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Americans just want politicians to be honest

Less than a week after the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, residents of New York, New Jersey and Minnesota were under attack again over the weekend.

A man wielding a knife asked potential victims if they were Muslims and talked about Allah before injuring eight people at the Mall of America in Minnesota. A pipe bomb went off in Seaside Heights, N.J., just before a 5K race meant to benefit U.S. Marines and sailors. By small miracle, no one was hurt. But at least 29 people were wounded when a bomb went off in a metal trash container in New York City. Another pressure-cooker device was found nearby before it went off. Finally, police were able to detonate three bombs wired together near a train station in Elizabeth, N.J., on Sunday.

The FBI has 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami in custody. He’s a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan and had been living in New Jersey. He is being held in connection with at least the New York City bombing. Investigators acknowledge there may be a terror cell operating out of New Jersey.

But many politicians are squeamish about saying so. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, in the very early stages of the investigation, took pains to announce he did not believe the attacks were “terrorism.” As late as Monday morning, the strongest language coming from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was that “there might have been a common linkage.”

Hillary Clinton pointedly critized Donald Trump’s announcement a bomb had gone off in New York City. She said, “I think it’s always wiser to wait until you have information before making conclusions, because we are just in the beginning stages of trying to determine what happened.” Except that Trump did not leap to any conclusions at the time, he simply stated the fact that a bomb had gone off, and followed that with “and nobody knows exactly what’s going on, but boy, we are living in a time.”

Why are some politicians so afraid to call it like it is? Fortunately, most New Yorkers put little stock in what de Blasio has to say, and were not fooled by his initial assurances they were not victims of a terror attack.

That is no thanks to head-in-the-sand politicians who refuse to face reality. That should be terrifying, too.

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