The Intercept: Stop Exploiting LGBT Issues to Demonize Islam and Justify Anti-Muslim Policies

Critical coverage of the Orlando mass killing is being published in The Intercept and Informed Comment.

The aftermath filtered through the corporate media is ahistorical and aligns perfectly with the American foreign policy establishment and its purposes ranging from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump.

Notes Zaid Jilani as the corporate media, Clinton and Trump all flee from facts and reason:

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump reacted to the Orlando shooting with evidence that they can agree on at least one thing: bombing people. Both candidates called for an escalation of the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

... Clinton suggested during her post-Orlando speech Monday afternoon that 'We should keep the pressure on ramping up the air campaign'

That ISIS/ISIL has nothing to do with the killer in Orlando is of no relevancy to Clinton and Trump who want to bomb someone, somewhere.

Elsewhere, Juan Cole has another dose of sanity at his site, entitled, Top 7 ways to tell if Someone is lying about being a ‘Salafi Jihadi’.

Flaming Islamophobia is chronicled by Glenn Greenwald:

... When it comes to Jews and Christians, people instinctively understand how bigoted and deceitful it is to cherry-pick particularly offensive excerpts from their holy books and use them to demonize all contemporary Christians and Jews.

Indeed, a standard tactic of neo-Nazis and other various anti-Semites is to cite ugly excerpts from the Talmud — including ones purportedly endorsing Jews holding non-Jews as slaves or lying to and stealing from non-Jews — as evidence of the dishonesty and untrustworthiness of Jews generally. We all understand that this tactic is so vile, unscholarly, and anti-intellectual precisely because modern adherents to those religions interpret and apply (or ignore) those provisions in all sorts of ways.

Exactly the same is true of Muslims, yet an entire cottage industry of pseudo-intellectual charlatans — including ones who admit to never having even read the Quran — uses exactly this tawdry tactic to demonize Islam (watch this social experiment where people are read heinous Bible passages and falsely told they are from the Quran). There are literally millions upon millions of Muslims who hold positive views about, and engage in positive interactions with, gay people with regularity (which is why it’s almost always true that those most devoted to demonizing Islam are the ones who know the fewest number of Muslims (just as is true of LGBTs, ironically)).

Madness over madness as the lunatic Trump and the Queen of Chaos fight over details.

Killing Americans of Disfavored Sexuality Is as American as Apple Pie

All Muslims Bad, Bleat Liars and Lunatics

Corporate media did not pass up the opportunity to feature neocons and their ilk working as intelligence and national security consultants to help frame the massacre in Orlando, as if liars with a war axe to grind have anything to add to news coverage.

Those who work for human rights in the LGBTQ community would seem to be natural sources for historical and political perspective. Their voices are virtually absent in corporate coverage.

Mark David Stern offers critical historical context in his piece at Slate, The Long, Tragic History of Violence at LGBTQ Bars and Clubs in America. Perhaps Stern could be used as a source for corporate media to offer some perspective in its thus far atrocious coverage.

Nor did corporate media bother mentioning the anti-LGBT culture of the Republican Party now immersed in demonizing humans identifying with disfavored genders in an attempt to win individual states in which bigotry and hate predominate.

The United Kingdom issued a travel advisory some two months ago warning about American red states hostile to transgendered individuals.

The FBI is performing ineptly.

Florida and local law enforcement is getting very good at congratulating itself.

Human rights groups are shut of the corporate coverage.

From the ACLU:

We stand in solidarity with the LGBT community, which appears to have been the target of this attack. Our thoughts are with those who lost loved ones and with the entire suffering Central Florida community.

As we come together to heal from this tragedy, we must also continue to stand against any reaction to this horrific event that is rooted in hatred or bigotry in any form. We remain in solidarity with the Muslim community here in Florida and elsewhere.

Corporate media should feature the views from human rights groups to inform reporting on human rights atrocities. American killing of the LGBTQ community has a long and disgraceful history.

President Obama's Remarks on the Tragedy in Orlando

'Sobering reminder that attacks on any American -- regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation -- is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country'

From the White House:

This afternoon, President Obama delivered a statement on the tragic shooting that took place overnight in Orlando, Florida. Watch his full remarks:

"Today, as Americans, we grieve the brutal murder -- a horrific massacre -- of dozens of innocent people. We pray for their families, who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We stand with the people of Orlando, who have endured a terrible attack on their city. Although it is still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and act of hate. And as Americans, we are united in our grief, our outrage and our resolve to defend our people.

"I just finished a meeting with FBI Director Comey and my homeland security and national security advisors. The FBI is on the scene and leading the investigation, in partnership with local law enforcement. I've directed that the full resources of the federal government be made available for this investigation.

"We're still learning all the facts. This is an open investigation. We've reached no definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer. The FBI is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism. And I have directed that we must spare no effort to determine what -- if any -- inspiration or association this killer may have had with terrorist groups. What's clear is that he was a person filled with hatred. Over the coming days, we will uncover why and how this happened, and we'll go wherever the facts lead us.

"This morning I spoke with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and conveyed the condolences of the entire American people. This could have been any one of our communities. So I told Mayor Dyer that whatever help that he and the people of Orlando need - they're going to get it. As a country, we are going to be there for the people of Orlando today, tomorrow and all the days to come.

"We also express our profound gratitude to all the police and first responders who rushed into harm's way. Their courage and professionalism saved lives, and kept the carnage from being worse. It's the kind of sacrifice that our law enforcement professionals make every day for us all. We can never thank them enough.

"This is an especially heartbreaking day for all our friends -- our fellow Americans -- who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and sing-to live. The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub -- it's a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have long come together to raise awareness, speak their mind and advocate for their civil rights. So this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American -- regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation -- is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. And no act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans.

"Today marks the most deadly shooting in American history. The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful assault rifle. This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub. We have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing -- that's a decision, too.

"In the coming hours and days, we'll learn about the victims of this tragedy. Their names. Their faces. The joy they brought to families and friends. The difference they made in this world. Say a prayer for them and their families -- that God give them the strength to bear the unbearable. That He give all of us the strength to be there for them, and the courage to change. We need to demonstrate that we are defined more - as a country -- by the way they lived their lives, than by the hate of the man who took them from us.

"As we go forward together, we'll draw inspiration from heroic and selfless acts -- friends who helped friends, took care of each other and saved lives. In the face of hate and violence, we will love another. We will not give in to fear or turn on each other. Instead, we will stand together, united, as Americans, to protect our people, defend our nation and take action against those who threaten us.

"May God bless the Americans we lost this morning. May He comfort their families. And may God continue to watch over this country we love."