MARILYN PENN: SPINNING THE CLOCK
http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/topic/politics/
A teenage boy brings a ticking mechanical object with wires, screws and electrical components hanging from it to his high school. He shows it to his engineering teacher and explains that it’s a homemade alarm clock; that teacher calls it “nice” but advises the boy not to show it to other teachers. Ignoring this advice, the boy brings his invention to his English class where it beeps, is revealed to the English teacher who wisely notifies school authorities who immediately call police. So far, this sounds like exactly the type of reaction you would want from any school or public facility in a country that has already lost too many people to the unsuspected acts of terrorists, malicious students and mentally ill individuals. The clock is confiscated and the boy is suspended from school for 3 days.
But then the spin begins. Instead of heralding the quick thinking and actions of the school and police, Texas democrats call this an example of anti-Muslim sentiments. Immediately, this goes to social media eliciting comments from Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton and, mirabile dictu, President Obama himself who has enough time to tweet, “Cool clock Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.” Actually, America doesn’t need any new ticking “nice” clocks – what it does need is kids with enough common sense by the age of 14 to not bring unidentifiable objects resembling bombs to school.
But Ahmed Mohamed undoubtedly knew all of this. Born to Sudanese parents who have lived here for 30 years, how else, but intentionally provocative, should we understand his greeting to NY Times reporters – “As salaamu alaykum?” Typical of your average American student suspected of bringing a bomb to school? The need for Americans to bend over backwards to avoid the charge of Islamophobia has reached the most preposterous levels when kids who purposely set off alarms are praised rather than admonished by our highest public officials. When Ahmed goes to the White House, the president might invite Tareq and Michaele Salahi to accompany him. You remember them – the couple who slipped past security to crash his 2009 State Dinner, shaking hands with POTUS who flashed his high beam smile at them while the rest of the country reeled at the security breach and what it portended for protecting our country. We can only wonder how the young American Ahmed will greet our American president and what his reply will be.
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