Well, after prodding from noted religious libertarian (and President of Turkey) Tayyip Erdogan and others, the President has released a statement about the murders in Chapel Hill:
Yesterday, the FBI opened an inquiry into the brutal and outrageous murders of Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, Deah Shaddy Barakat, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In addition to the ongoing investigation by local authorities, the FBI is taking steps to determine whether federal laws were violated. No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship. Michelle and I offer our condolences to the victims’ loved ones. As we saw with the overwhelming presence at the funeral of these young Americans, we are all one American family. Whenever anyone is taken from us before their time, we remember how they lived their lives – and the words of one of the victims should inspire the way we live ours.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/232788-obama-chapel-hill-killings-brutal-and-outrageous
Of course, nobody is advocating that people in the U.S.
should be murdered because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship. And whether or not that was actually the motive in those shootings is far from clear. But Obama apparently believes -- and just signaled to the rest of the world that he believes -- that was the motive in Chapel Hill.
Now, contrast that shooting -- which at least
offers a specific alternative motive -- with what happened at Fort Hood in 2009. There, with clear premeditation, Major Hassan stood up from a table, shouted "Allahu Akbar", and proceeding to kill 13 Americans and wound more than 30 others. If that was not enough to conclude that there was a religious motive to his attacks, , it was quickly determined that he had been in direct communication with a radical jihadi who was urging "lone gunman" attacks by radical Muslims in the U.S..
And yet, despite having made a number of public statements about that attack, the President has never once, either directly or impliedly, addressed the motives of Major Hasan, or linked the attack to religious extremism.
Why the double standard?