May we talk?

While Harvard students, Democrat Socialists, and New Yorkers dance in the streets and Israel clambers to its feet in the Simchat Torah war that began on October 7, sponsored by Iran, funded in part by the USA, and armed in part by U.S. weapons left behind in Afghanistan, might not now be an appropriate time for us to have a heart-to-heart candid conversation about the Muslims among us?

We need to find the answer to a difficult but pressing question, and, in our quest, we need to focus like a laser on the right question.  No doubt you remember the silly story of the ruffian who took his small dog into a bar and announced for all to hear, “My dog can talk!”  The bartender gave him a sneer and declared, “He talks; you drink; he doesn’t talk; you outta here on your ear!”  The ruffian sat the dog up on the bar and asked, “What’s on top of a house?” to which Spot dutifully replied, “Rrroooff!”  The ruffian beamed victoriously, spread his arms, and asked “Who’s the greatest hitter?” Spot replied, “Rrruuthh!”

As the two of them picked themselves up from the dusty street in front of the bar, Spot looked up at the ruffian and asked, “DiMaggio?”

Hence the many books you can find on Amazon regarding the art of asking the right question.

For us, the right question to ask is not “Do they hate us?” or the shopworn “Why do they hate us?” or even “Do they intend to kill us?” (although a better rendition would be “Do they have a desire to kill us that awaits only the opportunity and the means?”).  None of those is exactly right.  The correct question to focus on is this one: “Are they planning to kill us?”  If so, that is the crime of conspiracy, and they are conspirators to murder.

Image: Plotting by pch.vector.

Now, surely, someone will object: “Isn’t that Islamophobia?,” to which the correct answer is “You betcha!”

Ex-speaker Kevin McCarthy warns, “We could have the same thing happen next week to us.”

Do we face a home-grown conspiracy to murder?  The term “conspiracy” is so overused in the “conspiracy theory” context that many may assume that a conspiracy is something inherently secret or occult.  But no — in law, a conspiracy is just another well known garden-variety crime.

In law, a criminal conspiracy exists when two or more people agree to commit an unlawful act.  That requires some overt action taken toward accomplishing the conspiracy, which overt action need not itself be a crime.  Most states add that the overt action must indicate that those involved in the conspiracy knew of the plan and intended to break the law.

How would we know of such a conspiracy?  By the fruits of conspirators, by their declared intent, by their actions, and by the reports of insiders.

If there were such a criminal conspiracy, the conspirators could be convicted of a felonious conspiracy to murder and thereafter deported or imprisoned for life.

Let’s talk.