"The Standard Playbook"

Wizbang perfectly puts into words what I and many others have been thinking, not only since last week, but for many years:

"...[I]t's time to trot out the standard playbook for Muslim leaders to distract Americans from yet another Muslim-perpetrated atrocity. (The order of these is somewhat fluid, to avoid appearing too obviously stock).
First up, condemn the atrocity in no uncertain terms. It was terrible, a tragedy, just awful, and our devout prayers go to Allah for the victims of this awful incident.
It's important to de-emphasize the details as much as possible. Words such as 'tragedy' and 'incident' work to disguise the sheer evil of the actions.
Next, start distancing Islam from the crime. Say that such things are abhorrent to 'true' Muslims, that no 'real' Muslim would ever do any such thing, and they find them as appalling and saddening (NOT enraging) as everyone else. If done right, the impression that is conveyed is that they are even more upset over it than everyone -- but they're too modest to say so clearly.
Then start rationalizing the deed itself. This must be done with a fine touch -- talk about how sick the individual must be to have done it, and talk about what sorts of things might have triggered the psychosis. Be careful, though; it's a fine line to tiptoe, between 'what this guy did was justified' and 'we need to know what caused it, so we might prevent it from happening again.'
This is when you go into the Crazed Muslim Of The Week's line of excuses for why he did what he did and talk about how he was a bit off kilter, but there is some substance to his ravings. Muslims ARE being persecuted and oppressed around the world, and while it's terrible that such a tragic thing happened, perhaps some good can come of it if some attention is shone on these abuses of the adherents of the Religion Of Peace...
Then there's the final step. This one is the one that takes the biggest stones. (Which is entirely appropriate for a religion whose most sacred object is a big rock in the middle of the desert.) You have to pre-emptively claim victim status for yourselves.
Talk about how concerned you are that there will be a backlash against ordinary, peaceful Muslims around the nation. Oh, most Americans are fine, upstanding, decent folk who understand fully that this awful, awful tragedy in no way reflects on Islam (never mind what the nutcase was saying about his motives before, during, and after), but there are some who will wrongly blame Islam for it -- and lash out at the poor, innocent, peaceful Muslims.
One minor problem with that: there's never been a real backlash against Muslims in America.
When Muslims acting in the name of Allah tried to blow up the World Trade Center, there was no massive backlash.
When a Muslim acting in the name of Allah shot up the El Al ticket counter at LAX, there was no massive backlash.
When two Muslims acting in the name of Allah went on a sniping spree in and around DC, there was no massive backlash.
When a Muslim acting in the name of Allah drove his SUV through the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill, there was no massive backlash.
When a Muslim acting in the name of Allah ran down people all over San Francisco, there was no massive backlash.
When a Muslim acting in the name of Allah shot up the Seattle Jewish Federation, there was no massive backlash.
When a Muslim acting in the name of Allah shot seven people atop the Empire State Building, there was no massive backlash.
When a Muslim acting in the name of Allah shot up a movie theatre in Baltimore, there was no massive backlash.
When a Muslim acting in the name of Allah shot up a van filled with Orthodox Jews, there was no massive backlash.
When a Muslim acting in the name of Allah killed five people in a mall in Salt Lake City, there was no massive backlash.
And when Muslims acting in the name of Allah killed over 3,000 people on September 11, 2001, there certainly was no massive backlash whatsoever."