Last weekend, a 29-year-old Islamist radical slaughtered 49 innocent people at a gay nightclub in central Florida. In response, Congress must immediately strip taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood. This well-funded special interest group generously finances friendly legislators' campaigns, in exchange for which those politicians obstinately oppose any and all common sense restrictions on abortion -- regardless of strong public support for increased regulations. They are on the wrong side of history. The American people are horrified by Planned Parenthood's business model, which relies on the unregulated killing of unborn humans. This systematic extinguishing of human life fuels a culture of death in which Orlando shooter Omar Mateen marinated for nearly three decades. Planned Parenthood has contributed heavily to this morally-polluted environment, which devalues and dehumanizes innocent life, just like radical Islamism does.

There is a word for Planned Parenthood's role in this form of terrorism: complicity. Democrats in Congress must be held to account for their routine legislative defense of this organization, which should be stripped of all taxpayer funding as soon as possible. The pro-death atmosphere Cecile Richards' outfit helps create continues to put Americans at risk. Have we learned nothing from these acts of terrorism? An all-male Supreme Court may have ruled that abortion is a constitutionally-protected right, even though our founding document is silent on the issue, but that supposed "right" is killing us right now. Granted, cutting off public funding for Planned Parenthood may not have prevented what happened at the Pulse nightclub, and it may not stop future atrocities. But it we can save just one life, not to mention the countless lives targeted by abortionists, it will be worth it.

It has also come to light that Mr Mateen registered to vote in his home state of Florida in 2006. When he did so, he proactively chose to align himself with the Democratic Party. It is therefore essential that elected Democrats and their powerful echo chamber of media supporters and boosters commence an important process of serious self-reflection and ponder why such a man was attracted to their political rhetoric and agenda. While the precise motivation for the rampage remains unclear, it is quite obvious that Mateen was overwhelmed by hatred for his fellow Americans. Tragically, this is the state of American politics, driven too often by Democratic politicians who cynically pit one group of Americans against each other for their own myopic advantage. The people killed in Orlando were victims of a terrorist attack. But they also need to be remembered as casualties of a society where hate has deep roots. It's long past time for the Democratic Party, and the newspaper editorial boards who reflexively abet it, to stop scapegoating and demonizing millions of Americans -- lest it continue to attract ruthless killers into its ranks. Hate is hate. Indeed, one might argue that Democrats' toxic rhetoric is a form of violence unto itself. By committing to civility, and weighing their words much more carefully, Democrats may finally start to atone for the problem they've created. And if that saves just one life, it will be worth it.

Finally, this terrorist attack means that our activist Supreme Court should seriously consider reversing its controversial and divisive 2015 decision codifying same-sex marriage as a fundamental right. Multiple sources have confirmed that the Orlando terrorist harbored long-simmering hatred for homosexuals. He reportedly told his father that the mere sight of two men kissing infuriated him; imagine the anger the prospect of two men at the altar must have stirred. We've been informed in recent years that obscure Internet videos and blasphemous satirical publications have needlessly inflamed Muslims, recklessly imperiling lives in the process. Perhaps the High Court can at least refine its ruling as to ensure that same-sex unions are less visible or ostentatious, and therefore less offensive, to those who may have been riled by Democrats' aforementioned culture of hate. The last thing we need to be doing right now is triggering incipient Islamists who may already be divided in their loyalties and beliefs. Some may view the relatively new right to marry the person they love as deeply personal, inviolable, or even sacred. That's fine, but they need to be reasonable. In the interests of public safety and common sense, we must consider eliminating or curtailing that right -- which the founders never envisioned in the way it's currently interpreted by the Court anyway. If reducing the chances that a would-be Islamist terrorist might act on anti-gay fury saves just one life, it will be worth it.

Americans must put our petty differences aside and embrace the call of history by defeating the monied special interests and rejecting this poisonous climate of hate. We can begin to accomplish this by supporting mainstream, common-sense solutions such as eliminating taxpayer funding to a chronic dehumanizer, finding ways to prevent Islamism's anti-LGBT sentiment from turning into something truly problematic, and above all, watching what we say.



Author's Note: I do not believe a word of this essay. It is a string of tortured non-sequiturs cobbled together to push hobby horse agenda items, and to make political opponents at least think twice before they speak their minds. I wrote an entire book warning against this form of demagoguery -- which is maddeningly commonplace on the Left, particularly in the volatile and emotional aftermath of tragedies and crises. Public policy should be crafted based on evidence and empiricism, ever mindful of the constitution, even when it's politically inconvenient. Our discourse should encourage thoughtful disagreement, not seek to squelch it by serially impugning others' motives. Our analysis of stomach-turning violent instances should be rooted in reality and fact, not shoe-horned into pre-existing ideological narratives. This satirical column is dedicated to the cartoonish New York Times editorial board.