NEW York City in the fall is a beautiful place to be.
It is very much a city for pedestrians, with roads made for walking and cycling, as much as they are for driving. And people take advantage of this people-friendly setup, with throngs of them walking or cycling to their destinations, instead of driving around in their cars. In a sense, it is very much like many of the cities in Europe, where people choose to walk around rather than commute, taking in as much of the sights as they can, while they go from place to place.
The city is also very tourist-friendly, what with the proliferation of shopping and eating places, to cater to just about every taste bud and shopping whim of every visitor to this great and bustling metropolis. All of which, of course, make for a very attractive target, to those criminally-minded, who wish to inflict injury on the innocent.
Which is exactly what an Uzbek national (who I will intentionally not name, in order not to further contribute to his “fame”) did on a pleasant afternoon at the end of October, as he drove his rented truck down the city’s busiest cycling lane, mowing down innocent cyclists and pedestrians in his path, and killing eight unsuspecting victims – most of whom were foreign tourists enjoying the beautiful sights of the city.
The response from the American president was pretty predictable. In his now notorious way of getting his message across to the American people and the world, he tweeted – “NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!” Of course, he also took the opportunity to revive his moribund efforts to restrict legal immigration into the United States. Quoting from CNBC’s report on the subject: “Calling terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov ‘an animal,’ President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will ask Congress to end the immigration lottery program, which he blamed for allowing Saipov to enter the United States.
u2018I am today starting the process of terminating the diversity lottery program,’ Trump said at a Cabinet meeting. ‘I’m going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program, diversory [sic] and diversity lottery. Diversity lottery. Sounds nice, it’s not good. Not good. It hasn’t been good, and we’ve been against it.’ Trump said his administration would seek to end what he called ‘chain migration,’ and institute ‘a merit-based program, where people come into our country based on merit.’” Contrast his most predictable reaction to this tragedy, compared to how he responded to the recent Las Vegas massacre, which was perpetrated by an American, with an arsenal of weapons that would put most armies’ to shame.
What would have been the sane and logical step to take would be to pass reforms on gun laws, that would tighten the sale of military-grade weapons to just about any adult in America, right? But did he do this? Heck no! Because the truth is, this president is not concerned with saving people’s lives at all costs. He panders to his “base,” and would not do anything that would alienate him, and make him unpopular with them.
So in response to an attack from an “Islamic radical” that killed eight people, he quickly moves to advance his anti-immigration agenda, which sits well with his base.
But to the Las Vegas massacre that killed 58, he will not do the obvious, because this would make him unpopular with the gun-loving mob that brought him all the way to the White House.