President Obama marked his first visit to a mosque yesterday with a speech at the Islamic Society of Baltimore in which he highlighted Islam's long history in the United States dating back to Muslim slaves brought to America before the Civil War.
What you and I saw and heard was apparently much different than what GOP presidential candidate and sometimes-senator Marco Rubio heard; assuming he even bothered to listen before bleating about it.
Rubio spoke to a crowd in New Hampshire yesterday where he blasted the president for dividing people with his peaceful and gracious visit to a mosque.
"I'm tired of being divided against each other for political reasons like this president's done, always pitting people against each other. Always! Look at today: He gave a speech at a mosque. Oh, you know, basically implying that America is discriminating against Muslims."
You don't say?
"Of course there's discrimination in America, of every kind. But the bigger issue is radical Islam. And by the way, radical Islam poses a threat to Muslims themselves. They argue that. They'll tell you that.
But, you just said...
"But again, it's this constant pitting people against each other that — I can't stand that. It's hurting our country badly."
My initial reaction after reading the quote from Marco was to say he's simply pandering, but after listening to him say it I'm not so sure. He sounds genuinely angry in the way that children become angry if you take away their toys or tell them it's bedtime. He sounds petulant.
"Why must you ALWAYS make me brush my teeth!"
The idea of civility and tolerance itself seems like an insult to Republicans who don't know how to act if they aren't at war with someone or some thing.
Suffice to say a Republican president would take office under the premise that large swaths of Americans are not real Americans or even legitimate beings. The Muslim people President Obama spoke to in Baltimore are all Americans, but to the likes of Marco Rubio they are nebulous objects and entities that should be quarantined out of sight and never so much as paid lip service.
Who's really dividing America?