Two Muslim men launched terror attacks over the weekend.
Twenty-eight-year-old Ahmad Rahami, a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Afghanistan, allegedly set off a bomb that injured 29 people in Manhattan. He was captured earlier today.
And 22-year-old Dahir Adan of Somali descent allegedly stabbed nine innocent folks in a Minnesota shopping mall before being shot dead by police. All the victims are expected to survive.
A couple of notes before we get into the reaction from Trump and Clinton.
No one can stop these attacks by disturbed individuals who are badly damaging the Islamic faith.
Young Muslim men are now looked upon with suspicion all over the world and the crazy terrorists are the reason why.
But even though individual mayhem is a fact of life, the Western world is far too lenient on ISIS and other terror groups. We should have devastated them a long time ago, not allowed them to hold territory and export mayhem.
That policy of light confrontation has led to mass chaos in the Middle East and Europe as millions of refugees leave their homes because no one will protect them from the horror imposed by the jihadists.
Nevertheless President Obama said again today that he is staying the course:
OBAMA: “We will continue to lead the global coalition in the fight to defeat ISIL, which is instigating a lot of people over the internet to carry out attacks. We are going to continue to go after them and take out their leaders, take out their infrastructure. ((EDIT)) And we’re going to continue to enlist tech companies and community and religious leaders to push back against online extremist content and all messages of hate.”
Good luck with that, Mr. President. You'll remember Apple would not even help crack the San Bernardino killer's phone.
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump responded to the latest terror attacks today, both believing the other is incompetent on the terror issue:
TRUMP: “Our local police, they know who a lot of these people are. They're afraid of doing anything about it because they don't want to be accused of profiling. ((EDIT)) Do we have a choice? Look what's going on. Do we really have a choice? We're really trying to be so politically correct in our country.”
((EDIT))
HILLARY CLINTON: “We know that Donald Trump's comments have been used online for recruitment of terrorists. We've heard that from former CIA Director Michael Hayden, who made it a very clear point when he said Donald Trump is being used as a recruiting sergeant for the terrorists.”
Talking Points expects the terror issue to be in the forefront one week from tonight in the first debate.
Secretary Clinton's anti-terror posture is pretty much the same as what President Obama has put into place.
Mr. Trump is far more aggressive -- at least his words are -- in limiting the USA's exposure to Muslims abroad and punishing groups like ISIS.
On the terror issue Trump has the advantage as most Americans are pretty much fed up with the jihad and want to see a more aggressive policy to defeat it.
Trump also has emotion on his side as the president and Mrs. Clinton continue to downplay the Muslim angle even though just about all the terrorism these days is generated by Islamic fanatics.
Summing up, Trump has a major opportunity on the national security issue if he lays out plans that are specific and not harmful to innocent folks.
Migrants and peaceful Muslims are not the problem, jihadists are.
The next president will have to set up the terror target and then punch it out.
Anger is growing.
And that's the memo.