On the Left's Low Opinion of Muslims and, Well, Everyone Else Too

An idea simultaneously popped up on several Lefty blogs earlier today (which means it will probably be in the opinion pages of the Washington Post and the NY Times by the weekend). No links for idiots, but the short version is that some Lefties are upset that the legacy media is not giving enough attention to Aliou Niasse, the t-shirt vendor who first alerted the NYPD to the Times Square carbomb. They're particularly steamed that the media isn't trumpeting the man's religious background and national origin. It seems that Niasse is a Muslim immigrant from Senegal and these bloggers are taking the opportunity to pontificate on the overlooked "good samaritanism" of Muslims.

This stupid idea suffers from four fatal defects. First, Niasse has been recognized in every major newspaper in the country and on all the broadcast and cable news networks. So let's not pretend this is simply about giving credit to an Average Joe.

Second, the reason the Left is raising it is because Niasse is Muslim. If he were Catholic or Jewish or atheist his religion or lack thereof wouldn't matter, but the Left is very interested in seeing that it is made clear that a Muslim man helped stop Islamic terrorism.

Let me translate: the Left really want the legacy media to congratulate a member of the Muslim community because despite his faith he didn't simply stand around and let a carbomb kill people. Really, that's the story these Lefty bloggers are pushing. Otherwise there's no point in bringing up his religion. And they say that we're the ones with a repugnant view of Islam...

Third, this idea relies on the logical impossibility that Niasse knew he was helping stop Muslim terrorism. There's no way he could have known that. I suppose he could have assumed that a carbombing was likely to be perpetrated by Muslims, but I doubt very much the Lefty blogs will appreciate that line of reasoning.

Finally, you don't get bonus points for doing the right thing. Niasse was in danger himself. Of course, he went to the NYPD. He's a t-shirt vendor in Times Square and Times Square was under attack. The Left seems to believe that this fellow did something heroic, but in fact he simply noticed smoke coming from a running vehicle and flagged down a nearby police officer. I'm glad he did, but it was hardly out of the ordinary. I would expect the same from anyone, regardless of their race, religion, nationality, or political ideology. Indeed, that's one of the many reasons I am not a Leftist: my expectations don't change depending on the skin color, politics, or religion of whoever I'm talking about.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 12:58 AM

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