Cain on American Muslims

The big news about Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain today centers on his comments in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Per the Journal Sentinel's article, Cain "stumbled badly Monday when attempting to answer a question about whether he agreed or disagreed with President Barack Obama's approach to handling the Libyan crisis."

Me, I don't much care. First, no candidate is an expert on everything. Do I wish Cain paid more attention to current events, considering he's running for the highest office in the land? Well, of course. But even if he were a dedicated policy wonk (and all signs are he's exactly the opposite), he's also running for the highest office in the land, which means his most important skill is bobbing and weaving around questions that could alienate large voting constituencies. Let's not kid ourselves: we won't know anything substantive about Cain's policymaking unless he becomes President, and I'm fervently hoping that won't happen because we already know enough about Cain to make me think we'd be better off with Charlie Sheen in the office. In the meantime, if you think it's so easy to master the myriad details of being President of the United States without actually being President, go ahead: run. I'll bet a not insubstantial sum that you would be reduced to a quivering blob before the end of your first no-holds-barred Q-and-A with the national press.

The second reason I don't care is, Cain said a couple of more disturbing things in his interview with GQ.

He's scared of the idea of a Ron Paul presidency, which at first blush is the mark of a reasonably sane person ... but here's why Cain is scared:

I am puzzled by what he stands for. Puzzled by some of his extreme statements, like "End the Fed!" "End everything!" Can't we fix something?

If you're puzzled by Ron Paul, it's because you haven't been paying attention. Ron Paul is by far the most self-consistent candidate to run for President in ages. You might not agree with his uncompromising libertarianism, but you can't deny that he talks the talk and would walk the walk as President (if Congress and the Supreme Court allowed). He is no half- (or less) informed babbler like Cain, either: Paul's Congressional tenure has allowed him to become familiar with a lot of policy issues, especially fiscal and foreign-policy matters. I don't want to live in a President Ron Paul-run country, but I accord him a measure of respect for thoroughly understanding and holding fast to his principles. That Cain either genuinely doesn't understand Ron Paul, or is willing to pretend that he doesn't, means that he doesn't take his competition seriously -- and therefore, that he doesn't take his campaign seriously.

Far more disquieting for anyone who is genuinely interested in assessing Herman Cain as a potential leader is this exchange:

Devin Gordon: What did you think about the fuss around your comments about Muslims. [Cain said in March that, if elected, he wouldn't feel "comfortable" appointing a Muslim to his cabinet] Did you think that you were treated fairly in that conversation?

Herman Cain: No, because a lot of people misrepresented what I said. I know that there are peaceful Muslims, and there are extremists. I have nothing against peaceful Muslims. Nothing whatsoever. But I also know that we must be careful of extremists and we must be careful of the tendency by some groups in this country to infuse their beliefs into our laws and our culture.

Devin Gordon: Do you think that there is a greater tendency among the Muslim faith for that kind of extremism?

Herman Cain: That would be a judgment call that I'm probably not qualified to make, because I can't speak on behalf of the entire Muslim community. I have talked with Muslims that are peaceful Muslims. And I have had one very well known Muslim voice say to me directly that a majority of Muslims share the extremist views.

Chris Heath: A majority?

Herman Cain: Yes, a majority.

Devin Gordon: Do you think he's right?

Herman Cain: Yes, because that's his community. That's his community. I can't tell you his name, but he is a very prominent voice in the Muslim community, and he said that.

Chris Heath: I just find that hard to believe.

Herman Cain: I find it hard to believe.

Chris Heath: But you're believing it?

Herman Cain: Yes, because of the respect that I have for this individual. Because when he told me this, he said he wouldn't want to be quoted or identified as having said that.

Alan Richman: Are you talking about the Muslim community in America? Or the world?

Herman Cain: America. America.

I know only one group of people who are supposed to take the word of one living man as gospel. I think we can safely assume Cain isn't a closet Catholic and his anonymous "source" of Muslim information isn't the Pope.

Herman, do you seriously accept the word of one man on this?

I accept my best friends' assertions of their children's names. Beyond that, I tend to seek corroboration. Especially if they start making vast generalizations about ethnic, religious, cultural, or social groups to which they nominally belong.

You know who's qualified to make sweeping generalizations about all Muslims in the U.S.? Nobody.

I assume Cain is prone to conspiracy theories, because only such a fear-centered mindset explains why one man's opinion could set Cain's in stone: Cain is already disposed to believe the worst.

Either that, or Cain coldbloodedly is playing to what he knows are his party's basest instincts, never mind the consequences to Muslims, the bogeymen of the day.

A paranoiac or a conscienceless asshole ... which is Cain?

More to the point, why is anybody thinking seriously about making this man President?