Unraveling the Fabric: The Muslim Contribution to the "Core of our Democracy"

At first I was confused.  Recently in a statement released on the White House website to commemorate Eid-Al-Fatr, the conclusion of Ramadan, the President praised the contribution of Muslims to "...building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy."

It took me a while to figure that one out, but now I realize what he must have been talking about. Back during the Jefferson administration, a helpful bunch of Muslims called the Barbary pirates escalated their habit of preying on American trade in the Mediterranean. It finally became so bad that Thomas Jefferson, who notoriously disliked the idea of a standing military of any sort, was forced to dispatch the frigates that President Washington had ordered built for just such an emergency, to the Barbary coast to quell the Barbary pirates. 


Sadly, the delay in responding happened because the Congress was considering whether paying tribute to the Muslim Pashas of North Africa was cheaper than sending the Navy. Fortunately for the Navy, Americans tend to be generally averse to the idea of paying "tribute" (except of course for pant-waist liberals who held seats in Congress even back in those days). Over the next decade or so, the new U.S. Navy took on the Barbary States and their pirate strongholds several times in an effort to convince the pashas that meddling with Americans could have negative consequences.

So you could say that Muslims gave us the most powerful navy in the world (at least until Obama finishes putting it into mothballs). It's ironic that the very Muslim threat that have the US Navy a kickstart back in the beginning, seems to be inspiring another president who distrusts the military to stand the Navy down to it's lowest levels in a hundred years. 

Oh, yes, the Muslims have contributed to the very fabric of our nation all right.~ Near as I can tell they've been doing their best to unravel that fabric. I'm not sure I'd call that a "contribution", though.

© 2015 by Tom King

*And before you whip off an angry "How dare you hate on innocent Muslims" comment, I am NOT anti-Muslim.  I believe in the free exercise of any religion, so long as it doesn't advocate blowing up buildings and replacing the constitution with some religious law that allows for the stoning of gays, lesbians, rape victims and saucy feminists just because. I like the Constitution and would like to keep it thank you very much. I AM kind of anti-appeasement, though.  Given that the president seems to be trying to rewrite history and to do what the Congress back in the late 1700's and early 1800s did (appease the nations of Islam), I am rather concerned with regard to Obama's loyalties. Appeasement doesn't work. (see Neville Chamberlain, 1939). I thought we learned that lesson in WWII. Apparently not so much.