple acts, played out all across this country every day. So we know there is a better path to both religous expression and co-existence.

This war would have zero support if we were blindly flailing out at vague caricatures without any reason or justification. And if Trancedo is one of these types who cannot distinguish between good and evil people because the dress similarly, look similar, speek a similar language or follow like-named religions, then he is not observant enough or knowledgeable enough to be one of our leaders.

As Hugh Hewitt says, Trancedo has to extradite himself from this type of thinking if he wants to continue to have broad support for his signature issue – border security.

The remarks he made are a positive disservice to the United States, for all the reasons Durbin’s were. He has to retract them. And he ought to apologize to every Muslim soldier, sailor, airman and Marine for suggesting that the way to respond to an attack on America is to attack their faith.

And he needs to do it right now. Lance this fever sore bubbling up in our midst and do exactly as Hugh suggests. Remind any and all others who fall into this mindset that Islam is, and has been, on our side in many ways. Islamic, Christian, Jewish and Athiest soldiers have put their lives on the line and paid the ultimate sacrifice so all faiths can live in harmony together here in our great country.

We do not need islamo-phobes to make this country strong when we have these truly brave people in our midst.