After San Bernardino, America Shrugs

Our lack of seriousness was also evident in the fact that, within hours of the massacre, the White House and supporters of President Obama initially tried to sidestep the terrorism issue altogether by characterizing the attack as potentially workplace violence.

Law enforcement officials quickly torpedoed that theory, citing the vast preparation and huge arsenal amassed by U.S. citizen Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his Pakistan-born wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, who had pledged her allegiance to the Islamic State.

In the days that followed, Democrats and their friends in the media dragged us into a circular discussion on gun control, even though the guns used in the attack were legally purchased and the terrorists' arsenal included explosives.

By all means, we should have this conversation right now. We won't get anywhere, and we're wasting time. But a discussion on guns is just what we need to keep our families safe. Because when a terrorist travels thousands of miles to advance a murderous agenda that was many centuries in the making, nothing stops him quicker than well-written gun control legislation. Does anybody really believe that?

Democrats appear more motivated to destroy the National Rifle Association than they are to wipe out the Islamic State. This probably has a lot to do with which entity spends more at election time to defeat them. These are religious fanatics who don't respect women, human rights, the sanctity of life or other religions. But somehow they have so much respect for Congress that they'll fall in line behind whatever lawmakers decide to do in terms of regulating firearms?

Suddenly we're debating whether Congress should prohibit people whose names appear on the no-fly list from purchasing guns -- which has nothing to do with anything, except that it's an issue that breaks along party lines. Democrats support the prohibition, Republicans oppose it.

In the middle of all this, President Obama goes on television and tells the country that our strategy is working, that Congress must pass more gun control laws, and that we mustn't discriminate against Muslims. What he didn't do, however, was explain to Americans how he intends to keep them safe in their own communities.

And with that, in his lack of seriousness, Obama finally settled into the job. In these times, he's the perfect leader for this country.

========

Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.