12.6.15: The Aftermath of the Worst U.S. Terrorist Attack Since 9/11

It's clear from Mr. Todd's interview with the Attorney General Loretta Lynch is that through this investigation, the F.B.I. is trying to figure out that the best way to stop this from happening again, let alone more frequently. All of her answered were tightly measured, but understandably since there are  so many outstanding questions. With that, two things seem certain: It was a terrorist attack and Tashfeen Malik's radicalization germinated in Pakistan, completely and acted upon here with the help of propaganda courtesy of Al-Nusra Front, Al Qaeda in Syria.

While the question of the overall motivation - terrorism - has been answered, the specific motivation as to why that day in that location still remains somewhat unclear, and by extension how to stop lone-wolf type radicalization. One of the questions that does not remain unclear of course is how could this couple acquire such a large, what is being called an arsenal, amount of weapons? Answer: Simply, it's very easy to legally buy guns in the United States. (We'll get into this more a little later.)

With regard to other measures that could be taken, the clarifying joint interview with Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) illustrated how complicated the matter is from the respective senators (and presidential candidates) differing on troop deployments and surveillance. Senator Graham declared Republican isolationism over, a critique of Senator Paul's position, but the South Carolina senator's idea of ending that isolationist stance is to send tens of thousands of U.S. troops into Raqqa, Syria. And in terms of the bulk collection of data by the NSA, Senator Graham advocates expansion while Senator Paul lead the fight to have the program discontinued.

We appreciate the serious debate between the candidates and these questions are obviously being asked in a timely manner. However, where we seeing a failing on the part of both Senators and the stupidity of partisan politics solely for the sake of partisanship is when Senator Paul mentioned that 40 percent of immigrants in the United States illegally comes from individuals overstaying their visas. Congress has squandered repeated opportunities to pass comprehensive immigration reform and has failed to do so. It's on them.

Interestingly, where there is wider agreement from Senator Graham to The National Review's Rich Lowry to author Asra Mosani is that it is upon the vast majority of moderate Muslims to spoke out against and combat this violent perversion of Islam. Because as activist/author Dalia Mogahed said, ISIS believes that they are prompting a legitimate strain of Islam. With that comes some heavy lifting. There are enough willing participants to perform bombing missions on ISIS targets but the troops have to come from the regional governments, the worst actor of which has been Saudi Arabia, to Ms. Mosani's point during the program. Saudi Arabia spends hundreds of millions of dollars to export Wahhabism, a very fundamentalist practice (a serious understatement) of Islam, in which ISIS pumps huge doses of steroids into in the form of arbitrary mass killing and terrorism via a wash of black market petro-dollars. In terms of troops, the Saudis are preoccupied with Yemen and containing attacks emanating from there directly targeting the the House of Saud.

Until that very delicate and complex strategy and coalition comes together in correct proportions, it leaves governments in a protect and contain posture which brings us back home and what we can do here. Despite your opinion on the The New York Times' front page gun control editorial (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/opinion/end-the-gun-epidemic-in-america.html?_r=0), the paper's Elisabeth Bumiller poses a legitimate question, which is why is it necessary for Americans to own assault weapons? Rich Lowry's answer was that the AR-15 (semi-automatic assault rifle) is the most popular gun in America, as if to say how could you make it illegal? We find these kinds of intractable positions beyond reason and rationality, in which the answer is to arm more people with more guns more easily. There is no reason to have assault weapons on the market that are designed for killing military and police personnel, but maybe that's just us.

We concede that there is a lot that we don't know and what to do about all the other types of guns that are not assault weapons, but here's what we do. When you want to make a serious purchase in America, like buying a house or a car, there are a number of hoops you have to jump through. These are processes in this country that we all accept. You can not just buy a car and start driving it. First, you have to get the license; then the insurance; get the loan to buy it requiring a credit check (a financial background check); have the car registered with the state; have it inspected on a yearly basis. When buying a house, there's the interview with the bank, the credit check (again), the insurance, the house inspector, the listing on your federal tax return saying you own it. 

For serious purchases, we jump through hoops, it's what we do, and buying a firearm and bringing into the home, especially if there are children there, is a serious purchase. In our line of thinking if you really want a gun, that's fine, but you'll have to jump through these series of hoops to get one. We're not every saying that you can not have one, but if you really want it, here's what you have to do - a permit to own a gun, a waiting period, a background check.

The common element in all shootings is a gun, of some sort. At this moment, the question Mr. Todd asked of Attorney General Lynch of are we to now accept this as now the way we live, a part of our society is rhetorical. It is, in fact, a part of living in American society to we as a nation have to endure through mass shootings. Twenty innocent small children were gunned down at their elementary school and now in the worst terrorist attack since September 11, 2001, the perpetrators were able to easily build up an arsenal of weapons in their home. If these two incidents haven't or won't change our behavior and our laws, then nothing will.

So... good luck out there and stay safe.


Panel: Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School; Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times; Rich Lowry, The National Review


One more thing...
"Meet The Press" has truly found its groove again, exemplified by today's top-notch program - the flow, tone, production, breath of different voices/opinions, depth of information delivered really uphold the traditions and intent of the original format. It's this type of programming that will see "Meet The Press" rise back to the top of the rates ranks on Sunday morning, in due time. What's helped, we think, is the daily version in as much as now the Sunday version does not have to scratch the surface of many topics, spreading itself too thin, always in search of the elusive, viral inducing quote and really only comes from more in-depth discourse (unless you're Donal Trump). 

The show never had to pretend to be something it wasn't. Welcome back, and thanks.