Pot shots at the Counter-Jihad Mainstream

The American Heritage dictionary (an unremarkably normative English dictionary) lists two definitions for "pot shot". Only the second one explicitly characterizes it as a criticism "without careful thought", whereas the first definition merely emphasizes that it is "easy" to do.

And, unfortunately, all too often those in the mainstream leadership (not to mention their civilian followers) of the still unorganized "Counter Jihad" make it all too easy to get cogent jabs in.

Today's pot shot, against the éminence grise of the Counter-Jihad Mainstream, Robert Spencer, creator and ongoing steward of Jihad Watch, a bastion of that second Mainstream (the first being the broader Western mainstream) as ringing and stately as the R.M.S. Titanic must have been as it began its marvelous and much-ballyhooed voyage out across the North Atlantic.  Spencer's headline is like a duck in a barrel for my potshotgun (trusty ol' Bessy Lou) -- to one, at least, who has undergone the paradigm shift from Islam to Muslims because he is, unlike Spencer, actually anti-Islam and anti-Muslim:

"US form used to screen immigrants doesn’t ask about ties to groups such as al-Qaeda or the Islamic State" 

The preposterousness of this headline leaps out at the reader, for it clearly implies that we should vet Muslims by asking them if they have "ties" to al Qaeda or ISIS!

Let's walk this through, shall we?

Scene: A roiling, percolating mass of Muslims waiting at the processing station on Ellis Island to be vetted so they can waltz into New York City and thence to the rest of America if they so desire.

Vetting Officer: clipboard in hand:  "Mr. Abdul... Han..."

Muslim:  "Hanafi ibn Mohamed, sir".

Vetting Officer: "All right Mr. Hanafi, I'll need to ask you a few questions before you can go to the papers processing area."

Muslim: "I weel tell you everything you want, I want to be brocessed, I love America!"

Vetting Officer: "Okay, Mr. Hanafi.  First question:  Do you have any ties to Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Shabab, Hamas, Al-Nusra...?"

Muslim:"Of course not, sir!  I have no ties to any terrorist organization. I am a beaceful Muslim, I love America!"

Vetting Officer:"Next question: Have you had your flu and cholera shots in the last year?"

Muslim: "Yes sir!"

Vetting Officer:"Do you have documentation of that, Mr. Hanafi?"

Muslim: "My cousin does, he will be arriving here tomorrow!"

Vetting Officer:"Very well, here's a slip for you to bring back before the end of the week, so we can validate your immunization papers."

Muslim: "Thank you so much!  I love America!"

Vetting Officer:"All righty, Mr. Hanafi, third and last question:  Pepsi or Coke?"

I.e., the West is doomed.

Further Reading:

Still Incoherent After All These Years (cont.)...