Howard Dean—that celebrated scholar of Islam—has weighed in on today's murderous rampage in Paris, declaring that he refuses to call the shooters in this and similar cases "Muslim terrorists."

According to Dean, the disregard for the lives of others that these terrorists display "is not what the Koran says." Dean's denial of the obvious puts him in the company of many liberals, most notably including President Obama, who after the beheading of James Foley declared that ISIS "speaks for no religion." H/t MRC's Tim Graham.

Dean, Obama and their ilk fall prey to the "no true Scotsman" fallacy, as described here by James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal. Their illogic is dangerous. How do you defeat an enemy if you refuse to acknowledge what it is?

Note: Dean goes on to decry the fact that the shooters had Kalashnikovs despite France's "tremendous" gun control laws. Does "when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns" ring a bell, Howard?