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Shut down is an act of terrorism; Alfonso Saahir; Beaver County Times; October 8, 2013.
In two previous letters [“Look to the Constitution,” 2/27/05; “Muslims are obligated to pray,” 12/1/06 (I didn’t critique them.)] from Mr. Saahir, he appeared to believe American Muslims weren’t being treated fairly.
In the first letter, Mr. Saahir asked, “Is there any case history where American Muslims have committed any ‘terrorist’ attacks against the U.S. government?” Bad question, Mr. Saahir. In the days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar murdered two officers at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait and wounded 14 other soldiers, the result of his gunfire and throwing hand grenades into a tent where the soldiers were sleeping. In his diary before the murders, Mr. Akbar wrote, “I may not have killed any Muslims, but being in the Army is the same thing. I may have to make a choice very soon on who to kill.” Mr. Akbar was found guilty and sentenced to death. It happened again on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, TX. We also need to remember Islamist attacks thwarted over the last several years, like the planned attack on Fort Dix, NJ, in 2007 by the “Fort Dix Six.”
The most recent previous Saahir letter I critiqued was “No problem voting.” Other letters from Mr. Saahir are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“If it was an outside agent that shut the government down, it would be called an act of terrorism. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act federal statute was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Let us not forget that the Supreme Court ruled on the act and they voted that the Affordable Care Act is a law. The Republican Party extremist [sic] have decided that they want to go against the law and shut our government down because they are not satisfied with our Supreme Court’s ruling. They lost and just can’t get over it, so they shut the government down. Is that not what terrorists do? They work from a position of anger and hate. They are hurting the American public.”
[RWC] Mr. Saahir is referring to Obamacare.
The Supreme Court did not “vote that [Obamacare] is a law.” That’s not the SC’s function. The SC ruled the individual mandate in Obamacare is a tax and, on that basis, that piece of Obamacare is constitutional. Never mind the Obama administration argued the mandate was a fine, not a tax. The SC ruled other parts (including some aspects related to Medicaid) of Obamacare are unconstitutional.
Republicans are not “go[ing] against the law.” Republicans believe Obamacare is wrong and simply want to defund it. Congress withholding funds from programs is nothing new and completely legal. In any case, the vast majority of government is immune from shutdown. That’s why most of the sob stories we’re hearing are about things like closed national parks. It is completely within in the power of Democrats to end the mythical “government shutdown.” Mr. Saahir should call Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Mr. Obama and tell them to end the shutdown.
“They work from a position of anger and hate?” Remember, lefties define “anger and hate” as opposition to leftist policies/programs. Does Mr. Saahir read his own letters?
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