The pattern is entirely predictable. First, a savage terror attack is carried out in the name of Islam, usually by men shouting "Allahu Akbar." Second, hard news reports list the number of dead, the weaponry used, and the status of the killers. And then, within hours, some mushy-headed apologists descend on liberal news outlets to reassure the rest of us that Islam had absolutely nothing to do with the carnage.

First out of the gate this time around was the always-loony Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and darling of the far left. Appearing on MSNBC (of course!) soon after the savage murders, Dean said this about the killers: "They're about as Muslim as I am." Apparently Dr. Dean is not just a physician, but also a religious scholar qualified to define who is a Muslim, who is not.

The next morning MSNBC followed up with an entire crew of hand-wringing deniers. There was David Rothkopf of Foreign Policy magazine, who actually blamed the 2003 Abu Ghraib prison atrocities. According to Rothkopf, one of the Islamic killers became "radicalized" when he read about the human rights violations at the Iraq prison. Otherwise, who knows? Perhaps the terrorist would have become an accountant or electrician.

Not to be outdone, "journalist" Ayman Mohyeldin, who is on NBC's payroll, lamented the fact that the murderers were not "exposed to a variety of ideas." Yes, if only they had read John Locke, Thomas Paine, and Adam Smith! Another NBC News contributor, "terrorism analyst" Evan Kohlmann, tried to put the attack in perspective by saying, "Islamophobia and prejudice against Muslims and Arabs in France is a real problem." Finally, another left-wing guest, Christopher Dickey of The Daily Beast, concluded with this complaint: "We always discuss this as if it is somehow it is exculsive to Islam."

Yes, Mr. Dickey, it is pretty much "exculsive to Islam." Presbyterians and Buddhists and Sikhs are not brandishing Kalashnikov rifles and donning suicide vests. That is simply the cold, hard reality of the world today, no matter how many denials and apologies are put forth.

Perhaps these liberals should listen to another self-proclaimed "proud liberal." Bill Maher is a rude and crude bomb-thrower who insults all religions, just like the dead cartoonists and satirists at Charlie Hebdo magazine. But Maher is not afraid to say what is obvious to any thinking person. There is one religion at the locus of terror and mayhem today.

"To be a liberal," Maher said after the Paris massacre, "you have to stand up for liberal principles ... the part of the world that is against liberal principles is the Muslim part of the world ... it is mainstream in the Muslim world that when you make fun of the prophet, all bets are off, you get what's coming to you."

Bill Maher might want to have a word with his fellow progressive, President Obama. Soon after the bloodbath, the president lamented "the senseless violence of the few," while studiously avoiding the words "Muslim" or "Islamic." But it isn't just "the few." Jihadists have killed thousands of American military people, tens of thousands of civilians. They occupy vast swaths of land in the Middle East and regularly behead infidels on camera. The Muslim threat involves entire nations and millions of people, yet the left in America will not face that fact. Here in the USA we're very lucky - the vast majority of American Muslims are good and productive citizens who deplore the extreme actions in the Muslim world. But the truth is that jihad is an iminent and eminent threat.

We don't expect MSNBC regulars like Howard Dean to admit that. But it would be a great leap forward if the President of the United States were to publicly acknowledge the greatest problem facing the world today. It's not "climate change" or "structural racism" or "income inequality," Mr. President. It Islamic terrorism. You might begin by saying that out loud.