Jason Collins’ Convenient Coming Out – It doesn’t take courage to be gay in today’s America

I just gotta tell ya, it is really easy to write these weekly missives because there never seems to be a lack of chuckleheads doing things that perplex me.

First up this week: On Monday NBA player Jason Collins told us all that he is black – duh – and that he is gay. He immediately became the center of attention with a Sports Illustrated cover story, praise and accolades, TV interviews, and even attention from former President Clinton and President Obama.

People praised Collins for being courageous and heroic. Now, I have to tell you, courage would be announcing you are a gay basketball player in, say, Iran. It does not take courage to state something that will make you a cultural darling.

Collins’ declaration reminds me of the words of Thomas Jefferson: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” So you can bet my not jumping on the Jason Collins bandwagon will draw the ire of those who swim with the current and fawn over what is politically correct in our culture.

Where is Greg Robinson’s call, Mr. President?

On the same Monday at Fort Campbell, Ky., 34-year-old Army Sgt. First Class Greg Robinson became the first amputee to complete the grueling course called Air Assault School. I am a graduate of that school and can attest to the rigors of what is called “the toughest 10 days in the Army.” I will never forget losing 8 pounds during the hot summer I went through Air Assault School.

SFC Robinson lost part of his right leg during a combat deployment to Afghanistan in 2006. Here were his words about going through the school: “Right now, I am a platoon sergeant and I have roughly 30 men in my platoon. As a leader, I didn’t want to tell my soldiers that they needed to go to Air Assault School if I am not air assault qualified.”

Even though SFC Robinson’s prosthetic leg broke twice during his time at the school, the standards were never lowered. During the final 12-mile road march with a 35- to 40-liter rucksack and full combat gear, he had to stop and repair his prosthetic leg. SFC Robinson has four combat deployments in his 16 years and quietly stated, “It’s not a disability if you don’t let it slow you down.”

He is assigned to the famed 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and on graduation day he was pinned with his Air Assault wings before his wife Amanda, 4-year-old daughter Drew, and his soldiers – no phone call from the commander-in-chief, no magazine cover, no tweets giving him praise and accolades.

SFC Greg Robinson does not need their confirmation. He is an American hero who did not swim with the current. He stood like a rock. Air Assault!

Giving quarter to Islamic radicalism

Another tale of everyday heroism came in the April 28 Washington Times article by Rowan Scarborough, “Top Brass Crush Career of Army Officer Who Warned of Jihadists.” The story detailed the case of decorated Army Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley, who was removed as an instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College.

Back in October 2011, 57 American Islamic organizations, several with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, sent a letter to then-Obama counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan. They demanded that the U.S. government scrub its teaching on Islam, “purge” all training materials that they judged to be offensive to Islam, and ensure that any offending instructors “are effectively disciplined.”

In an unprecedented move, the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff personally attacked LTC Dooley, an instructor who had an approved curriculum and presentation for his course, “Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism.”

Even worse, an Army Command Selection Review Board of three generals and two colonels voted to retain LTC Dooley as a candidate for combat Battalion Command. Then-Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Lloyd Austin overturned the board’s decision.

We discussed this case on Next Generation TV (log in first to watch) with Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, who is representing LTC Dooley.

Of course the apologists and useful idiots, like the two University of California at Los Angeles professors who proclaimed in The New York Times that America failed the accused Boston Marathon bombers because we did not do a good job assimilating them, will attack LTC Dooley.

Choose your hero to confront jihad

I implore you all to read the “Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America.” The FBI uncovered this document during a raid in the basement of a home in Northern Virginia. Mohammed Akram, also known as Mohammed Adlouni, wrote the document for the Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Here is one of the more notable quotes:

 The process of settlement is a “Civilization-Jihadist Process” with all the word means. The Ilkwan (Brotherhood) must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet.

It is a Muslim’s destiny to perform Jihad and work everywhere he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack. But, would the slackers and the Mujahideen be equal.

Make your choice, America. Who is the hero who will confront this enemy, Jason Collins or SFC Greg Robinson and LTC Matthew Dooley? The next generation will need the latter, not the former.

Steadfast and Loyal,

Allen B. West

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