MUHAMMAD ALI'S LEGACY; PROUD POWERFUL BLACK MAN ("VIET CONG")

MUHAMMAD ALI'S LEGACY; PROUD POWERFUL BLACK MAN:

"NO VIET CONG EVER CALLED ME NIGGER".

ALI LEFT SOME BIG SHOES TO FILL.

WHERE ARE THE PROUD POWERFUL BLACK MEN OF TODAY?

Sources: ESPN, NY Times, Youtube

Muhammad Ali formerly known as Cassius Marcellus Clay, was born in January 1942, and died in June 2016 at the age of 74.

Ali converted to the ISLAMIC faith in 1964 and remained a devout Muslim until his death.

Ali was married four times and fathered nine children who loved and respected their Father very much.

Ali was an intelligent professional Boxer who lost and won back his title three times.

After developing a personal friendship with the late Sportscaster Howard Cosell, Ali became an international figure.

Throughout his life Muhammad Ali stood strong by his Convictions, including his refusal to fight in the Vietnam war after publicly declaring "No Viet Cong ever called me Nigger".

Although I don't agree with all of Muhammad Ali's personal life and religious decisions, I will forever respect Ali for being a Proud Powerful BLACK Man, who never sold out his people for Money nor Fame.

Muhammad Ali most certainly deserves to REST IN PEACE.

I send my prayers and condolences to the surviving family of Muhammad Ali.

***** Ali's legacy outlives him, but must be considered in 

THERE IS, EVEN in the sadness of his death, little reason to think about Muhammad Ali in the gauzy past tense, to remember him through the lens of pre-color-film footage, except to beam at those hands, marvel at the foot speed, linger on the unblemished supremacy of his youth with all its beauty and foreshadowing.

Otherwise, we need only rise each morning to see him, for Ali feels very much present today as he was during his time. Too many contemporary parallels exist to look backward.

Like Martin Luther King Jr., Ali was once one of the most hated men in America, and like MLK, he would decades later be co-opted by many of the very people who hated him (though a young Ali would be as despised today as he was in the 1960s).

It is the lonely walk of the original, of the dissenter, and it knows no era. He was hated by white America for his unsparing criticism of its obvious, enduring racism, a conversation no more welcome today than it was in 1963. He was hated by blacks and whites alike for challenging the military, for questioning the necessity, morality and inherent racism of war, and in response the American government used its full weight to try to destroy him. He was hated for challenging Christianity as a Muslim in America, yet in death he is mourned as if yesterday's struggle has been long resolved and defiance is no longer necessary.

When recast, Ali is so often dipped in the notion that he "transcended" race, which is pure and unadulterated nonsense. There was nothing for Ali to transcend racially. To him, blackness was no obstacle but central to his identity. His loyalty to being black made him both reviled by whites and luminescent to the black people desperate for his presence, for the African-American admission fee to acceptance and fame has always been the erasure of their color, to abandon it lest they be seen as threatening or difficult, angry or ungrateful. The white ticket buyers and image makers must be comfortable, and the black price for their comfort is reducing the core of oneself or risking the inevitable brand-threatening mainstream rage, or worse: being accused of playing the dreaded "race card," as if humiliation were a game easily turned into advantage with the right strategy. Creating distance from race is the key to mainstream black advancement; the pathway to future acceptance is unattainable without that surrender. Ali rejected this fantasy. He did not transcend race. He took his blackness with him.

Said Ali: "Money means nothing to me nor boxing when it comes to the freedom of your people. So everything I'm doing, if it means hitchhike tomorrow, if it means being raggedy, if it means look for a job, I'll be happy because I can go to bed, my conscience is clear and I didn't sell out or trade my people just because I could be rich in Hollywood."

So much of him lives today, including his darkest side. His worst moments were in his racial cruelty toward rival Joe Frazier. He was quicker mentally, better with words than Frazier, and whether for promotion or mental advantage, he used his better looks and lighter skin to exploit the racial stereotypes that saddle black men everywhere. He knew the implications of calling another black man a "gorilla," and he did it anyway.

What Ali did transcend was the conventions of modern celebrity by remaining a human. He could love the black and the brown around the world and, through the force of his humanity, bend the historical resistance to him over the final 40 years of his life. He could be rich and still be one of the poor. He knew the price for his beliefs, the price of not abandoning his people for fame or money, and was still willing to pay it in full.

Most of America will remember him safely, by separating Ali from its current self, allowing it to be magnanimous and him to be unthreatening. It will admire his religious conviction without recognizing our collective hostility toward Muslims. It will honor his courage, yet discourage us from questioning, as he did, the wars we fight, the government that spies on us or the fact that we forget our poor. It will celebrate his defiance while defiance is precisely what our increasingly intolerant culture is going out of its way to crush.

There is no reason to look backward, for Ali lives presently in the air we breathe. What is past is prologue.

MUHAMMAD "THE GREATEST" ALI IS DEAD AT AGE 74 ("Ali Bomaye")

MUHAMMAD "THE GREATEST" ALI IS DEAD AT AGE 74 (Ali Bomaye):

HOWARD COSELL HELPED TO MAKE ALI WORLD FAMOUS.

HE LOST & WON BACK HIS TITLE THREE TIMES.

ALI WAS THE MOST INTELLIGENT BOXER IN HISTORY.

HE WAS PROUD TO BE A BLACK MAN.

Sources: CNN, NBC News, Youtube

****** Muhammad Ali, 'The Greatest,' dies at 74

Muhammad Ali, the legendary boxer who proclaimed himself "The Greatest" and was among the most famous and beloved athletes on the planet, died Friday in Arizona, a family spokesman said.

Ali had been at HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center in Scottsdale since Thursday with what spokesman Bob Gunnell had described as a respiratory issue.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74.

The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening," Gunnell said in a statement. "The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time."

Ali's daughter Hana Ali said her father was a "humble mountain."

"And now he has gone home to God. God bless you daddy. YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!" she tweeted.

"When he came into the hospital, we thought, 'OK, it will be a brief stay'... I think it took a turn for the worse," he told CNN's Dan Simon Saturday. "But it was unexpected."

Ramsey said he didn't actually see Ali in the hospital Friday. The people who were with Ali when he died were "the kids, family only, and I respected that... it's a very private matter."

Ramsey said Ali's wife, Lonnie, called him Friday morning saying Ali's health was deteriorating.

"She said 'You might want to come out,' which I decided to do," he said.

Tributes from around the world

While touching tributes to Ali were pouring in from world leaders, fellow athletes and just regular folk, the boxing great had already addressed how he wanted the world to think about him after his death.

In his book "The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey," Ali said he wanted to be remembered as "a man who won the heavyweight title three times, who was humorous, and who treated everyone right. As a man who never looked down on those who looked up to him, and who helped as many people as he could. As a man who stood up for his beliefs no matter what.

As a man who tried to unite all humankind through faith and love."

He added, " And if all that's too much, then I guess I'd settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people, And I wouldn't even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was."

President Barack Obama said he and first lady Michelle Obama mourn Ali's passing.

"But we're also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him, if just for a while; for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time," the Obamas said in a statement Saturday.

The President said he has a pair of Ali's gloves on display in his private study off of the Oval Office, just underneath a photograph of the legend.

Obama said Ali "fought for us."

"He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn't. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing. It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail. But Ali stood his ground.

And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognize today," the President said in a statement issued by the White House.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, at a ceremony honoring Ali Saturday, said the boxer "lived a life so big and bold, it's hard to believe that any one man could do everything he did, could be all the things that he became in the course of just one lifetime."

He added, "Muhammad Ali belongs to the world, but he only has one hometown. The 'Louisville Lip' spoke to everyone, but we heard him in a way no one else could -- as our brother, our uncle, and our inspiration."

Don King, the boxing promoter who was every bit as brash as Ali, told CNN that in his mind Ali will never die.

"His spirit will go on forever," he said. "He's just a great human being, a champion of the people, the greatest of all time."

Even as the former champ battled Parkinson's, he had the same love for life and people, King said. Parkinson's disease, which primarily affects a patient's movement, is a "progressive disorder of the nervous system," according to the Mayo Clinic.

The Ali sense of humor was displayed in an old photo tweeted by Oscar De La Hoya, who won titles in six weight classes.

"RIP @muhammadali, a legend who transcended sport and was a true champion for all. ‪#‎thegreatest‬ ‪#‎MuhammadAli‬," De La Hoya wrote above an image of Ali whose mischievous eyes proudly watched as his right hand made rabbit ears behind the "Golden Boy's" head.

Hours before her famed father passed away, Laila Ali posted a throwback photo of him with her daughter, Sydney, who was born in 2011.

"I love this photo of my father and my daughter Sydney when she was a baby! Thanks for all the love and well wishes. I feel your love and appreciate it!!" Laila Ali, herself a former world champion boxer, wrote.

George Foreman, who Ali defeated in 1974 for the world heavyweight title, wrote on Twitter, "It's been said it was rope a dope Ali beat me with. (N)o (it was) his beauty that beat me. Most beauty I've know(n). loved him."

Famed promoter Bob Arum wrote on Twitter: "A true great has left us. @MuhammadAli transformed this country and impacted the world with his spirit."

Mike Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion in history, said, "God came for his champion. So long great one. @MuhammadAli #TheGreatest‪#‎RIP‬."

In recent years, Ali had largely stayed out of the public spotlight.

In his last known appearance, he appeared at a Parkinson's fundraiser April 9 in Phoenix, according to the Arizona Republic. A photo posted by the newspaper showed Ali wearing dark sunglasses.

On the website of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the actor -- who also has Parkinson's -- said: "Muhammad was a true legend -- a champion in the boxing ring, and a champion for millions of Parkinson's families. We looked up to him as an example of grace and courage in the face of great challenges."

Ali was known not only for his athletic prowess but also for his social activism.

He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, as Cassius Clay in January 1942. He began boxing as an amateur when he was 12 years old and in 1964 became heavyweight champion with a knockout of Sonny Liston. That year he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name.

Ali's sparkling career was interrupted for 3½ years in the 1960s when he refused induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and was convicted of draft evasion. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction.

Ali was prepared to go to prison, King said.

"He stood his ground on who he was," King said. "He'd rather go to jail than break what he believed in."

During his boxing hiatus, Ali spoke out about racism in America.
NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar called Ali a friend and a mentor.

"At a time when blacks who spoke up about injustice were labeled uppity and often arrested under one pretext or another, Muhammad willingly sacrificed the best years of his career to stand tall and fight for what he believed was right," Abdul-Jabbar wrote on Facebook.

Ali went on to win the heavyweight title twice more before retiring for good in 1981.

Ali also was hospitalized in January 2015 with a urinary tract infection.

He was hospitalized in December 2014 with pneumonia.

Funeral services will be held in Louisville, Gunnell said.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS STRENGTHENS ISIL (EXPOSING RADICAL ISLAM)

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS STRENGTHENS ISIL, EXPOSING RADICAL ISLAM

WHY ARE CNN & NBC MEDIA NETWORKS AFRAID TO SAY "RADICAL ISLAM" ON AIR?

REFUSING TO IDENTIFY RADICAL ISLAM HARMS PEACEFUL, DEDICATED MUSLIMS.

Sources: Forbes, ABC News, YouTube

According to Webster's dictionary the term "Political Correctness" is defined as agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people.

From 2008 to 2016, under the OBAMA Administration it is a crime to mention the words "Radical Islam" when talking about Terrorist acts at the hands of Radicalized Muslims such as members of ISIL.

The ideology of Radical Islam is not based on the Islamic faith, instead it is a Political concept used to intimidate and control for the purpose of Money and Power.

Most REAL Muslims frequently condemn the evil, brutal acts of ISIL, however Pres OBAMA's Administration forbids mainstream media networks from saying the words "Radical Islam" while on air.

Thus operatives of ISIL have become stronger in their efforts to control Western nations and in attempting to achieve world domination.

**** Someone Tell The President We Can't Fight Radical Islam By Being Politically Correct

“This is an attack not just on Paris, it’s an attack not just on the people of France, but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share,” 

– President Obama hours after the terrorist attacks in Paris began unfolding.

The full statement by the president at first sounds lofty, courageous and dedicated to U.S. resolve in fighting the scourge that afflicted the City of Lights.A closer analysis, however, reveals that it is empty hypocritical posturing designed to deceive the American public and feed his politically correct allies in the media their narrative.

First, it was not an attack on “all of humanity and the universal values we share,” as Obama claimed. It was an attack by Islamists who do not share “our universal values” on its infidel enemies.

Second, wouldn’t it have been appropriate for him to have issued a similar type of unequivocal condemnation of terrorism and his strong affiliation with Israel’s commitment to fight against extremism when it began experiencing its most recent wave of massive attacks? 

After all, just as he expressed the close alliance between the U.S. and France in vowing to attack the terrorists who struck, the President also reiterated the “extraordinary bond between the United States and Israel” during last week’s meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pledged to protect Israeli security.

Really?

Let’s roll the tape. When Palestinian terrorists began shooting and killing Israelis in every corner of their country, the Obama administration outrageously issued a contrived, evenhanded statement calling on both Israel and the Palestinians to reduce the violence. 

Perhaps—to be consistent with his so-called unequivocal views against terrorism expressed on Friday—he should have called on both France and ISIS to mutually reduce the violence.

The Obama administration’s role in the rise of ISIS

Third, Obama promised to “do whatever it takes to work with the French people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice, and to go after any terrorist networks that go after our people.” 

This is the same president who impeded the lawsuits against those who killed the 241 Marines in Beirut and won’t allow prosecutions of the Iranian Al Quds Force responsible for killing thousands of American soldiers in Iran and Iraq. 

He also refused to support FBI efforts to prosecute Hamas for killing scores of Americans, tried to interfere with civil law suits against the Palestinian Authority for murdering U.S. citizens and even prevented the victims of Iranian terrorism from collecting the billions of dollars of judgments awarded to them in dozens of lawsuits that Iran has lost.

Jurists on both political sides have agreed that the president has violated U.S. anti-terrorism laws that mandate the prosecution of those who kill “our people.”

Fourth, this is a president who some claim is more responsible for the rise of ISIS than anyone else in the world. 

Recently declassified emails demonstrate that his administration sold the initial shipment of major weapons to ISIS in 2012 as a counterweight to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. 

It’s quite ironic that Obama acts so sympathetically to the victims of ISIS attacks, much similar to how the man who murdered his parents pleads for mercy because he is an orphan.

Finally, expect the President and other Western leaders such as CIA Chief John Brennan to begin their apologia tour in claiming that the attackers had nothing to do with Islam, with a compliant media parroting their talking points. 

They will say that ISIS is not religious but a “death cult;” that “jihad” really means “peace” and those who carry out these attacks are “subverting a religion of peace.” 

The president has prohibited the term “Islamic terrorism” from the White House lexicon. Perhaps we should ban the terms “white racists,” the “Italian Mafia,” the “Hispanic drug cartels” and “black gangs.”

Even on Saturday, the Democratic presidential candidates refused multiple times to condemn “radical Islam,” falsely contending—as the many Muslim advocacy groups say today—that condemning radical Islam is racist. 

Also expect the mindless talking heads to claim that the majority of attempted terrorist attacks have been singularly stopped by the active cooperation of the American Muslim population.

Islamic terrorism has everything do with Islam

Let’s set the record straight once and for all: Islamic terrorism has everything do with Islam.

 The violent tactics of ISIS, al-Qaida, Hamas and every other Islamic terrorist group invokes their legitimacy by practicing the religion its purest form. 

This does not mean that all Muslims are terrorists or that Islam in inherently violent. 

There are vast numbers of peaceful Muslims. But Islam is defined by those who practice it. 

The decapitations by ISIS proscribed by the Koran were the dominant form of punishment by Mohammed’s armies against enemies who would not convert or accept Islamic supremacy.

The notion that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam is the invention of the leftist Western alliance with anti-civil rights Islamic advocacy groups. 

It is designed to mislead the public, especially because of the massive amount of terror the world has experience or observed since 9/11. ISIS is not subverting Islam, but it is derived from its basic tenants. 

It practices Islam the same way the Iranian Mullahs practice Islam, the way Saudi Arabia chops off limbs, the way Pakistan sentences to death anyone who converts to Christianity, the way that women are treated as second class citizens in traditional Muslim societies and the way that homosexuals are put to death.

Are we to think that the pro-violent and misogynist Muslim Brotherhood—which dominates the religious and social institutions of the Muslim world in both the East and West, and all of its offspring including al-Qaida, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Jama’at Islamiya, Boku Haram, Tabligi Jamat and others—have nothing to do with Islam?

Also, sorry to break the politically correct bubble, but it has been FBI intelligence that has stopped the vast majority of the more than 100 attempted Islamic terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 9/11, not the cooperation of the Muslim population with law enforcement. 

The sad reality is that radical Islamist front groups that masquerade as moderate—such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Muslim American Society (MAS)—discourage Muslims from cooperating with authorities.

Censoring the discussion

Indeed, these groups, who have been welcomed into the White House hundreds of times, exhort their members and all Muslims in the U.S. not to trust or talk to the FBI. 

Most significantly, they espouse an incendiary conspiratorial narrative that lies at the motivational root of all Islamic terrorism: 

They claim there is a war against Islam by the United States, Israel and the West. 

The terrorists who hear this narrative are then persuaded to avenge the “crimes” of the U.S., France or Israel by carrying out “jihad” that they justify as “defensive.”

It is only a matter of time before the high priesthood of self-anointed civil rights groups begin to reclaim their dominance in censoring the discussion—abetted by the useful idiots in the mainstream media—of mentioning the term “radical Islam” by claiming it’s a slur against all Muslims. 

Already, the media are dutifully reporting the “condemnations” of the Paris attacks by groups like CAIR and MPAC, the very same groups that say that any mention of radical Islam is Islamaphobic racism. 

If so, how would they categorize the gruesome Islamic terrorist attacks in Paris?

Obama’s hollow words on the Paris attacks will fade in the coming days largely because they never meant anything in the first place. 

But the American and European publics are not stupid. They understand the problem.

 It is our leaders who are disenfranchising us. 

And they think they will get away with it. Remember that they blamed the Benghazi massacre on an Internet video. 

Perhaps they will blame the ISIS attacks on a TV show.

TRUMP WANTS MUSLIMS TO REPORT RADICAL MEMBERS (STOP POLITICAL CORRECTNESS)

TRUMP WANTS MUSLIMS TO REPORT RADICAL MEMBERS:

TRUMP TELLS PIERS MORGAN MODERATE MUSLIMS ARE PROTECTING RADICALIZED MUSLIMS.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS MAKES ISIL STRONGER.

Sources: Good Morning Britan, UTV, Journal.ie

**** Trump claims Muslims are not reporting suspected terrorists

US PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL Donald Trump has claimed that Muslims are “absolutely not reporting” suspected attackers.

“I would say this to the Muslims, and in the United States also, when they see trouble they have to report it,” Trump told ITV television, a day after 31 people were killed in terror attacks at Brussels airport and on the city’s metro system.

“They’re not reporting it, they’re absolutely not reporting it and that’s a big problem,” said Trump, who is the favourite to win the Republican nomination for the US presidential election on 8 November.

“It’s like they are protecting each other but they are really doing very bad damage… They have to open up to society, they have to report the bad ones,” he told interviewer Piers Morgan.

Trump’s comments were immediately rejected by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which represents hundreds of mosques and charities, and by one of Britain’s top counter-terrorism officers, Neil Basu.

“He is wrong,” Basu, a deputy assistant commissioner at London’s Metropolitan Police, told BBC Radio.

“If we demonise one section of the community that is the worst thing we can do. We are absolutely playing into the terrorists’ hands of making people feel hate,” he said.

Miqdaad Versi, the MCB’s assistant secretary-general, said Trump’s comments “fuel this idea of bigotry”.

They “really fuel the thing that terrorists themselves want – that Muslims are apart from the West and cannot be seen as equal citizens”, he said.

Trump has drawn controversy before by calling for Muslims to be barred from entering the United States following a deadly shooting attack in San Bernardino, California in December.

ISIL ATTACKS BRUSSELS; TRUMP WARNS AMERICA IS NEXT (POLITICALLY CORRECT)

ISIL ATTACKS BRUSSELS; TRUMP WARNS AMERICA IS NEXT:

RADICAL ISLAM IS STILL AT WAR WITH WESTERN NATIONS.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IS TO BLAME FOR BRUSSELS.

EUROPE OPENED ITS BORDERS WITHOUT THOROUGH BACKGROUND CHECKS OF REFUGEES.

Sources: CNN, Fox News, YouTube

****** Donald Trump: Brussels 'just the beginning

Donald Trump reacted to the explosions that rocked Brussels Tuesday morning, describing the scene as a "disaster" and warning that "this is just the beginning."

The Republican front-runner, who has made immigration and security issues central to his 2016 presidential bid, discussed the reported suicide attacks in an interview on Fox News' "Fox and Friends."

"I will tell you, I've been talking about this a long time, and look at Brussels," Trump said. "Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place with zero crime. And now it's a disaster city. It's a total disaster, and we have to be very careful in the United States, we have to be very careful and very vigilant as to who we allow in this country. "

In an another interview, Trump also said he would be "fine" with waterboarding Salah Abdeslam, one of the leaders of the Paris attacks several months ago who was just captured in Brussels, in order to get more information on potential future attacks.

"Well I'm not looking to break any news on your show, but frankly the waterboarding, if it was up to me, and if we changed the laws or have the laws, waterboarding would be fine," the Republican front-runner said on NBC's "Today" show. "I would say they should be able to do whatever they have to do."

"You know, we work within laws. They don't work within laws -- they have no laws. We work within laws. The waterboarding would be fine, and if they could expand the laws, I would do a lot more than waterboarding," he said.

Trump has vacillated in his campaign about whether or not he would pursue using waterboarding -- which is considered torture and thus illegal. After getting criticized by former national security officials, Trump said he would instead seek to expand the laws, presumably to make such tactics legal.

On Fox, he described Brussels now as an "armed camp."

"If you went into Brussels 20 years ago, it was like a magical city. Now you look at it, it's an armed camp," Trump said. "You want to lead your life, you don't want to be living in an armed camp for your whole life. And there is a certain group of people that is making living a normal life impossible."

Trump was quick to link the attacks to Muslim refugees and migrants from the Middle East who have flooded into Europe as a result of Syria's civil war and turmoil in the region.

"It's going to get worse and worse. In my opinion, this is just the beginning. It will get worse and worse because we are lax and we are foolish -- we can't allow these people, at this point we cannot allow these people to come into our country. I'm sorry," he said. "This is a story that just seems to be more and more happening and it's really not very pretty to watch."

Europeans, Trump warned, need to change their tactics.

"Those countries better get smart fast, because they're just disintegrating," he said.

Trump also took the opportunity to criticize "liberal policies" that he blamed for the tension and fear surrounding the refugee crisis.

"We're not the victims here -- we're acting like this is our fault," he said. "That's the problem with the liberal policies of this country and this world, it's acting like it's our fault. It's not our fault, okay, it's not our fault. It's their fault. And they have to come out and they have to say, hey look, this is happening."

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton told NBC's "Today" show the U.S. has to be "absolutely smart and strong and steady in how we respond."

"We've got to stand in solidarity with our European allies," she said.

But the former secretary of state cautioned against blanket bans on immigrants based on the attacks.

"It's unrealistic to say we're going to completely shut down our borders to everyone," she said. "I know that Americans have every reason to be frightened by what they see, (but) we've got to work this through, consistent with our values."

Clinton said in a statement that "the people of Brussels, of Europe and of the world will not be intimidated by these vicious killers."

"Today's attacks will only strengthen our resolve to stand together as allies and defeat terrorism and radical jihadism around the world," she said.

She later tweeted, "My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and wounded, and all the people of Belgium" and "These terrorists seek to undermine the democratic values that are the foundation of our way of life. They will never succeed. -H"

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called the attack "another cowardly attempt to terrorize innocent civilians."

"Today's attack is a brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy ISIS. This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue," he said in a statement.

He also tweeted, "We offer our deepest condolences to the people of Brussels and stand with our European allies to offer any necessary assistance."

"The wave of terror that has been unleashed in Europe and elsewhere around the world are attacks against our very way of life and against the democratic values upon which our political systems have been built," he said in a statement. "We and our allies must rededicate ourselves to these values of freedom and human rights. We must utterly reject the use of deadly acts of terror."

Later, Kasich called on President Barack Obama, currently on a foreign trip to Cuba, to return to the U.S.

"The president must return home immediately and get to work with our allies to respond with strength against the enemies of the west," he tweeted.

Though the attackers have yet to be identified, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called the blasts "just the latest in a string of coordinated attacks by radical Islamic terrorists perpetrated those who are waging war against all who do not accept their extreme strain of Islam," in a Facebook post.

"Radical Islam is at war with us," he said, and accused Obama of refusing to "acknowledge this reality."

OBAMA'S FINAL SOTU SPEECH - HE LOOKS OLDER, STILL HAS POLITICAL SWAG (VIDEO)

OBAMA'S FINAL SOTU SPEECH - HE LOOKS OLDER, STILL HAS POLITICAL SWAG: 

PAUL RYAN'S FIRST SOTU AS HOUSE SPEAKER.

~ 8 Key Quotes From Obama's 2016 State Of The Union

In his final State of the Union Address, President Obama largely avoided requests for Congress to approve specific programs, instead focusing on broad themes about America's future.

Here are eight key passages from his speech:

1. On bipartisanship

"Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and the other leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget and make tax cuts permanent for working families. So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse. We just might surprise the cynics again."

2. On the economy

"Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction. What is true — and the reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious — is that the economy has been changing in profound ways, changes that started long before the Great Recession hit and haven’t let up."

3. On combating cancer

"Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer. Last month, he worked with this Congress to give scientists at the National Institutes of Health the strongest resources they’ve had in over a decade. Tonight, I’m announcing a new national effort to get it done. And because he’s gone to the mat for all of us, on so many issues over the past forty years, I’m putting Joe in charge of Mission Control."

4. On climate change

"We’ve got to accelerate the transition away from dirty energy. Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future — especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet."

5. On U.S. strength

The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It’s not even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world ... when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead — they call us.

6. On the Islamic State

"As we focus on destroying ISIL, over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands. Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence. That’s the story ISIL wants to tell; that’s the kind of propaganda they use to recruit. ... We just need to call them what they are — killers and fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed."

7. On diversity

"We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. This isn’t a matter of political correctness. It’s a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith."

8. On politics

"The future we want — opportunity and security for our families; a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids — all that is within our reach. But it will only happen if we work together. It will only happen if we can have rational, constructive debates.It will only happen if we fix our politics."

Sources: PBS, USA Today, Youtube