Imagine a scenario: One week after the 9/11 terror attacks, 79% of Republicans blame Islamic terrorism, while 60% of Democrats blame airplanes.

Of course that is unthinkable and ridiculous – every sane American understood that radical Muslims were the culprits.

But now, in the wake of the Orlando terror attacks, 4 in 5 Republicans blame Islamism, while 6 in 10 Democrats point to easy access to guns.  That is despite the killer's declared allegiance to ISIS and his professed devotion to Allah.

There is something truly bizarre about the left's knee-jerk defense of Islam.  And the farther left one goes on the political spectrum, the greater the reluctance to criticize the religion or its most radical practitioners. (Although they have no such reluctance when it comes to denouncing Christianity.)

Put another way, people who incessantly proclaim their 'tolerance' often ally themselves with a religion whose adherents tend to be the most intolerant people on the planet.

Yes, there are millions of peaceful and open-minded Muslims, and it goes without saying that most Muslims will never, ever commit a violent act.  But polls taken in predominantly Islamic nations, even those considered moderate, are eye-opening … and depressing.

In most of those countries, a majority of citizens believes that converting from Islam is a crime worthy of death.  Attitudes towards women and gays make the most bigoted American redneck look like a diversity trainer.

All ten countries in which homosexuality is punishable by execution share a common religion, and it's not Presbyterianism.  One of those homophobic and homo-cidal nations is our good friend Iran, while others include Clinton Foundation benefactors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Nevertheless, despite the abysmal human rights records of nearly every Islamic nation, many on the American left have a blind spot when it comes to this true intolerance.

When there is news of a bombing or mass killing, self-styled progressives strive mightily to avoid any connection with Islam or the Koran. 

You may remember the MSNBC anchor who said this after the attempted bombing in Times Square:  'Part of me was hoping this was not going to be anybody with ties to any kind of Islamic country.'  She was, of course, sorely disappointed.

But why?  Why are so many on the left averse to denouncing Islamic-inspired terror?  That question has perplexed many conservatives, some of whom have written entire books on the subject.

One answer is that the far left and radical Islam share a few common enemies.  They loathe American culture, capitalism, and the prosperity that our free market economic system has engendered.

The radical left embraces the narrative that America is the wellspring of most of the world's ills.  They see the USA as a nation of gross unfairness, a place where money is worshipped and minorities are victims.

Radical Islamists also despise America and condemn it as a source of evil, especially when it comes to our sexual mores and freedom.  So lefties and radical Muslims both hold a grudge against the United States, although often for far different reasons.

To be sure, most Democrats unquestionably love this country.  They are as patriotic as any flag-waving conservative and should not be conflated with the far left fringe.  But far too many liberals, perhaps in an effort to display their self-proclaimed tolerance, simply refuse to acknowledge that one religion might be different from any other.

This blindness is most apparent when there is a terrorist atrocity like the one in Orlando.  How much easier to blame an inanimate metal object than the person pulling the trigger, especially if it enhances your own sense of self-righteousness.

However, there is one unmistakable reality that has been put forth before, but which way too many Democrats refuse to hear:  Not all Muslims are terrorists, far from it.  But almost all terrorists are Muslim.  There is simply no way to escape that fact, no matter how much leftists try.  And they certainly do try hard, don't they?

In Orlando they blamed guns and homophobia.  After the next attack they will blame something else.  Anything, that is, except radical Islam.  While that ideology causes mayhem and misery around the globe, leftists prefer to look away.  To their eternal shame.