Obama’s refusal to say ‘radical Islam’ shows his distrust of the American people

To the editor: I disagree with The Times’ belief that President Obama’s refusal to utter the words “radical Islam” is a non-issue. (“Trump isn’t the only Republican to play word games with terrorism,” editorial, June 15)

The president is restrained by a lack of trust in the American people. This became clear early on when he began to lecture us, talk down to us and deride those who regard Islamist killers as more than workplace violence.

This is why he will not call Islamist terror Islamist terror; he does not trust that we can distinguish between murderous jihadists clinging to a medieval interpretation of Islam and normative practitioners of modern Islam. He does not realize how this debases the public square and diminishes confidence in his leadership.

It escapes his notice that this is the soft bigotry of low expectations directed at the very people who chose him to lead.

Paul Bloustein, Cincinnati

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To the editor: Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, a descendent of immigrants and a man who wants to be the president of a nation of immigrants, said about the Orlando mass killer, “The only reason the killer was in America in the first place was because we allowed his family to come here.”

I dare Trump to hold this same standard to mass murderers like Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and say he was in America only because we allowed the Irish to come here.

Once again, Trump has revealed his true colors: He is a racist and a bigot who selects by race and religion the morally acceptable Americans, and if they fail to meet his standard and are American citizens, he will blame their families or ancestors.

Trump is morally bankrupt, and the Republican Party should be ashamed to claim him as its nominee.

Sidney Morrison, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Republicans are lambasting Obama and Hillary for not using the term “radical Islam.”

What about that organization of men down south wearing crosses on their chest? They are the Ku Klux Klan. We don’t call them “radical Christians.” Those among them who kill, we call killers.

Do we call priests who molest children “Catholic pedophiles?” No, we call them pedophiles.

These terrorists are just terrorists, and any attempt to equate their crimes to their religion makes as much sense as my examples above.

Robert S. Henry, San Gabriel

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