It's that time to step back and say, how can I support Atlas in her
efforts to bring America to her senses and save this great nation? There is little to no money in
blogging, so it's incumbent upon you to help keep Atlas going. I don't sell dvds of my videos or podcasts - so contributions for my work from readers is essential. This is the paradigm for new media. I rely on you to keep Atlas going. Madison Avenue does not support right of center bloggers. If they buy blogs at all, it's the Huff Po and their ugly ilk.
So in the interest of capitalism, work = pay, and free speech, I ask you to contribute or take a voluntary subscription to Atlas, whatever it's worth to you.
It's time for the Atlas quarterly contribution drive.
Bear in mind, it takes enormous time and effort to build this new media news source, so help Atlas run. Go here and keep the blog on fire.
For a one time contribution: click here:
Or be an Atlas subscriber. It's monthly, it's low. It helps build strong alternative, new media.
I have a one hour interview today with Duane Lester on blogging. Yes, that necessary evvvvvvvvvvvvil. Tune in at 4 pm (EASTERN) on RFC Radio. Listen here. It's on internet radio.
Front Page magazine is running part II of my interview with Jamie Glazov here. If you missed part I, go here. Today we talked about Aqsa Parvez. Women -- it's what the war is really about.
I thought my readers would get a kick out of this email exchange
with an ex-Reaganite and BDS, Bush Derangement Syndrome sufferer - always
good for a laugh :)
Believe it or not, Bartlett worked in the Reagan White House and at the Treasury Department under President George H.W. Bush. Since 1993, Bartlett had been affiliated with the National Center for Policy Analysis, a free-market think tank based in Dallas, Texas. In 2005 he was fired by the NCPA for his outspoken criticism of President George W. Bush.
Apart from the disconnect from humanity and his use of expletives, he's a lovely man, I am sure.
Just for the record, I do not know this fellow nor have we ever corresponded before. This is our first communication. Brucie boy, I am sure this is the beginning of a bee-yoo-tee-ful relationship. :)
Subject: RE: Neda
Date: 7/5/2009 2:15:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: bartlettbruce@verizon.net
To: writeatlas@aol.com [Pamela]
Sent from the Internet (Details)
I think your post about her being a Christian is utterly
irresponsible. The ONLY effect will be to give the government another
excuse to crack down on demonstrators. When people die because of this
I hope you are happy.
Bruce Bartlett
[Address redacted]
www.facebook.com/bruce.bartlett
Bruce Bartlett's new book is available for preorder: The New
American Economy: The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward.
From: writeatlas@aol.com [Pamela]
Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 3:11 PM
To: bartlettbruce@verizon.net
Subject: Re: Neda
Oh, so the hundreds that were killed and brutally beaten and thousands
arrested before I ran it were just a footnote. You are a bloodless
inhumane creature (can't say soul, you haven't any).
I feel sorry for you.
Keep covering for Ahmadinejad.
Good luck with that and looking yourself in the mirror.
Yours in liberty,
Pamela Geller
Atlas Shrugs
Editor and Publisher
Subject: RE: Neda
Date: 7/5/2009 4:03:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: bartlettbruce@verizon.net
To: writeatlas@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
You are a total fucking asshole.
Bruce Bartlett
[Address redacted]
(703) XXXXXXXXX
www.facebook.com/bruce.bartlett
Bruce Bartlett's new book is available for preorder: The New American Economy: The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward.
In a blatant attempt to stop the march of progress, now comes this outrage. If newspapers are dying, good riddance to bad rubbish. The death of propagandists and disinformationalists can't come soon enough. America is in trouble. The inadequate traitor in the White House could never have been elected had it not been for the greatest act of perfidy in the media history. They have long abdicated their role as public servants. They are guilty of high treason.
Of all the misguided
schemes put forth lately to save newspapers (micropayments!blame
Google!), the one put forth by Judge Richard Posner has to be the most
jaw-dropping. He suggests that linking to copyrighted material should be
outlawed.
No, Posner does not work for the Associated Press (which also has some strange
ideas on linking). He is (normally) considered to be one of the great legal
minds of our time. Posner is a United States Court of Appeals judge in Chicago
and legal scholar who was once considered a potential Supreme Court nominee. He
is someone who should know better. Yet in a blog
post last week on the future of newspapers, he concludes there may be only
one way to save the industry:
Expanding copyright law to bar online access to copyrighted materials without
the copyright holder’s consent, or to bar linking to or paraphrasing copyrighted
materials without the copyright holder’s consent . . .
Let me repeat that. He wants to “bar linking” to newspaper articles or any
copyrighted material without the “copyright holder’s consent.” I am sorry Judge
Posner, but I don’t need to ask your permission to link to your blog post or to
a newspaper article online. That is just the way the Web works. If newspapers
don’t like it, they don’t need to be on the Web.
UPDATE: And I failed to add - what about all the stories newspapers steal from the bloggers. Big media too. This happens all the time. Where is out restitution?
Very sad to hear a blogger I am so very fond of, Snooper (The Snooper Report), had a mild stroke. Deb tells me Snooper is in the hospital doing well. I ask my readers to say a little prayer asking for his quick recovery, for assuring him of all our love, and for his return to his invaluable work defending our liberties and supporting our troops.
He's a good man, and yes, there is a special place in my heart for bloggers. Hang on Snooper!
From the tweetdeck, tweeting the revolution. Unconfirmed reportage from the street, as the leftists and their media handmaidens in America hold their noses and pray this goes away. President Pantywaist: come out, come out, wherever you are. Ugh.
FB friend says: Iran source: there is a
military tank in Azadi Square.about 2 hours agofrom web
An eyewitness
confirmed this report. end quoteabout 3 hours agofrom web
What is notable
about Shiraz is that the security forces have sometimes lashed out randomly at
people who might only look like protesters.about 3 hours agofrom web
from private
listserv: I received communication from Shiraz that there have been clashes in
different parts of the city.about 3 hours agofrom web
many thanks to
midphase for taking such good care of us and our site.about 3 hours agofrom web
Call from Iran
reports severe skin burns due to the unknown liquid dropped from helicopters.
#iranElection #gr88about 3 hours agofrom HootSuite
RT omid007 reports
arrest of journalist Jila Bani Yaghoubabout 3 hours agofrom web
RT Omid007
reporting more journalists arrested in iran.about 3 hours agofrom web
Omid007: Haft Hooz
SQ. is on fire, Protesters are so angry and try to push back Bassij with Coctel
Molotov...about 3 hours agofrom web
Conf'd Iran
Fatemiyeh Hospital Tehran: 30-40 dead as of 11pm; 200 injured. Police taking
names of incoming injured. #iranelectionabout 3 hours agofrom HootSuite
Omid07 says Basij
base burned by protesters at Navab St. (South Tehran)about 4 hours agofrom web
Omid007 says:
Security Forces attacked Khomeini Hospital to arrest injured protesters, it is
said at least 30 injured are there...about 4 hours agofrom web
according to same
private listserv source, "People from all around Tehran are gathering to march
into the city later at night."about 4 hours agofrom web
unloaded massive
amounts of guns for more than 500 basijies whom had been sent there several
hours earlier to confront the demonstrators.about 4 hours agofrom web
British embassy is now accepting injured Iranians: 198 Ferdowsi Avenue,
Tehran.
WE CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH, MULTIPLE SOURCES CONFIRM: BASIJ ARE AT
HOSPITALS. GO TO EMBASSIES
Obama refers to "Supreme Leader" -unusual for a US president to be so deferential - not for BO
Memo to Obama: Dude, you really think Khamenei gives a rip about "respect of the international community?"
The vids I'm seeing will probably haunt me forever. And I'm not even there.
Check out Reza Pahlavi's (son of late Shah of Iran) website: He believe in a democratic & secular Iran. http://twurl.nl/vpeedn
Will the army move in defence of the ppl? There are voices in highest ranks calling for this.
Daily Kos attacks Conservatives for their hatred of Ahmadinejad... http://twurl.nl/vey07y (Yes I hate Islamic fanatics. It's moral to do so)
State Dept. doesn't think this is a revolution yet. Hasn't met the quota on women shot in the heart by snipers.
GovSarahPalin W/deadly Iranian protests be thankful 4 & support U.S. Mil defending OUR democracy/freedom. God protect the innocent
'Marg bar Khamenei' rings out all over Tehran and rest of Iran. Something big is happening.
Netherlands Embassy accepts injured:
I used to feel badly for Palestinians; I used to think maybe Mullah's helping in Lebanon had some food in it; boy I was wrong.
would be saddened if all of this energy were for naught I hope it becomes far more than just
CNN: Iranian-American protester in LA says no diff b/n Ahmadi and Mousavi; revolution needed
The vid of young woman shot in #IranElection protest was taken down. Someone has reposted it. http://bit.ly/5oXrG
WARNING Tweets re maps to embassies-some graficaly porno!!!BEWARE
Students shot in front of camera http://bit.ly/sFw0A
"I am prepared For martyrdom, go on strike if I am arrested"
Land lines down now. I think fon off hook worked. Than you everyone. #iranelection.
IranUpdates: From Iran- my motherland is fire and blood, my brother's and sister's are dead in the streets
WE CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH, MULTIPLE SOURCES CONFIRM: BASIJ ARE AT HOSPITALS. GO TO EMBASSIES
Hospital Tehran: 30-40 dead as of 11pm; 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.
PLEASE, THIS CAN SAVE LIVES. RT: First Aid info in Farsi & Eng http://gr88.tumblr.com/
WE CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH, MULTIPLE SOURCES CONFIRM: BASIJ ARE AT HOSPITALS. GO TO EMBASSIES.
TehranBureau Fatemiyeh Hospital Tehran: 30-40 dead as of 11pm; 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.
please tell the PM to open our embassy in Tehran or explain Canada's shameful reasons for turning away wounded
drbeckloff: RT @Misha1234 RT @oxfordgirl:Frmr Ahmadinejad supportrs askin where is the president as we face our worst crisis in 30 years?
Canada's embassies are currently closed. Spoke to FOA in Ott. You can emailcomplaint: sos@international.gc.ca
Be brave IRAN! They can't stop your spirit!
Atlantic had these tweets:
Sodium metabisulfite Na2S2O5 mixed with water (5% solution) cures CS tear gas. Wash eyes with solution
Deeply concerned on what will happen in the coming hours..
My heart is pounding fast as I'm hearing about dead ppl lying on streets in Tehran
Will chemical warfare B next by the gvmt to kill ppl? Seems they're doing anything 2 stop ppl
Bassij opened gunfire on people near Sadeghieh, West of Tehran.
hospital source - Tehran hospitals report hundreds of casualtys -
Unconfirmed - The Army will not follow orders to kill the people
European embassies reportedly open doors for injured, tell families to take them there.
People of Iran - be ready to take people from the streets tonight and give protection
Tehran is burning with the blood of our Martyrs - The streets are full of dead -
from a source in tehran: As of an hour or 2 ago, I feel like I'm in a police state for the first time.
It's a delicate dance. Life continues to go on, but as of late this afternoon Basij are everywhere.
3:31 PM ET -- "I was in the middle of a war." Another email
from a contact in Iran:
You couldn't imagin what I saw tonight, I walked down many
streets (Vali asr, keshavars, amir abad, Fatemi, Shademan, Satarkhan, Khosro),
and I was injured by tears gas, but the main thing : The big killer group,
called "Basij", weared our special military service group -"Sepah"- dresses and
they were all armed , I saw by myself one of them had only around 15 years
old!!!! and he had the shot order! I saw a girl injured by gon shot (in Amir
abad St.)! and there weren't enough ambulances . I walked through Shademan St.
they start shooting , a young boy in front of my eyes murdered , and 3 other
people were injured , there were also a big fight between people and Basij at
Tohid Sq. 7 people was murdered there, I walked from my company to my home , It
was taken 4 hours and I couldn't be able to make a video , cause I was in the
middle of war!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3:25 PM ET -- Riot police target people with cell phone. A
brave Iranian photographer has been sending us photos (through an amazing
Iranian-American reader who has been helping us cover the situation since we
started). The photos are in the slideshow currently on the homepage.
The photographer also included this note:
I could not get through. the guards were hitting people really hard
to block their way. I got hit a few times, fortunately a few bruises but nothing
major. they were hitting the women as hard if it didn't seem harder. they
smashed all mobiles and then smack the mobile owners with batons. they also
blocked all above ground routes out. the only way out was via the
metro
This isn't the first we've heard of the riot police and basiji targeting
people with cell phones and mobile devices. A contact from the National Iranian
American Council wrote this today:
Security and police have been confiscating cameras and arresting
those who are taking footage. I saw this young guy taking a video and 5 people
attacked him and throughout it all he help his hand up with a peace sign.- then
they arrested him. They have also handcuffed students to the Tehran University
fence.
Lol, join the cool crew, baby ......... My Pet Jawa has joined our team of anti-jihadists raising dough for goodies for our warriors fighting the jihad overseas! To
view current scores, check out the Blogger
Competition page (not quite neck and neck with big vanilla, not yet anyway).
Thanks to all who have helped us close that gap -- because once again, the
winner will not be Hot Air or the Anti-Jihadists, but the troops, whether you go
through the big corporation or the plucky little guys!
Meanwhile, The Anti-Jihadists team continues to grow, as the coolest kids on
the Internet continue to join us. Latest on board are Creeping Sharia,
Theodore's World, and
our old pal Weasel
Zippers.
It isn't too late -- you can still join us on The Anti-Jihadists! Do so by writing to
eanderson@moveamericaforward.org.
Above all, to send Troopathon care packages to the troops that will be
credited to The Anti-Jihadists, please use this order form.
Troopathon 2009 comes June 25, featuring George H. W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Rush
Limbaugh, Jackie Mason, Jon Voight, Kevin Farley, Deroy Murdock, Roger
Hedgecock, Andrea Shea King, Martha Zoller, and many others -- including me.
This cutting edge live
webcast event brings together talk radio hosts, megastars of film and
television, musical guests, journalists, military and Gold-star families,
pro-troop groups and many more.
The goal of this charity
fundraiser is to send the largest ever shipment of care packages to our brave
men and women of the armed forces serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo
Bay.
Viewers are encouraged to sponsor care packages (donations are tax
deductible) for the troops and each one includes a personalized message and
items that our troops have requested that make their life a little easier while
they are far from home, such as sun-screen, Gatorade, deodorant, coffee, cookies
and much more.
UPDATE: WOO HOO HOO!
Our First Daily Prize Winner: The
Anti-Jihadists Team!
Robert Spencer's
Anti-Jihadists Team managed its first upset winning our first Daily Competition!
In the 24-hour period, running yesterday June 18th from 12:01 pm PST to today
June 19th at 11:59 am PST, the Anti-Jihadists blogs referred $974.84 in care
package contributions and the Hot Air Steamers referred $235.97.
Move America Forward
congratulates the Anti-Jihadist Team members-we will be contacting you soon
about your Starbucks gift card!
And from the fantastic
blog postings we've seen-we're sure this isn't the last upset!
For the overall
standings, the Ed Morrissey's Hot Air Steamers Team continues to hold onto the
lead with $5,731.33 for care packages, the Anti-Jihadists remain in second with
$3,724.46, and Marc Danziger's Team COINS is now in third with $24.99. The
latest roster and standings can be seen here.
The Anti-Jihadists'
latest rally proves that this competition is far from over. Team COINS is now on
the board with its first care package contribution and we hope the great Ron
Winter and his Greyhawks Team will follow shortly, or better yet-come from
behind to dominate!
As one 70 year-old Greek-accented man trying to molest me when I was almost 18
explained: "You should be happy that people wanna to touch you. It mean you
young, you beautiful. When you old, nobody gonna wanna touch you--and you gonna
miss it."
Julia Gorin is funny. Especially when she is whining. In the Puff Ho, no less. Here's her snark on the Playboy hate f**k piece.
Like the conservatives and liberals alike who were outraged by Playboy.com's
hate-sex fantasies about Republican women this month, I also
took exception to Guy Cimbalo's immediately-pulled piece "So Right It's Wrong."
After all, why wasn't I included?
Nothing says too fat and not famous enough like being excluded from the
angry-sex fantasies of a liberal who despises conservative women. I mean, I'm
the most famous conservative female comedian in the country, by virtue of being
the only conservative female comedian in the country.
Yes, the piece was in poor taste and yes, the outrage by the women he reviles
and defiles in his mind was warranted. But as far as comedy for a porn mag goes,
it was a legitimate bit. And, I daresay, it contained some real laughs. I mean,
ZILF--"Zionist I'd Like to F**k"--about my pal Pamela Geller, was brilliant. And
the Michelle Malkin "get-off-my-lawn stare" was hilarious. (Don't worry,
Guy--she's not nice to conservatives either.)
There's more. Go. Laugh a little. While it's still legal.
I thought Atlas readers ought to know that I received an apology from the nasty letter writer who said some vile things. We all make mistakes. Mr. Marlow corrected his. Please do not hold his company to account. They have contacted me a number of times - mortified and embarrassed. How can I thank Atlas readers? The company received a significant amount of negative e-mail. At this point I am concerned that this might to haunt their business. That would be wrong.
Ms. Geller:
On Friday June 12, 2009 I sent to your email address a vile and profane email that I had absolutely no reason to send. Immediately after sending this email I realized that I had done something terribly wrong and deeply regretted sending it.
It's with the heaviest of hearts that I ask for your forgiveness and offer the most sincere apologies, what I did was completely unconsionable and in the poorest of taste. You have every right to voice your views in any medium you choose without fear of being being the subject of the kind of email I sent to you. No one deserves to be belittled and demeaned in this manner.
In closing I hope you will accept my sincere apology for an act that was unspeakable, out of character for me and in no way reflects on who I actually am as a person.
Respectfully,
Jerry Marlow
Brewerton, NY
The President of Hayner Hoyt has contacted me several times, attempting to make it right. I am satisfied.
Please understand his e-mail is in no way a representation of The Hayner Hoyt
Corporation, and the perception that it is could significantly affect our
reputation and our business.
Please help. As a conservative professional, you must
understand the impact that type of negative publicity could have on a small
business. We are a good company with many wonderful employees. Mr. Marlow is
not one of them and has been dealt with.
A Las Vegas newspaper says it has been served a federal grand jury subpoena seeking information about
readers who posted comments on the paper's Web site.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal
reported Tuesday that its editor, Thomas Mitchell, plans to fight the request,
which the newspaper received after reporting on a federal tax fraud case against
business owner Robert Kahre.
The subpoena seeks the identities and personal information about people who
posted comments on the story. The newspaper said prosecutors told the judge in
the case that some comments hinted at acts of violence and the subpoena was
issued out of concern for jurors' safety.
Mitchell said anonymous speech is "a fundamental and historic part of this
country." The newspaper would consider cooperating if specific crimes or real
threats were presented, he said.
The newspaper said the subpoena bears the name of U.S. Assistant District Attorney J. Gregory Damm, a
lawyer on the Justice Department
team that is prosecuting Kahre and others on charges including income tax evasion, fraud and
criminal conspiracy.
Grand jury proceedings are
secret, and the subpoena is not a public record.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for Nevada declined to comment.
The newspaper said it received the subpoena June 2, a week after its story
describing the government's case against Kahre, a Las Vegas construction company
executive accused of paying contractors with gold and silver U.S. coins based on
the precious metal value of the
coins but using the much lower face value of the coins for tax purposes. Kahre
and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty.
The story drew nearly 175 online comments by Monday night, most in support of
Kahre and critical of the government and jurors and attorneys in the case.
One commentator said: "The sad thing is there are 12 dummies on the jury who
will convict him. They should be hung along with the feds."
Another called Damm a "socialist, fascist Mormon" and a "Nazi moron."
It seems to me that the ummah (the Muslim world) can't stomach the idea of a Jewish state. I can't stomach the idea of an Islamic state. The time has come to delegitimize every Islamic nation in the world, disband the Organization of the Islamic Conference and ban the Alliance of Civilizations.
And then were will be peace in the world. BAN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES. Just think of all the heads that won't roll. Oorah!
Consistency. "Netanyahu speech scuppers peace hopes: Mubarak," from AFP, June 15 (thanks to James):
CAIRO - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Monday that Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the Palestinians to recognise
Israel as a Jewish state torpedoed the chance for peace.
“The call to recognise Israel as a Jewish state complicates things further
and scuppers th [sic] this appeal in Egypt or elsewhere.”
Dr. Zeus, da poet, sent me this exchange pulled out of the swamps of gang-green:
haakondahl6/09/09
re 373:restitutor orbis
Although I don't think BHO is a real Muslim(and lets face it, Jeremiah
Wright is more batshit crazy than any imam), he certainly panders enough to
them. I think calling him the first Muslim President, in the context of
Clintons "blackness" is not out of the realm of reason.
But that is *not* the context. President Clinton's "blackness" was praise,
not because being black is in and of itself praiseworthy, but because it was
intended as praise. President Obama's reputed Islam is a vicious smear, not
because Islam is in and of itself smear-worthy, but because it is intended as a
smear. In the palette of insults, if provocateur is blue and traitor is red,
this is a whole 'nother fucking palette of insult.
Face it--Frank Gaffney just went all Pam Geller. Stop making excuses, or
risk going down that shit-spattered path yourselves.
Whereupon Dr. Zeus was inspired to write this poem :)
We are all goin' Geller
I think you can see
All goin' Geller, Frank and me
Goin' Geller with that other feller
All goin' Geller, you, him and me
It's da move, it's wild and free
Go Geller, mah maaaan
Go Geller right now
You won't regret it
She got what it takes
You won't ever fret it
Take a bow, Pammycakes
We are all goin' Geller
I know you can see
Geert and Ken and Sammy and me
She's hotter'n Nelson Rockefeller All goin' Geller, tell you right now
If you ain't goin' Geller, you a stoopid cow
So, in the spirit of the Hill's 50 Most Beautiful lists, I present to you "The
15 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media."
Do keep in mind that this list only covers women in the new media. That means
no Fox News babes, no congressional aides, and no think tankers -- unless they
have a new media presence as well.
Additionally, since I know a lot of women who were being evaluated on this
list, I didn't think it would be fair for me to select them alone. So, I put
together a large list of women and had a group of judges score their photos.
Beyond me, the other judges were...
While pussified political elites, cowardly rabbis and priests apologize for Islam - the jihad imperialism jumps ahead five spaces. And any one of us who dares speak out risks losing our life or our free speech.
You know where Atlas stands on this. Channeling Patrick Henry. In this case, they went after talk radio host Rusty Humphries, but actually meant to issue the death threat against Rusty Shackleford of The Jawa Report. But at least they got the first name right, so that's pretty good for these learned and righteous pious Muslims.
Obama is one of them, so I expect no righteous outrage. But where is the judiciary, the justice system, law enforcement? Everybody is smokin da hookah.
Islamic death threat targets U.S. radio host
'We will see his fat rotting torso dumped on the side of the road or in
some swamp'
JERUSALEM – A top U.S. radio talk show host has become the subject of an
Islamist Internet death threat, WND has learned.
Rusty Humphries, whose show is broadcast on over 250 stations through Talk
Radio Network, was the target of the tirade, posted on a blog powered by Google
entitled, "The Jew Report." Humphries is an outspoken critic of Islamic
terrorism and a strong supporter of the U.S.-led war on terror.
Alongside a dated picture of Humphries posing with commentator and star
blogger Michelle Malkin, the threat begins: "Yes this Fat descusting (sic) pig
you are looking at is the boss of the website Jawareport.com but their are many
fat kafirs like him you might ask why are we talking about him here's why."
The blog claimed Muslims in Florida are being "harassed" because of
Humphries, while his "work," seemingly as Shackleford, led to the raiding of
mosques and police interrogations of Muslims.
A year ago, a Jewish writer attacked me for saying that Obama was not pro-Israel. Now that he has been president for 100 days, how has that worked out? Here is what they wrote about me in May 2008 -- yeah, I'm the "crazy, inexplicably popular blogger"...lol:
False friends of Israel, on the other hand, go into a petit mal seizure at the slightest hint of deviation from a platform of dispatching all the Palestinians with extreme prejudice, and grand mal when that deviationism comes from a fellow Jew. So it only stands to reason that this crazy, inexplicably popular blogger
would try to fulfill her service to Israel by smearing a better and
truer Zionist than she could ever be, exclaiming: "JEWICIDAL JIHADI
BENDS OVER, SUBMITS DEMANDS [sic] ISRAEL." And there's more! "Atlas" --- as she preposterously calls herself out of some deeply confused homage to a failed novelist-cum-failed philosopher who actually was
a Jew who loathed Judaism --- wants to let us know that in addition to
all his jihadi faggotry, Goldberg is also a "self-loathing" "jihadi" .....
But Goldberg's deepest betrayal of his people, for which "Atlas" would
call him a Kapo if she actually knew anything about Jewish history, is
--- you guessed it --- explaining to the goyim that "Mr. Obama is
actually more pro-Israel than either Ehud Olmert or Ehud Barak...[t]o
say nothing of John McCain and President George W. Bush...." To which
"Atlas" responds, staying classy, "Obama is more pro-Israel than Hitler
maybe...."
It goes on and on in its condescending, sophomoric rhetoric. So here you have a leftist Jew deriding a proud zionist for fighting for Israel. Read the article. How does a schmuck like Koffler sleep nights selling out his own beleaguered people? At the time I did respond here: Loosey Jewcy Attack. But I think it a worthwhile exercise to read this fool's post and then review what has actually happened one year later.
Here are just a few highlights from the jihad sympathizing president's first 100 days:
Obama's National Security Adviser James Jones told a European foreign minister that Obama is planning to build an anti-Israel coalition with the Arabs and Europe to compel Israel to surrender Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem to the Palestinians. (more here)
SINCE IT came into office a month ago, every single
Middle East policy the Obama administration has announced has been
antithetical to Israel's national security interests. From President
Barack Obama's intense desire to appease Iran's mullahs in open
discussions; to his stated commitment to establish a Palestinian state
as quickly as possible despite the Palestinians' open rejection of
Israel's right to exist and support for terrorism; to his expressed
support for the so-called Saudi peace plan, which would require Israel
to commit national suicide by contracting to within indefensible
borders and accepting millions of hostile, foreign-born Arabs as
citizens and residents of the rump Jewish state; to his decision to end
US sanctions against Syria and return the US ambassador to Damascus; to
his plan to withdraw US forces from Iraq and so give Iran an arc of
uninterrupted control extending from Iran to Lebanon, every single
concrete policy Obama has enunciated harms Israel. (Glick here)
.........the US is curtailing its
military aid to Israel. Under new Pentagon guidelines, the Ministry of
Defense must give a detailed accounting of how it uses every item it
purchases with US aid money. As a consequence, the Defense Ministry
issued new instructions to the IDF that from now Israel's purchases
from the US will be limited to defensive armaments and systems aimed at
preserving its "qualitative edge" against its enemies." (more here)
In another shocking blow to Israel, the Obama administration
has announced reversal of an important policy toward Israel, one that
weakens that nation's ability to survive in its hostile neighborhood.
As
long as Israel was thought to possess nuclear weapons, enemies might be
reluctant to try to destroy Israel. During the 1973 War, it was rumored
that the mere threat of Israel resorting to nuclear weapons led to a
massive resupply effort by America and to the willingness of Israel's
enemies to agree to a truce. Surrounded by numerically superior nations
-- and an Arab world that can afford to buy the best weapons from
around the world -- the rumored possession by Israel of an atomic
bomb(s) has probably warded off further warfare and bloodshed. Every US
administration has acquiesced in this policy, seeing it as a sensible
of a nation that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust and one that was
surrounded by neighbors promising to commit another. There have been
winks and nods, even going back to the Kennedy years, about Israel's
stance.
Now that policy has finally been threatened -- not by the raft of
traditional enemies and international organizations that have always
advocated that Israel sign the agreement, but by the Obama
administration.
Former
US House speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday blasted the Obama
administration for setting itself on a collision course with Israel and
endangering the Jewish state, ahead of his address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
"They are systematically setting up the most decisive confrontation
that we've ever seen," the leading Republican politician told The
Jerusalem Post, referring to news reports about the administration's
approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
When questioned about the possible abandonment of Israel by America, Hagmann
told Yonah, "The Obama administration is no friend to Israel, is no friend to
the Jews in America and is no friend to democracy or freedom in America. …Just
by his very appointments, we can see him filling positions of power with people
who are anti-Semitic, who want to see Israel essentially dissolved as a nation,
if not by diplomacy, then certainly by war."
In his report, the unnamed intelligence source told Hagmann, “I have every
reason to believe, based on what I’ve seen at my level of [security] clearance
especially over the last several years, that Israel will soon be completely on
their own… or worse.” He explained this would happen “when our administration
provides more support to Arab countries [with] financial and military aid,
undercutting Israel’s defense efforts all while pushing Israel to succumb to the
pressure of unreasonable demands designed to end with their political
annihilation as a nation.”
[...]
The intelligence officer explained that the turnover of American policy
towards Israel could occur through a manner that he dubbed 'malicious
intelligence," which Haggman defined as information that is taken from its raw
form. It then is morphed into something else to promote different interests,
"where intelligence and politics meet and often collide,” he said. A method
“that has been molded and massaged to advance the agendas of a select few,” he
elaborated.
In the case of the relationship between America and Israel, he noted, malicious
intelligence is being used to turn over the U.S. to a more anti-Israel
policy and forge ahead with a more pro-PA or pro-Islamist one.
“Robert Spencer posted a veiled threat today to attack me physically.”
Charles Johnson, LGF April 26, 2009
Anyone who has made a fool out of the mainstream media as often as the Charles Johnson has can’t be all bad – even if he is making a bigger fool out of himself these days. Five years ago, the talented creator of the Little Green Footballs blog and “co-founder” of Pajamas Media (a top-notch web magazine) went toe-to-toe with CBS News and not only took down Dan Rather, but also won a great deal of respect for on-line journalism in the process…
Then things got weird. Really weird.
What happened to the nearly 60-year-old Johnson after hitting his high-water mark is anyone’s guess. Did success go to his head, or was he really that… um... well-grounded to begin with?
LGF has always had the look and feel of someone trying just a little too hard to be the coolest smart guy in the room. The music video posts and alleged mountain-bike exploits blend with the exaggerated moralizing and mind-numbing philosophical excerpts about as naturally as a ponytail perched on top of a middle-aged face and gut. (Something tells us that chilling with Charles might be about as fun as, say, tying one on with Ross Perot).
Still, no one could have anticipated Johnson getting so worked up over a petty grievance that he would betray courageous allies who already have a hard enough time battling Islamic violence and tyranny in an age of politically correctness.
Johnson's strange tale of paranoia and rage is probably best told by others. What we will say is that his once-promising blog is, today, little more than a narcissistic venue for pursuing personal vendettas and promoting rigid viewpoints on a narrow range of issues. At one time, LGF was an advocate of free speech and a reliable opponent of Islamic totalitarianism. Now Johnson literally bans opposing viewpoints and spends much of his time smearing anti-Jihadis and “creationists” with the same shady tactics once used against him.
While we sympathize with blog administrators who find it necessary to police against extremists and imposters, the LGF editor is so notorious for purging dissenting comments and permanently expelling readers who don’t toe the ideological line that being banned actually has a name - “getting CJ’d.”. Like a child throwing a public tantrum, Johnson has even taken the extraordinary step of blocking certain sites from linking directly to his own posts.
As a result of this "Green Purge," the former flagship of the New Media, has all but officially devolved into a redundant monologue that exists mainly as a shifting monument to the editor’s perceived ethical superiority. Johnson’s posts are often bolstered by a dwindling army of loyal hanger-ons, who massage his ego with the sort of obsequious follow-up that brings to mind a “you da’ man” crowd trailing Tiger Woods. Not surprisingly, the blog has suffered declining readership over the last couple of years.
Filtering out contrary opinion also seems to have deepened Johnson’s sense of moral certitude to the point that he is attacking former friends, such as Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch), Pam Geller (Atlas Shrugs) and many others, with unnecessary hair-splitting and flimsy “guilt-by-association” slurs that are unconstructive and highly divisive. (Hence his Dhimwit nomination).
In fact, Charles Johnson is now CAIR’s point man for attacking its own critics - apparently dethroning the “Reverend” Jim Sutter, a utter crackpot whose specious attack on Robert Spencer is still being promoted by desperate Islamic Supremacists. (Ironically, Sutter's only other claim to fame is Internet censorship – with one of his targets in 2007 being LGF itself).
Johnson’s slander of Robert Spencer (and others) is only a bit more sophisticated than CAIR’s, although no less shallow. In order to establish that the founder of Jihad Watch is a bigot (or Nazi) who hates Muslims and Jews, it is first necessary to ignore what Spencer actually says about Muslims, Jews, Nazis and bigotry. Once this restriction is in place, an intricate “Six Degrees” linkage is concocted between the hapless Spencer and real-life neo-Nazis through some sort of Rube Goldberg-like sequence of personal associations. Somehow this is supposed to fool people into believing that Robert Spencer, a staunch public defender of Israel and chronicler of hate crimes against Jews, for example, is actually a closet anti-Semite.
Of course, Spencer’s support for Israel is one reason why he periodically brings down CAIR's wrath – and the irony doesn’t end there. The connection between Spencer and true Nazis is downright imaginary compared to the fact that CAIR and the Islamist terror group Hamas actually share the same parent organization. More importantly, although Spencer openly condemns neo-Nazis, CAIR adamantly refuses to condemn Hamas as a terrorist group even though its members routinely murder Jews!
So our message to Charles Johnson is… Good god, man – what are you doing? Being used by the likes of CAIR? Sinking to the clownish level of a Garofalo or Olbermann? Implying that Jewish Pam Geller is a neo-Nazi sympathizer and affable Robert Spencer is about to pull out a nine and throw down on you?
Come on now, Charles. You don't belong on this list. The bitterness is making you look small. Time to ditch this childish paranoia and move back into the real world... where the love is. Come on back to your homies.
All will be forgiven... and we promise not to let anyone call you a fascist!
Note: all beacons of democracy. Totalitarianism in one form or another, Islam or communism - name your poison.
CPJ names the worst online oppressors. Booming online cultures in many Asian and Middle Eastern nations have led to aggressive government repression. Burma leads the dishonor roll.
New York, April 30, 2009—With a military government that severely restricts Internet access and imprisons people for years for posting critical material, Burma is the worst place in the world to be a blogger, the Committee to Protect Journalists says in a new report. CPJ’s “10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger” also identifies a number of countries in the Middle East and Asia where Internet penetration has blossomed and government repression has grown in response.
“Bloggers are at the vanguard of the information revolution and their numbers are expanding rapidly,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “But governments are quickly learning how to turn technology against bloggers by censoring and filtering the Internet, restricting online access and mining personal data. When all else fails, the authorities simply jail a few bloggers to intimidate the rest of the online community into silence or self-censorship.”
Who will stand by the destroyer? Thuggery. Intimidation. Fear of an enemy outweighs outing an enemy? This is an outrage?
Since I now see even Michelle Malkin linking to Robert Spencer’s dishonest,
scummy attack piece, let me make this very clear: I did not alter that
photograph. Anyone who says this is either severely mistaken or lying.
Charles Johnson is making threats about going after Michelle Malkin. He says
he’s got lots of stuff to use against her. (here) (hat tip Kasper)
The man is evil. Malkin posted a link -- a link to the fauxtography scandal.
This is too rich. Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs falls for fauxtography. One might be surprised that no johnson could fall for so simple a photoshop, but don't be. He took the credit for the "fauxtography" and "rathergate" stories when they were, in fact, both discovered by readers (the latter at Powerline).
What is so disturbing and malevolent is the lengths he will goto to destroy the true and the brave. Think about that. Those fighting for Western values, against Islamic supremacism are his target. What does that tell you? The exposure of Johnson is a life lesson for all.
The top photo shows Vlaams Belang's Filip Dewinter with Pro-Köln's Markus
Beisicht in front of what appears to be a neo-Nazi demonstration. (Actually the
banners are from Antifa, Antifascistische Aktion, a violent Leftist group.)
That's the photo Johnson ran. The only problem? It's a fake. The second photo is
the real one: Dewinter and Beisicht on the roof of the Flemish Parliament in
Brussels.
How much can you trust Charles Johnson's information? Here are just a few
things he has gotten wrong:
2. Manfred Rouhs, a Pro-Köln member of the city council, is not a neo-Nazi.
Here is a statement from Rouhs:
"Our growing reputation in the middle of society has also made grow
the hatred of dhimmi parties and left wing groups against Pro-Köln. We are
democratic patriots, strictly defending our constitution and the freedom of
speech and expression.
We are also against the danger of Islamization, which includes the political
fight for our Judeo-Christian heritage. We defend our Jewish people against the
growing antisemitism of Muslim immigrants in Germany. We also know that in the
Near East conflict the State of Israel is confronted with a much more powerful
hatred and antisemitism from the Arab states. In this situation all democrats
have to support the right to exist and the right to self-defense for the State
of Israel, which is an outpost in the conflict with the Islamist threat. Our
sympathies as a German civil rights group in this case are clear -- although as
a regional anti-Islamization group we naturally do not make an active foreign
policy.
Our main objective is the political opposition against the Islamization of
Cologne and the mass immigration of Muslims to Germany and our home-state North
Rhine-Westphalia. For this we are campaigning with our friends from all over
Germany, Europe and the USA."
3. Markus Wiener of Pro-Pro-Köln sends this information:
The German Neonazi-Szene attacked Pro-Köln as "Zionists" and "men of
the system." The prominent German neo-Nazi party NPD attacked Pro-Köln also,
declaring the group to be their "main enemy." Pro-Köln has no neo-Nazis in
leading positions or even as members. The real neo-Nazis in Germany hate them
because of their positive relationship to Jews, Western immigrants, democracy
and human rights. Examples here and here. Pro-Köln has many Jewish members, including one of its
officers, Michael Kucherov.
How much can you trust Charles Johnson's information? About as much as you
can trust that top photo.
In case the faked photo disappears down the LGF memory hole, no worries: here's a
screenshot.
Oh, and Mr. Johnson, that Perez Hilton microphone photo? It's a fake too.
UPDATE: And just for knowing, I am not even going to Cologne.
Tip of the old hat to a rational man. This is a great post -- but I will only give you a taste because I want you to go over there and read it. Stacy McCain, rock on.
This was a Weimar-style failure of leadership. The Republicans in Washington
were doing the exact opposite of what the people who had elected them wanted
them to do. No surprise, then, that the GOP lost the 2006 mid-terms. And then
the Republicans nominated as their 2008 presidential candidate the chief Senate
advocate of "shamnesty," who proceeded to demonstrate
he was as inept and tone-deaf on economics as he was on immigration.
Given the threat we face here in America,
I'm willing to let the Germans evaluate how much of a fascist threat Rouhs and
Reitz pose to Germany, and I'm willing to let Pamela Geller decide which
conferences she does and does not attend.
And just for the record, nazis do not hang out with Jews, even pretty ones. Ever.
The media, of course, has a
narrative that they cannot stop spewing.
On Wednesday, 300,000 people (dangerous enough to be
suspicious characters to the Department of Homeland Security) gather around
America with barely a traffic ticket to show for it.
Thursday, the media — undeterred — is continuing their push
that this network, this audience and this host might be responsible for violence
that might happen.
This time, they focused their furious google searches on
locating conservative critics of me. Guess what? They're not hard to find. I
hack off conservatives just as much as liberals. (Well, maybe not quite as much…
but a lot.)
Today's Glenn Beck expert: Charles Johnson, a jazz musician,
software programmer and writer for the blog "Little Green Footballs."
Johnson says: "I don't know if he's necessarily going to
incite violence, but I do think it's irresponsible. It kind of drags down the
discourse to a level that I, for one, am not comfortable with."
As evidence of this lowered discourse, he posted a video
that supposedly showed a fan of mine yelling "burn the books" at a 9/12 project
meeting. Only later, did someone do the two clicks of research that showed she
was actually just a liberal there to make fun of the gathering.
That's not really the point. There probably are a couple of
stupid people at the meetings. There always will be stupid people saying stupid
things. There will always be violent people doing violent things.
But the insinuation that this network is somehow responsible
or approving of anything violent is ludicrous and quite honestly a destructive
attempt to silence free speech. That's something blogger Charles Johnson should
know about, since he's been called an anti-Muslim bigot by most of the same
people that unfairly said the same things about me.
We've come to a place where we're not even playing a game of
"blame the messenger," it's a game of "blame the messenger who's specifically
saying the opposite message."
That message — for the one trillionth time — is: If you are considering violence against anyone who isn't a pirate off the coast of Somalia, you are not only wrong, you are an enemy of the state and an enemy of freedom and liberty.
The Founding Fathers fought and died for our freedom so that we would have the structure available to achieve change without doing the same.
And you know that: 300,000 people peacefully gathered yesterday and honored our founders. That's why today, instead of an honest critique of the spending of Barack Obama, George W Bush and both sides of the aisle in Congress, you're getting non-stop "tea bag" jokes and accusations.
It's almost like they want to distract you from what's really important.
Thank you, Glenn Beck.
UPDATE: Tundra needs to update the bus. We need an 18 wheeler!
Johnson is being lauded as a "prominent conservative pundit," which is patently untrue. Yes, 911 got his panties all in a twist, but he was liberal before that and still is. He no longer reports on jihad. I guess they won, eh, Chuck? And he's saving his own ass.
Johnson's attack on the right appears in today's "The Daily Beast" -- a lefty wannabe Puff Ho (Huffington Post) run by the quintessential NY publishing "glitterati" editor Tina Brown (editor of Vanity Fair before the Graydon Carter era). Huffington's success must be particularly galling to Brown -- boy, to be a fly on the wall when Tina talks about Arianna. Brown came to the new media party late -- living in her Conde Nasty bubble a little too looooooong.
In the Daily Beast (apt name) piece, Little man Johnson is taking on Beck. The thing is Johnson does not speak for the right, that idea is -- so 2004. Funny, the left blogmedia is trying to perform CPR, mouth to mouth resuscitation. Johnson is the left's idea of a right wing pundit? So is Pat Buchanan ........... the left is incapable of a rational, reasoned thought, so how could they know who speaks for us?
No life in the lizard. I suspect this is the final nail in the coffin. Beck is a hero. Brave in a media teeming with lily livered cowards. Go Beck.
Johnson served his purpose. He's Done. Cooked. Like the Christmas uh, creationist's goose.
It’s
not just liberals who are scared to death by Glenn Beck. Prominent
conservative pundits are speaking out, denouncing his hysterics before
he sinks the entire movement.
It seems Glenn Beck is the man of the hour, with gushing profiles in The New York Times,
exploding ratings, and the rapt attention of left and right alike. Yet
Fox News and Beck's appeals to its more militant and conspiracy-minded
elements are creating a backlash among a surprising group: the right.
Take Charles Johnson, a jazz musician and software programmer who is
best known for his Web site, Little Green Footballs. Although an
independent himself, for years Johnson's LGF has been one of the most
popular blogs on the right, focusing mostly on national-security issues
and the war on terror. It's also been a magnet for criticism from the
left and even denounced by some as a "hate site" for its strident
criticism of radical Islam.
"They've taken a
real turn to the hard right, and Glenn Beck, I think, is kind of riding
that wave," said blogger Charles Johnson. "I don't know if he's
necessarily going to incite violence, but I do think it's
irresponsible.”
But lately, posts on jihadists have dwindled in favor of a new
target: Glenn Beck. Just this week, Johnson went after Beck for using
violent imagery and rhetoric in a segment where he pretended to douse a
guest with gasoline then threatened to set them on fire, accused Beck of promoting conspiracy theorists, and posted a video of attendees at one of the "Tea Party" events heavily promoted by Beck advocating for book burning.
In an interview, Johnson told The Daily Beast that he was extremely
concerned by a lurch to the right among conservative media outlets,
particularly Fox News, which he said has begun "deliberately pandering
to extreme-right personalities."
"They've taken a real turn to the hard right, and Glenn Beck, I
think, is kind of riding that wave," Johnson said. "I don't know if
he's necessarily going to incite violence, but I do think it's
irresponsible. It kind of drags down the discourse to a level that I,
for one, am not comfortable with."
[...]
Johnson says he has received a flood of hate mail and attacks from
bloggers since he began publishing posts rebuking Beck, but strong
support as well, including from some of his usual critics on the left.
"In a way it's nice and in a way it's a little ironic, because some
of the same people have been calling me every nasty name in the book
for eight years," he said.
Even while the network's ratings surge, Johnson is not the only
high-profile blogger who has gone after Fox News lately. At Hot Air,
Michelle Malkin's right-wing news site, one of its most popular
writers, the anonymous Allahpundit, has been taking Beck to task as
well.
No surprise. Many of us have been onto Allahpundit for a long time ....
"We’re not even three months into Obama’s term and already he’s screaming on air," Allahpundit wrote in one recent post. "How’s he going to deal with another three-plus years?"
Commenting on Beck's manic transitions between light comedy and
frothing-at-the-mouth rage, Allahpundit added: "Either he’s acting or
his mind is … highly nuanced."
"What the hell is going on at Fox News?" wrote David Frum, the former Bush official and conservative writer, in a recent column.
He added, "There’s always been a market for this junk of course. Once
that market was reached via mimeographed newsletters. Now it’s being
tapped by Fox News."
FRUM! They are trotting out all the liberal masqueraders! These folks do not speak for us. And when the history books are written, they will be relegated to the dustbin of history. Or worse.
"I just wish everyone would take a step back from this extremist
brink," Johnson said. "It can't lead anywhere good. At best, it will
bring the right-wing blogosphere into disrepute, and at the worst it
could lead to violence if you encourage these real nuts out there."
What this schmuck fails to understand is that it's not us who have gone to the extremist brink, but Obama and his goosestepping minions who have gone to the extremist brink -- socialism, national bankruptcy, Islamists in the administration, ACORN armies, abandonment of Israel, OIC compliance.
America was founded by men who opposed the violation of individual
rights -- men who opposed statism. If "moderation" in politics is the
current ideal, then any uncompromising defender of the principles of
man's inalienable rights -- the principles of freedom and capitalism --
could be labeled an "extremist."
So when such distinguished men
as America's Founding Fathers (Jefferson, Washington, etc.) could get
lumped together with Hitler under the tag "extremism," a deeper
investigation into its elusive meaning and purpose is warranted.
Observe
that "extreme," by itself, denotes merely a large degree of departure
from some average or norm. To exhibit extreme strength, courage,
honesty, or dishonesty is merely to exhibit far more than usual of that
characteristic. "Extreme," by itself, is not a moral term -- it offers
no rational basis for making a moral judgment. What is open to moral
judgment is the characteristic itself, such as honesty or dishonesty.
To
morally denounce something solely because it departs from the average
is irrational, and leads to extremely absurd conclusions. Are extremes
in health and illness equally bad? Or intelligence and stupidity? Or
integrity and untrustworthiness? Is there an optimum middle-ground
between extremely virtuous and extremely depraved?
This is just another reminder that, contrary to the defamatory claims of some bloggers, real white supremacists and neo-Nazis hate Jews and Israel, and love the jihad. We have written at Jihad Watch about the Aryan Nations'affinity with the global jihad, and here is more indication of that alliance, which is no less genuine than the Leftist/Jihadist alliance.
Both alliances center on hatred of Jews and Israel. White
supremacist neo-Nazis who are pro-Israel are fantastical beasties who
live only in the minds of bloggers who think that if two people pose
for a picture together, or appear at the same event, or are tabbed to
be in the same film, or what have you, they must therefore agree on all
positions down to the last detail. It's ridiculous that anyone would
take such "analysis" seriously, but I understand that even though his
readership is deservedly plummeting, libelblogger Charles Johnson still
does have a few readers.
[...]
In any case, neo-Nazis and their ilk are not and can never be
opposed to the global jihad. They share the jihadists' genocidal hatred
of Jews, and for them that's what it is all about.
Johnson cut his teeth trying to destroy the counter jihad movement, and now he has moved to smear the GOP and leading conservative voices. How many are left in the echo chamber/padded cell? The poor bastid needs a mental health intervention. Amaros wrote me:
The Alinsky method worked him over. He now repeats the lies like a
parrot.
BTW I
saw the Beck episode (the wonders of a home based office) and he 100% debunked
the Fema story and had an expert on conspiracy theorists on the air debunking
and denouncing all consp nuts and their method of thinking.
As for Chuck,
I dont think he ever was a conservative.
To paste this without edit or
comment..
"His show is a regular stomping ground for Republican
congressmen and party pooh-bahs like Karl Rove, Sarah Palin and Michael Steele,
and his ratings rival those of Fox stalwarts Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly.
According to The New York Times, Beck has become “one of the most powerful media
voices for the nation’s conservative, populist anger.”
Populist agitators such as Beck are nothing new, particularly in times of
economic instability — and they aren’t restricted to the right. During the Bush
years, liberal anger over the administration’s policies bred bizarre conspiracy
theories of its own, like accusations that the Sept. 11 attacks were an inside
job."
CJ:
"He’s right. This turn toward the extreme right on the part of Fox
News is troubling, and will achieve nothing in the long run except further
marginalization of the GOP—unless people start behaving like adults instead of
angry kids throwing tantrums and ranting about conspiracies and revolution."
wow
Wow is right. Coulter, Hannity, now Beck. He's an infiltrator. Who is he working for?
And Chuck defending Obama bowing to the Muslim king? That tells you everything.
UPDATE: Email of the day from Jim:
Hello! Great site with cutting edge info..BTW I found your site when I used to read LGF, he was bashing you so it got me curious to see what you were all about,glad I took a look. All the best
Anthony Martin is a good man............... read his columns. Click when you have the time. My thoughts and prayers are with Anthony. He has been a long time Atlas supporter, a clear and rational thinker and an all around good man.
Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act or the GIVE ActPASSES! (more here)(1)
the School-Based and Community-Based Service-Learning programs and
Higher Education Innovative Programs for Community Service (Learn and
Serve programs); (2) National Service Trust programs (AmeriCorps); (3) the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC); and (4)
the Investment for Quality and Innovation program. Eliminates the
current Community-Based Learn and Serve programs. Establishes two new
Learn and Serve programs: (1) Campuses of Service, which
provides funds to institutions of higher education to develop or
disseminate exemplary service-learning programs that assist their
students' pursuit of public service careers; and (2)
Innovative Service-Learning Programs and Research, which funds
community service-learning opportunities for elementary and secondary,
college, and graduate students as well as research into
service-learning. Includes among eligible AmeriCorps programs: (1) an Education Corps to address unmet educational needs; (2) a Healthy Futures Corps to address unmet health needs; (3) a Clean Energy Corps to address unmet environmental needs; and (4)
a Veterans Corps to address the unmet needs of veterans and their
families. Creates AmeriCorps Opportunity Corps programs that include
certain existing programs and new programs to: (1) increase community access to technology; (2) engage citizens in public safety, health, and emergency preparedness services; (3) mentor youth; (4) reduce recidivism by re-engaging court-involved youth; and (5)
support the needs of veterans or active duty service members and their
families. Establishes an Education Awards Only program authorizing the
Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation) to provide
fixed-amount grants to programs that have approved national service
positions, but no AmeriCorps funding. Sets the National Service
educational awards for full-time AmeriCorps, NCCC, and Volunteers in
Service to America (VISTA) participants at a level equal to the maximum
available Pell Grant available to students under the Higher Education
Act of 1965. Includes among needs to be met under the NCCC program,
disaster relief, infrastructure improvement, environmental and energy
conservation, and urban and rural development. Requires states to
develop comprehensive plans for volunteer and paid service by Baby
Boomers and older adults. Directs the Corporation to plan pilot
programs to: (1) better target and serve displaced workers; and (2)
establish a centralized electronic citizenship verification system
which would allow the Corporation to share employment eligibility
information with the Department of Education. Authorizes the
Corporation to treat September 11th annually as a National Day of
Service and Remembrance. Establishes within the Investment for Quality
and Innovation program: (1) a ServeAmerica Fellowships
program providing fellowships to individuals chosen by states to
participate in service projects addressing certain areas of national
need; (2) a Silver Scholarship Grant Program providing
scholarships to individuals age 55 or older who complete at least 500
hours of service in a year in an area of national need; and (3)
an Encore Fellowships program providing one-year fellowships to
individuals age 55 or older who serve in areas of national need and
receive training to transition to public service employment. Makes
ServeAmerica fellows eligible for national service educational awards.
Authorizes the Corporation to provide grants to innovative and model
service programs, including those for disadvantaged youth, youth under
age 17, and potential recidivists. Eliminates federal funding for the
Points of Light Foundation. Revises under DVSA: (1) the VISTA program; and (2)
the Senior Corps, including the Retired and Senior Volunteer program
(RSVP), the Foster Grandparent program, and the Senior Companion
program. Gives priority in VISTA participant selection to disadvantaged
youth and retired adults of any profession. Authorizes new VISTA grant
programs of national significance that provide poor and rural
communities with: (1) services reintegrating formerly incarcerated individuals into society; (2) financial literacy and planning; (3) before-school and after-school services; (4) community economic development initiatives; (5) assistance to veterans and their families; and (6)
health and wellness services. Eliminates the VISTA Literacy Corps,
University Year for VISTA, and Literacy Challenge Grant programs.
Raises the minimum and maximum stipend provided to VISTA participants.
Prioritizes RSVP projects in specified areas. Makes anyone 55 years of
age or older eligible as Senior Corps volunteers. Provides, under the
Senior Corps demonstration program, incentive matching grants to Senior
Corps programs that exceed specified performance measures, enroll most
of their volunteers in outcome-based service programs, and increase
their enrollment of Baby Boomer volunteers. Expresses the sense of the
Congress that the number of AmeriCorps, VISTA, and NCCC participants
should reach 250,000 by 2014. Congressional Commission on Civic Service
Act - Establishes a Congressional Commission on Civic Service to
provide recommendations to Congress on improving opportunities for
individuals to volunteer or perform national service.
The “Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act” (GIVE act). HR 1388 has just passed the Senate.
In the
bill, Obama sets up the mechanics that he passed in the Stimulus
Package for his volunteer operations — including setting up a
government funded corporation with a Board of Directors and CEO. What
is frightening is the tentacles that this will entail as all agencies
need to create positions for these volunteers. Yada … yada .. I could
go on as how he has tied his FEMA Scheme for the Civilian Security
Defense Force into this legislation, but now they’re called “National
Volunteer Reserve Corps.” This creates images of the Peace Corps, but
it is something far more sinister. In addition, the legislation is
targeting foster kids, disadvantaged teens and more specifically BLACK
colleges and universities. Reading the provisions, it smacks of a
program tailor-made for ACORN. It is a bill that has reverse
discrimination all over it as it is NOT designed for middle-class
Americans to benefit from — regardless of your race. But this is NOT
what has piffed me off.
In the
bill, Obama sets up the mechanics that he passed in the Stimulus
Package for his volunteer operations — including setting up a
government funded corporation with a Board of Directors and CEO. What
is frightening is the tentacles that this will entail as all agencies
need to create positions for these volunteers. Yada … yada .. I could
go on as how he has tied his FEMA Scheme for the Civilian Security
Defense Force into this legislation, but now they’re called “National
Volunteer Reserve Corps.” This creates images of the Peace Corps, but
it is something far more sinister. In addition, the legislation is
targeting foster kids, disadvantaged teens and more specifically BLACK
colleges and universities. Reading the provisions, it smacks of a
program tailor-made for ACORN. It is a bill that has reverse
discrimination all over it as it is NOT designed for middle-class
Americans to benefit from — regardless of your race. But this is NOT
what has piffed me off.
The GIVE Act has 12 amendments. The one I am outraged over is House
Amendment 49. It reads: “H.Amdt49 Pass Amendment to prohibit
organizations from attempting to influence legislation; organize or
engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; and assist,
promote, or deter union organizing.”
If I read that right, your First Amendment rights of Free Speech just were legislated out the door. ( Kalani in the Atlas comments section here)
You can read the final version of the House bill here.
The legislation is a long string of amendments to existing laws that
make it almost impossible to understand. (Really. This legislation is
incomprehensible. I challenge you to click on this link and try to read the bill.)
There
appears to be little volunteerism and almost no education in the bill.
But there are a lot of make-work government jobs for doing God only
knows what.
For example:SEC. 122. NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMS ELIGIBLE FOR PROGRAM ASSISTANCE.
‘(a)
Required National Service Corps- The recipient of a grant under section
121(a) and each Federal agency operating or supporting a national
service program under section 121(b) shall, directly or through grants
or subgrants to other entities, carry out or support the following
national service corps, as full- or part-time corps, including during
the summer months, to address unmet educational, health, veteran, or
environmental needs.
(a) In general The Director shall provide for members of the Civilian Community Corps to receive benefits authorized by this section.
(b) Living allowance The
Director shall provide a living allowance to members of the Corps for
the period during which such members are engaged in training or any
activity on a Corps project. The Director shall establish the amount of
the allowance at any amount not in excess of the amount equal to 100
percent of the poverty line that is applicable to a family of two (as
defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually in
accordance with section 9902 (2) of this title.[1]
(c) Other authorized benefits While
receiving training or engaging in service projects as members of the
Civilian Community Corps, members may be provided the following
benefits:
(1) Allowances for travel expenses, personal expenses, and other expenses. <(2) Quarters. (3) Subsistence. <(4) Transportation. 5) Equipment. <(6) Clothing. (7) Recreational services and supplies. (8) Other services determined by the Director to be consistent with the purposes of the Program.
Does
that read like a voluntary program for, say, cleaning up the
neighborhood? Or does it seem more like directions for funding a labor
camp?
That America’s young people are not up in arms at the
very idea of this bill demonstrates how ill-informed, or brain washed,
the graduates of our public education system have become.
The
Senate could vote on the bill today or tomorrow. You may want to
contact your senator and see if you can help stop this monstrosity. If
not, the People’s Republic takes its first baby step when the Senate
passes HR 1388.
UPDATE: "Trusted" Source responded to my Friday email. Atlas has been freed from the slanderous classification - though it may be temporary. Considering that I am ranked 35 in political blogs in the world - I would be surprised if they tried to categorize me differently:
Ms. Geller,
Thank you very much for bringing the categorization concerns with respect to your web site’s content categorization of “Hate/Discrimination” to our attention this morning.
We have gone to http://www.trustedsource.org and have verified that your web site is now currently categorized as “Politics/Opinion” and “Blogs/Wiki” at this time. Following our process, this rating will be placed on your site until we have had the opportunity to review it with a review team for categorization according to our published category definitions. If upon further review we feel a different content categorization is warranted, we will alert you as to what that content categorization will be.
Best Regards,
Paula
Paula Greve
Director of Web Security Research
McAfee, Inc.
2340 Energy Park Drive
St Paul, MN 55108 USA
651.628.2805 Direct
651.500.4425 Mobile
651.628.2701 Fax
Paula_Greve@securecomputing.com
www.mcafee.com
www.trustedsource.org
Is Atlas blocked at your workplace? WRITE IN THE COMMENTS - LET ME KNOW YOUR STATUS! This blockage is pathetic, these guys need a good ...enema.
I gotta say there is no group of stealth activists as stealthy and effective as Atlas readers. Thank you all for writing and kickin a little ass (we love that)!
I am still blocked by secure computing, as is Schlussel.
We are aware of this recent classification change and are looking into today.
Ally Zwahlen
Director, Public Relations
McAfee, Inc.
925.207.4573 Direct
Go here to Trusted Source.
Follow the directions on the site. Input the Atlas
URLhttp://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/ (and check your own
blog while you're at it). It will allow you to offer up alternatives
and make comments. I would also send an email to sites@securecomputing.com. Attach the screen shots I have
of the blocked pages and how it says "Hate Speech" in the block announcement.
Julian wrote:
Good morning -
Just a word -
You site is coming in loud and clear, no blockage even from our wretched "WebSense" internet censor device.
So - as we say in our genteel circles - rock on!
Blessings and good to you all -
j
Robert Tracinski of The Intellectual Activist is
one of our nation's clearest and brightest thinkers. His website is one
the world cannot live without. We were fortunate to have Mr. Tracinski
attend our evening with Geert Wilders last Friday night. I had not met
him before, but I have long admired his sagacious, brilliant work. He
has penned an op-ed on what he saw that day in DC and that night at the
OMNI Shoreham. Read it all and check out The TIA Daily site - worth the
price of admission (subscribe here). Tracinski nails the problem dead on right: "America
used to have politicians like this. We call them the Founding Fathers.
And one of the things I love about politics is that occasionally we see
a leader who rises to that level again." —RWT
The Free Man's Rebellion Robert Tracinski
I went up to Washington, DC, Friday to see the local "tea party"
protest against big government. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a
fizzle. It was not so much the small size of the turnout—the best
estimate I could get was that it drew at most 100 people—but the fact
that those who attended were "the usual suspects." They were the kind
of right-leaning, small-government firebrands who would come out for an
event like this on the slightest provocation. They were not members of
the general public driven to outrage by the Obama administration's push
toward socialism.
So I guess I learned what I was hoping to learn by going to the event:
whether or not there is a broad, popular surge of anger against rising
statism. The answer: not yet. It confirms my expectation that the
general public is still giving Obama the benefit of the doubt. They
will not turn against him until his policies clearly have failed.
I should acknowledge, though, that Washington may not have been
typical. After all, it is a town where the local growth industry is
government. My friend Shrikant has been reporting to me that the
general mood on the streets of Manhattan is raw fear. From what I can
tell, the general mood on the streets of Washington is smug
complacency. And why not? The financial center of the United States has
just been forcibly removed from the one city to the other.
Other "tea party" events in other cities seem to have gone a good deal better; Michelle Malkin has a very extensive round-up on the protests in various cities. Note particularly the prevalence of signs with references to "Atlas" or to John Galt, which indicates the "Ayn Rand factor" at work here (my piece on which went up at RealClearMarkets on Friday).
But it is early days yet. The "tea party" idea was first broached less
than two weeks ago by Rick Santelli. We will have a lot of time to plan
and prepare and to help move the general public to the point where it
is ready to say "enough."
But assessing the tepid local tea was not by any means the most
interesting thing I did in Washington. What really made the trip
worthwhile was seeing Geert Wilders speak there in the evening. If I was looking for a free man's rebellion against tyranny, this was it.
Wilders is the Dutch member of parliament who was recently denied entry
to Britain after being invited by the House of Lords to screen his
short film Fitna which demonstrates that the Koran preaches violent
repression of non-believers. In response to Britain's betrayal of
freedom of speech, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl invited Wilders to give a
short talk and screen his film at the US Capitol on Friday.
Pamela Geller of the Atlas Shrugs blog—there's
the Ayn Rand factor at work again—decided on her own initiative to
organize a second showing of the film and a talk by Wilders at the same
Washington hotel that was hosting the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC), a giant yearly gathering of conservative political
activists.
Interestingly, while the event was held alongside CPAC, it was not really part of CPAC. Gellerdescribeshow
this year's CPAC has virtually ignored Islam and terrorism as an issue
and generally refused to cooperate with the planning of the Wilders
event. Geller had to organize the whole thing herself and find the
funding for it.
The response of the CPAC attendees—the rank and file of the right, as
opposed to its leadership establishment—was quite different. There was
a large and enthusiastic audience, who lined up in a queue that
stretched from the meeting room out through the lobby of the hotel.
Geller describes the
event in her blog, and one detail in particular jibes with my memory
and give you a feel for it: hearing the wave of cheers and applause as
Wilders came down the hallway to the meeting room, stopping to shake
hands with the people waiting in line to see him. The event had a
standing room only crowd estimated at more than 500, and people had to
be turned away because the room was at capacity.
Geller accurately describes the enthusiasm of the audience. I am not
sure I can adequately describe the enthusiasm of Geller herself, a
brash New Yorker and an irrepressible firebrand. You'll have to see the video of
the event (which also briefly shows yours truly chatting with
Pamela—who I have known for a while as a fan of TIA Daily—before the
event begins). She was followed by Andrew Bostom and Robert
Spencer—both of them uncompromising experts on Islam who have warned
against its threats. Geller's report on the event has transcripts of
their brief remarks, which are well worth reading.
But of course what we all came to see was Wilders himself and his film.
Fitna is a 15-minute documentary that primarily consists of a series of
quotes from the Koran calling for the killing of unbelievers, combined
with quotes from speeches by various Muslim religious leaders
advocating violence and religious dictatorship—all juxtaposed against
images of terrorist attacks and assassinations committed by Muslims
against us Western infidels. The most interesting thing about Wilders's
film is that it includes so little commentary or interpretation of his
own. It consists of quotes from the Koran, statements by Muslims, and
actions taken by Muslims. He lets the enemy speak for himself, and the
film has aptly been described as holding a mirror up to radical Islam.
For holding a mirror up to reality, Wilders has been vilified and
attacked; he is currently being prosecuted in the Netherlands under
that nation's "hate speech" laws. Yet if these same laws were applied
to Islam, he points out, they would require Dutch authorities to ban
the Koran.
And of course he has been threatened with death. This is the usual
self-refuting Muslim response: don't say we're violent or we'll cut
your head off. And this threat is very real for a European intellectual
or politician, especially after the murder of Theo van Gogh, who was
killed for making another short film critical of Islam. If you watch
the video of Friday's event, you may notice that Wilders was flanked
throughout the speech by two tall, well-muscled gentlemen. The fact
that he needs this kind of protection says everything you need to know
about the current threat to freedom of speech and where it comes from.
When I met Wilders before the event, I told him that a writer in the US
can say the most controversial things with no real fear. (I've called
Islam "The Killers' Creed" and put Kurt Westergaard's cartoon of
Mohammed on the cover of TIA,
and I've never had reason to think I was in serious danger.) So we
appreciate all the more those who speak up when they are taking a real
risk.
Wilders's speech—which I understand is essentially the same speech he
gave at the Capitol—named in bold, straightforward terms all of the
essential issues. Here are the best excerpts:
Today, the dearest of our many freedoms is under attack all throughout
Europe. Free speech is no longer a given. What we once considered a
natural element of our existence, our birth right, is now something we
once again have to battle for….
The real question is: will free speech be put behind bars? And the
larger question for the West is: will we leave Europe's children the
values of Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem, or the values of Mecca, Teheran,
and Gaza?...
Cultural relativism is the worst disease in Europe today. Most of our
politicians believe that all cultures are equal. Well let me tell you
they are not.
Our Western culture based on Christianity, Judaism, and humanism is in
every aspect better than the Islamic culture. Like the brave apostate
Wafa Sultan said: it's a comparison between a culture of reason and a
culture of barbarism….
I propose the withdrawal of all hate speech legislation in Europe. I
propose a European First Amendment. In Europe, we should defend freedom
of speech like you Americans do….
Ladies and gentlemen, our enemies should know: we will never apologize
for being free men, we will never give in. We will never surrender.
There is no stronger power than the force of free men fighting for the
great cause of liberty. Because freedom is the birthright of all man.
Freedom must prevail, and freedom will prevail.
Beyond that, I can give you my sense of Wilders as a person. He is
usually portrayed sneeringly in the press as an angry reactionary
rabble-rouser or as some kind of opportunistic publicity hound. What
struck me most about him was precisely the opposite: there was no
element in him of pretense or posturing, no trace of the self-conscious
display of courage that you usually see in the leftist activist who
shouts out bromides for which he knows he will never be punished.
Rather, Wilders projected the most profound sense of dignity I have
ever experienced from a speaker. In person, meeting members of the
audience before the event, he was quiet, mild-mannered, and unfailingly
polite. At the podium, he was calm and focused, maintaining his
composure even in the face of the energetic and at times raucous
response he got from his audience. I got the sense that he would have
been equally composed if the audience had been just as energetic, but
hostile. He was not really concerned with the audience and its
reaction. He gave the sense that his only mission was to convey clearly
the important message he had to deliver.
When Wilders first came walking to the event and shook hands with the
people in line, I thought that he looked just like a politician at a
campaign event shaking the hands of his constituents. And of course, he
is a politician, holding a seat in the Dutch Parliament as a member of
what is now his country's largest political party. But he is also much
more: a man of courage and principle taking a stand on an issue that is
crucial to the survival of our civilization.
America used to have politicians like this. We call them the Founding
Fathers. And one of the things I love about politics is that
occasionally we see a leader who rises to that level again.—RWT
Here's a preview of next month's new rankings of WIKIO's political blogs. Atlas moves up three spots to 35. These will go online here next Thursday, but you can see them here at Atlas. Firsties.
We turned a corner Friday night. Something really big happened. Something historic. In the face of a complacent, lethargic Conservative leadership, we seized the moment. The individual took up the mantle for the freedoms we hold so dear. It was the first blog event of this kind and its
astounding success tells us a good deal about our mobilizing forces in the
future.
The evening with Geert Wilders exceeded even our wildest expectations. Having not done anything like this before did not stop me from seeing that the over 8,000 attendees (according to my cabbie) were clueless about what the critical, most damaging issues of the day are -- freedom of speech, Islamic supremacism, the war -- none of which were being addressed at CPAC.
I was unaware when I was planning the Wilders event that there would be such a dearth of real issues discussed at CPAC -- so the evening with Geert Wilders was kismet. Wilders would be at, not of, CPAC. And was he ever! Much thanks to Dr. Andrew Bostom, Robert Spencer and David Horowitz for helping me finance the event.
The event called for 6:00. At 5: 30 they started lining up. And up and up. I ran upstairs to grab some poster board I snagged from a sad, corporate event (I figured I could write on the back, make signs pointing to where we were -- the room was very hard to find), and I when I emerged from the elevator the joint was jumpin'! The line was stretched as far as the eye could see. We were out the promenade, through the lobby, out the door.
I had no idea if I would have 50 or 200 patriots -- this was just a blog event. Just a blog event indeed. I hardly expected
the line (six feet deep) to grow and grow and snake out through the promenade -- down and through the main
lobby. If you are familiar with the Omni Shoreham, you know what I am
talking about.
I understand well over a hundred or more were turned away at the day. I did not know. They stopped letting folks in after 500 +, which was the max the room could take. If I had known, we would have opened up another room.
I was working inside the ballroom setting up the space, making my makeshift posters on the posterboard from an expired event, when, like a the roar of a train coming closer, the crowd start cheering outside the doors. I knew what was happening -- Wilders had gotten off the elevator and the crowd was cheering and applauding. Overwhelming.
The place was packed with shiny happy people. My menu was ........ Atlas. Chocolate, strawberries, fresh fruit, sushi, a chocolate fountain (don't ask) and open bar. Wilders talked with everyone in the crowd. He signed autographs, took their pics with him --
There was hardly enough seating from the crowd so everyone was everywhere -- nooks and crannies sitting on cocktail tables, the floor -- wherever they could plant themselves.
They wanted the program to begin so they began to clap -- like a Springsteen concert without the leftardation.
Pamela speaketh! (Photo hat tip Michelina)
I kicked off the presentation with a few short remarks:
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I am Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs [crowd roars - un-friggin-believable]
I want to thank you for joining me and my esteemed colleagues Dr. Andrew Bostom, Robert Spencer and David Horowitz in support of Geert Wilders.
I want to thank you for coming to this historic event. Historic, Atlas? Aren't I overstating it a bit?
No, no, I'm not. This is an historic event because
-TRUTH IS THE NEW HATE SPEECH
-It's historic because showing FITNA and discussing infringement on our free speech is a violation of Muslims' rights according to a complaint filed today by CAIR [boos] with Attorney General Holder. Should be interesting to see how that one plays out with the Obama adminsitration.
-It's historic because free speech, the very cornerstone of our great constitutional republic, is in danger.
Now, being as Amerocentric as we are, why should we care about a politician in Europe? We hate Europe! [crowd cheers]
We must care about this politician because this war is not a nation state war -- this is global, the global jihad. And who will fight it and defend the west? Free men and free women who know how much blood, toil, and hard work it took to get to this point in advanced civilization.
This is not about Geert Wilders. Geert Wilders our surrogate in the trial for the West. He is our proxy. If he loses, you're next.
And why CPAC? Why was I so insistent upon CPAC? This is the largest gathering of conservatives (over 8,000) in the history of CPAC. The biggest! Why? It's not an election year. So why? Because we are in trouble and they know it. We have 8,000 activists out there, 8,000 opportunities squandered. There is not one panel, speaker, or forum on Islamic supremacism, the war, freedom on speech -- just one panel on foreign policy with Frank Gaffney. That's it! Folks don't know their freedom is in peril.
Andy Bostom followed with this:
Beaumarchais’ Marriage of
Figaro, written at the close of the 18th century, included this freedom of speech
monologue in Act V, Scene 3,
I cobble together a verse comedy about the customs of the
harem, assuming that, as a Spanish writer, I can say what I like about Mohammed
without drawing hostile fire. Next thing, some envoy from God knows where turns
up and complains that in my play I have offended the Ottoman empire, Persia, a
large slice of the Indian peninsula, the whole of Egypt, and the kingdoms of
Barca [Ethiopia], Tripoli, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. And so my play sinks
without trace, all to placate a bunch of Muslim princes, not one of whom, as far
as I know, can read but who beat the living daylights out of us and say we are
“Christian dogs.” Since they can't stop a man thinking, they take it out on his
hide instead.
Sadly, today, over two centuries
later, Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders’ free speech rights are under attack
in an effort to appease the same irredentist Muslim attitudes—attitudes which
are devoid of self-criticism, and violently opposed to any criticism of Islam by
non-Muslim “infidels.” Wilders’ film Fitna—the putative source
of this Muslim outrage—includes examples of how various Koranic verses are used
by Muslim clerics and political leaders to incite Muslim populations to
violence. And Fitna is entirely faithful to classical, mainstream Islamic
exegesis on the Koranic verses cited in the film regardless of what cultural
jihadists, and their witting or unwitting apologists and abettors, may claim. It
is beyond Orwellian to vilify, let alone prosecute Wilders – who simply holds up
a mirror to Islamic societies – for being in any way responsible for the Koranic
incitement and Muslim violence his documentary faithfully records, and he appropriately
condemns
Moreover, Geert Wilders is opposed to hate speech laws. On
February 19, 2009in Rome, Italy where he received the Oriana Fallaci Free Speech
Award, Wilders proposed the withdrawal of all hate speech
legislation in Europe, and a European First
Amendment.
Wilders’ previous demand for consistency, recalls the Calcutta Quran Petition of the 1980s. Like his Hindu predecessors,
Wilders was fed up with Muslim abuse of similar Indian laws, and simply saying
if one bans hate speech, in accord with existing Dutch Law, then the Koran is
hate speech. The Calcutta Quran Petition chronicled how it was the abuse of hate speech laws by Muslims
seeking to impose Sharia mandates on non-Muslim majorities that was the source
of the problem.
As described in the Calcutta Quran Petition, two Hindus were arrested—under Indian penal code
sections exploited by Muslims to prevent public criticism of Muhammad or other
aspects of their creed—for publishing a poster which simply cited 24 Koranic
verses, with a caption, “Why riots take place in this country.” In this
landmark case, the Hindus were eventually acquitted by a sober magistrate who
opined,
...a close perusal of the Ayats [verses] shows that that
the same are harmful and teach hatred, and are likely to create differences
between Mohammedans on one hand and the remaining communities on the
other
It is well past time for the media—across the political
spectrum—to stop their grotesque mischaracterization of Wilders’ unequivocal
defense of free speech. But demonizing Wilders, and imposing de facto
limitations on his free speech criticism of Islam—no matter his may be—is a task for which our craven, lemming-like media elites appear
far better suited. To amplify this final point on media responsibility, or
irresponsibility, let me close with this sobering observation by Professor
Robert Conquest, the pre-eminent scholar of Soviet Communist
totalitarianism:
One role of the democratic media is, of course, to
criticize their own governments, draw attention to the faults and failings of
their own country. But when this results in a transfer of loyalties to a far
worse and thoroughly inimical culture, or at least to a largely uncritical
favoring of such a culture, it becomes a morbid affliction—involving, often enough, the uncritical
acceptance of that culture’s own standards.
Allen West (President 2012!) and Wilders in background.
Marine Jack, David Horowitz
Pamela, Evan Sayet, Robert Spencer
Chocolate fountain and strawberries
Before Spencer introduced Wilders -- Andrew and I jumped on stage and shouted, "It's Robert's birthday!" -- which it was. And the crowd broke into song, "Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu". Fist pounding the electrified air.
Robert Spencer held up a paper that the Muslims for America group was
passing out to people who entered the room. It claimed that Wilders's
film Fitna quoted the Qur'an out of context. Robert held up a
mainstream Muslim commentary on the Qur'an, the Tafsir al-Jalalayn,
and said all right, we will get the context from this book written by
Muslims for Muslims -- we will see what they say it means. He went to
the commentary on one verse quoted in Fitna, Qur'an 8:60, which
directs Muslims to "Arm yourselves against them with all the firepower
you can muster..." Robert said that no doubt in context this verse
meant to give unbelievers a hug, but then he read from the commentary,
which refers to "shooting." Likewise with Qur'an 47:4, which tells
Muslims to "strike at the necks" of unbelievers. Robert read from the
commentary that this means "kill them," and noted that the commentary
went on to tell us that "striking people's necks generally results in
their death."
Robert concluded by saying that all this was not hate speech, but was
the venerable wisdom of the Religion of Peace -- it only became hate
speech when someone like Geert Wilders quoted it. Today, Robert said,
all you need to do to be a hero is tell the truth, and yet there are
still very few heroes in the world. And he said that one of the
foremost of our true heroes, the foremost defender of free speech in
our age, was Geert Wilders.
When Robert introduced Wilders - the place exploded - pandemonium! The urbane, erudite sot spoken Wilders was overwhelmed by the response.
Pamela, Robert, Andrew, thank you very much for inviting me. And - to the immigration authorities - thank you for letting
me into this great country.
It is always a pleasure to cross a border without being sent back on the first
plane.
I feel very honored to have the privilege to speak and to show my short documentary Fitna here in
this heart of your democracy, here in the US Senate.
Today, the dearest of our many freedoms is under attack all throughout Europe. Free speech is no
longer a given. What we once considered a natural element of our existence, our birth right, is now something
we once again have to battle for.
As you might know, I will be prosecuted in my own country, because of my film Fitna, my remarks
regarding Islam, and my view concerning what some call a ‘religion of peace.’ A few years from
now, I might be a criminal. And on top op that The Kingdom of Jordan also threatens to prosecute me for
insulting Islam and ask for my extradition.
Whether or not I end up in jail is not the most pressing issue; I gave up my freedom four and a half
years ago. I am under full-time police protection ever since because of death threats from Muslims and terrorist
groups linked to Al Qaeda.
In the last few years I lived in different safe houses, army-barracks and
yes: even prison cells in order to be safe. But it's not about me. The real question is: will free speech be put
behind bars? And the larger question for the West is: will we leave Europe’s children the values of Rome,
Athens and Jerusalem, or the values of Mecca, Teheran and Gaza?
This is what video blogger Pat Condell said in one of his latest you tube appearances. He says: “If
I talked about Muslims the way their holy book talks about me, I’d be arrested for hate speech.” Now, Mr.
Condell is a stand-up comedian, but in the video he is dead serious and the joke is on us. Hate speech will
always be used against the people defending the West - in order to please and appease Muslims. They can
say whatever they want: throw gays from apartment buildings, kill the Jews, slaughter the infidel, destroy
Israel, jihad against the West. Whatever their book tells them.
Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake, my prosecution is a full-fledged attack by the left on
freedom of speech in order to please Muslims. In fact it was started by a member of the Dutch Labour
party.
If you read what the court of Amsterdam has written about me, you read the same texts that cultural
relativists produce. In fact, cultural relativism is the worst disease in Europe today. Most of our politicians
believe that all cultures are equal. Well let me tell you they are not.
Our Western culture based on Christianity, Judaism and humanism is in every aspect better than
the Islamic culture. Like the brave apostate Wafa Sultan said: it's a comparison between a culture of reason
and a culture of barbarism.
Back to my country. How low can we go in the Netherlands? About my prosecution, The Wall
Street Journal noted: “this is no small victory for Islamic regimes seeking to export their censorship laws to
wherever Muslims reside.” The Journal concluded that by The Netherlands accepting the free speech standards
of, “Saudi-Arabia,” I stand correct in my observation that - I quote - “Muslim immigration is eroding
traditional Dutch liberties.”
Now, if the Wall Street Journal has the moral clarity to see that my prosecution is the logical outcome
of our disastrous, self-hating, cultural relativists immigration policies, then why can’t the European
liberal establishment see the same thing? Why aren’t they getting at least a little bit scared by the latest
news out of, for example, the UK. News that tells that the Muslim population in Britain is growing ten
times as fast as the rest of society. Why don’t they care?
The answer is: they don’t care because they are blinded by their cultural relativism. Their disdain
of the West is so much greater than the appreciation of our many liberties. And therefore, they are willing
to sacrifice everything.
The left once stood for women rights, gay rights, equality, democracy. Now, they
favor immigration policies that will end all this. Many even lost their decency. Elite politicians in Europe
have no problem to participate in or finance demonstrations where Muslims shout “Death to the Jews.”
Seventy years after Auschwitz they know of no shame.
Two weeks ago, I tried to get into Britain, a fellow EU country. I was invited to give a speech in
Parliament. However, upon arrival at London airport, I was refused entry into the UK, detained for three
hours and sent back on the first plane to The Netherlands. The reason: I would threaten community harmony
and therefore public security. And all this because of my film, Fitna. An absolute disgrace.
The British
Home Secretary even publicly admitted on BBC TV that she never watched my film Fitna but decided
to ban from the UK anyway.
If I would have been admitted to the UK would have loved to have reminded the audience of a
great man who once spoke in the House of Commons. In 1982 President Reagan gave a speech there very
few people liked. Reagan called upon the West to reject communism and defend freedom. He introduced a
phrase: ‘evil empire.’ Reagan’s speech stands out as a clarion call to preserve our liberties. I quote: If history
teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly. What Reagan meant is
that you cannot run away from history, you cannot escape the dangers of ideologies that are out to destroy
you. Denial is no option.
Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest to defend freedom in general and freedom of speech in particular.
I propose the withdrawal of all hate speech legislation in Europe. I propose a European First Amendment.
In Europe we should defend freedom of speech like you Americans do. In Europe freedom of speech
should be extended, instead of restricted. Of course, calling for violence or unjustly yelling “fire” in a
crowded theatre have to be punished, but the right to criticize ideologies or religions are necessary conditions
for a vital democracy. As George Orwell once said: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the
right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
Let us defend freedom of speech and let us gain strength and work hard to become even stronger.
Millions think just like you and me. Millions think liberty is precious. That democracy is better than
Shariah. And after all, why should we be afraid? Our many freedoms and our prosperity are the result of
centuries of endeavor. Centuries of hard work and sacrifice. We do not stand alone.
Ladies and gentlemen, our enemies should know: we will never apologize for being free men, we
will never give in. We will never surrender. There is no stronger power than the force of free men fighting
for the great cause of liberty. Because freedom is the birthright of all man.
Freedom must prevail, and freedom will prevail. Thank you very much.
We screened FITNA, and afterwards I asked folks to please consider
donating to the Geert Wilders legal defense fund. Many asked the price of
admission and I declined to charge -- but if you had something extra in
these harsh financial times, please give something.
The
response was moving. Lots of folks gave something. One woman took the
watch off her arm and said take it, it was my mother's.
I overhead another say, "it felt like a revival meeting".
This
event was unprecedented. I have lived ... a lot, and this is one of the
most memorable evenings of my life -- a sentiment shared privately to me
in many emails with readers who attended and expressed the same thing.
The individual can make a difference. The blogs are the future.
On
a silly note -- no one from Pajamas Media covered it. Funny, no? Think
of it. A blogger event that created more buzz, more excitement, more
joie, more attendance, and the blogmeister co-op didn't even cover it. I
give them two years max. Roger Simon can't get past his ego to do the
job right -- unless I am assuming too much and he is incapable of doing
the job right.
This is almost comic. Three in four mosques preach hate and anti-Western extremism, and un-indicted co-conspirator CAIR is calling out the FBI on basic security measures?
And notice how MSNBC doesn't identify CAIR with its call letters. Neither do they point out CAIR's terror ties, or that CAIR was named an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land trial, and that CAIR was banned by the FBI. Further, they practically run CAIR's press release word for word. Who the hell are they working for, anyway?
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A Muslim advocacy organization said Friday that American
Muslims are feeling "anger, disillusionment and mistrust" toward the FBI in the
aftermath of reports that it used an informant to infiltrate Southland
mosques.
"The American Muslim community
has never wavered from its commitment to keeping America safe, nor has it
hesitated from cooperating with various law enforcement agencies, including the
FBI, in ensuring the security of all U.S. citizens," the Greater Los Angeles
Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement.
But, it said, reports that informants have
been paid "to monitor and provoke law-abiding Muslims in houses of worship" and
the recruitment by the FBI of Muslims "to become informants" have left American
Muslims with "deeply troubling concerns."
One of them is that "these coercive and intimidating methods
highlight the fact that the FBI continues to view the entire American Muslim
community as suspect and treat it as such," the statement said.
"Infiltrating mainstream mosques the way FBI
informants infiltrate white supremacist groups illustrates the FBI's perception
of American Muslims as a community that must be constantly monitored, instead of
being treated as an equal partner in fighting crime and terrorism," according to
the statement.
An Irvine man who claims
he worked as an FBI informant to infiltrate mosques and gather information about
a man now accused of lying about ties to al-Qaida said this week that he spent
four to five hours a day with the suspect, and he now fears his life may be in
danger from extremist groups.
Craig
Monteilh, 46, says he recorded Ahmadullah Sais Niazi discussing jihad, weapons
and plans to blow up abandoned buildings.
Monteilh filed court documents Wednesday saying he served as a
confidential informant for the FBI from July 2006 to October 2007 to identify
and thwart terrorist operations in the Orange County Islamic community.
The CAIR statement said Monteilh's story
coupled with an FBI agent's court testimony this week in Niazi's trial regarding
the use of an informant "to infiltrate" Southland mosques "have re-ignited
feelings of anger, disillusionment and mistrust among American Muslims toward
the FBI."
"...The FBI's
counter-productive actions damage the trust between Muslims and law enforcement
and trample our constitutionally mandated civil liberties," it said.
In Islam, a woman who supposedly shames her family not only has her life
taken, but also her memory. Every attempt is made to erase her existence, thus,
the shame. That includes an unmarked grave.
What Pamela and Robert have attempted is to
sustain Aqsa Parvez’s memory with a simple headstone that reads, “Beloved,
Remembered, Free.” It isn’t political, it isn’t anti-Islam, and it doesn’t serve
to personally benefit either Pam or Robert.
It is just a reminder that Aqsa Parvez’s life did matter, even if her family,
by virtue of their inhumane and cold ideology, doesn’t agree. It is also a
gesture to remind ourselves that we will not devalue any life, and that we fight
to defend all innocent life
A number of brave souls and OTOH, complete fools have weighed in on the Aqsa Parvez memorial fund and the ensuing leftist-apologist outrage at the thought of decent individuals righting a wrong, a fundamentally Western value.
The hatred of the good for being good. When I read of Aqsa's unmarked grave -- I was stunned. I know that girl. I am that girl. If I had been born into those circumstances, I too would be a member of the tragedy club. It seemed that the least good men and women could do was put a headstone with her name.
It is not a big deal. It was the decent thing to do.
Back in early December right after Warmington ran the crushing article of Aqsa's unmarked grave, I ran the post to raise money to right the wrong. Good folks near and far contributed what they could. We worked with the cemetery. It was done ...... I called her 'family'. I asked them what they would like -- they said "we don't speak English". I went through Mr. Porter at Meadowvale, willing to accept any changes the 'family' wanted to make.
Needless to say, the 'family' never looked at the artwork via email or snail mail. I didn't go to the press. I didn't go to anyone. I worked with readers on finding another location. And we did. And again, this time is was the University of Guelph who canceled at the last minute, telling the University newspaper they didn't want to appear to support my 'politically charged views'. They are liars. They are afraid of Islamic reaction to a plaque for a victim of an honor killing. They blame me because I will not burn, sue, deface, harass, intimidate -- I will be civilized.
How would the University be supporting my views or me in any way? The plaque said Aqsa Parvez -- Beloved, Remembered Free. It doesn't say Atlas Shrugs or anyone's name or organization. Just Aqsa.
I did not alert the media. Press conferences were not called. The objective was respecting Aqsa. Period.
Her friends wrote me privately. Thanked me and helped to suggest alternative locations that reflected Aqsa's life, joys and happiness outside her house.
It was not until Joe Warmington did a follow up piece on the difficulty to honor Aqsa (alerted by the reader who had been working with me on Guelph) that the leftist apologists jumped all over ..... me. Yes. The murdering family, the frighteningly bamboozled cemetery administrators (I couldn't get a bench or tree at the cemetery), the University cowards -- they were sanctioned but I was the bad guy. I had no idea that this would blow up into some leftist orgy of blame. But not the family of course.
The reaction is ugly and mean. What is the objective of such invective and personal attacks on me? Perhaps to discourage others who might get it into their heads to do the right thing undertake a similar effort. I can't say. To appease their overlords? I don't know, but it is disturbing to read Selley deride me and in the same malodorous breath refer to the number stamp on Aqsa's grave this way, "her remains currently lie beneath a simple steel plate bearing the
number 774" as if this were somehow an elegant, suitable tribute to this terrorized child. And while Selley is a sorry little man, he opened up the door to the jackals laying in wait to pounce. And they have. I have been working quietly on this for months - why suddenly are the charlatans expressing disgust? Disgust. Imagine that.
Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone.Ayn Rand
For reasons best known to himself, The National
Post's Chris Selley chose to pick a fight with the few people who
want to ensure that Aqsa Parvez's short life is memorialized by something more
than the plot number of an unmarked grave. Pamela Geller and Kathy Shaidle can
take care of themselves, and have done, but the reality is that if
it weren't for the frothing loony ranting wackjob haters of the blogosphere a
16-year old girl murdered for not wanting to be imprisoned by her family's
culture would be entirely forgotten.
So what's more offensive? The moral outrage of Pamela Geller at
the westernization of "honor killing"? Or the mainstream coverage by
a politically correct media? Here's what the lunchtime poll at Toronto's CITY-TV
thought was the big issue arising from Aqsa Parvez's murder:
Do you think society discriminates against women who wear
a hijab?
To be honest, I’ve not read much or heard of Chris Selley before
(more here), though Google says he has written for MacLeans, and
dislikes TorStar Islamist Harpoon Siddiqui. Hmph.
That there is a problem, Mr. Selley apparently
denies; that trying to make a decent memorial for a murdered teen is worse than
the act that likely put her there (and thousands others like her– it’s heardly a
unique and inexplicable event), he seems to assume. Giving him the benefit of
the doubt, he’s a clueless liberal and not a deliberate liar or an Islamophile.
A Scaredy-Mouse, not a pro-cat mouse. Or maybe a journalist who thinks that
unless he thinks it’s a big deal, it isn’t. Whatevers.
That Pesky Body-Count
That still leaves us with the problem of
slaughtered women and the degrading position of women in jihadist culture. The
cat’s standing right in front of us, and demanding more and more space.
Will we look at what’s there, or deny it? On
that, Mr. Selley, hangs the future of the culture which includes the clueless
such as yourself, the slaughtered, such as Aqsa and her sisters worldwide; and
the truth and principle that says all people are created equal under God, and
have the rights of freedom, free speech, citizenship, equality under the law,
the good things of this life, and the actual life with which to enjoy them.
My Sister Aqsa
As a proud donor to the Aqsa fund, I will not let
anyone leave her unremembered, nor her memory and example deliberately erased,
because we’re afraid of confronting a death-dealing religion– and some of its
societies– with the higher and better claims of the West.
Even if we’re not directly related, we are
connected by our common humanity, and our Canadian citizenship:, and the moral
claim of the hurt or helpless on all of us. So I am honoured to call this
discarded young woman a sister, if her own family would rather have her
forgotten and her memory neglected, for the ’shameful’ attitudes they judged to
be dishonourable to their religion and homeland norms. So back in the day, I
referred to Afghan Christian refugee Abdul Rahman as my B-FAM– ‘Brother From
Another Mother’– for the same reason, plus he’s a Christian, and thus my brother
in the Lord.
Decisions, Decisions
So either Aqsa is our sister, or we’re in on the
murder and coverup. It’s part of being a morally-aware and awake person. The
moral claims of the mere existence of ‘another-such-as-I’ lay hold upon me, and
if I should shrug that duty off, I shrug off my very humanity, and that for
which 3500 years of religion, philosophy, and law has prepared me to be.
Feminists might claim her as a sister– only if he
has the right opinions. They’re sad liberal tribalists anyway.
I am– at least according to the gutless,
soulless, witless commandments of political correctness– a sh*t-disturber.
It's not like World War II. How many people are clued in to the doctrine in the
Qur'an? They can expound on it all day long, but have never read it, and still
call anyone a racist who cites what's in there. This is not about al Qaeda, or
Hamas, or Islamic Jihad, or any of those organizations. They are just changing
their underwear. It's all about jihad. Pamela Geller
I am pulling my own quotes. I crossed over to the other side. :)
The exceptional and esteemed journalist Alyssa Lappen did an extensive interview with me over at Right Side News. She conducted it over the past few weeks. It's lengthy but juicy. For the Atlas curious -- it's your cuppa. Go here -- read it all.
The U.S.
Constitution, ratified on March 4, 1789, forbade treason against the young
republic. Article III, section 3 reads:
"Treason against the United
States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their
enemies, giving them aid and comfort."
The founding fathers apparently
were more concerned with treason than individual rights---since the first ten
amendments, establishing individual rights, were neither drafted nor ratified
until 1791.
American patriots, whether of Christian or
Jewish religious conviction, suffered brutal oppression at the hands of the
British and their allies. Their homes were invaded, their property stolen, and
their very lives forfeit. Therefore, they naturally cemented life and liberty
"for all" into the Constitution's very foundation. Moreover, to maintain that
standard the founders realized that all citizens must support equal rights to
life and equal liberty for all, without exception.
To put it another way, America's fathers and the
Constitution's ratifying states---in both historical sequence and
principal---held above everything else, loyalty to the supposition of life and
liberty for all. Before all else, the nation's founding idea was that citizens'
Constitutionally guaranteed rights were and are not exclusive to some, but
deniable to others.
The very first clause of the
opening item on the Bill of
Rights (the initial ten Constitutional amendments) sets into U.S. law the
principal of a federal government free from legislation "respecting an
establishment of religion." Americans generally understand that phrase to
establish each individual's right to freedom of faith, yet the precise wording
mentions no individual rights at all. Rather, it pointedly prohibits U.S.
federal laws or regulations that require or in any way institutionalize
religious practices.
Now, President Barack Obama advocates a
so-called civil rights agenda---to "expand hate
crime" statues like the Matthew
Shepard Act, named for a student tortured and murdered in 1998 for his sexual
orientation.
Yet this insidious legislative turn would raise
motive above the importance of criminal acts themselves, and attempt to
legislatively control thinking---something time and again proven impossible,
always with murderous consequences.
Even "New York Times bestselling"
uber-thought cop Glenn Greenwald recognizes the danger. In defense of
free speech, Greenwald decries Obama's new policy, albeit from inside a little
glass house, while casting obnoxious epithets at journalists with whom he
disagrees (totally without basis in fact). One needs only imagine hate-crime
"proceedings directed at opinions and groups that one likes," Greenwald
correctly observes. "If Muslim groups can trigger government investigations due
to commentary they find offensive, so, too, can..." Now, replace Greenwald's
stone-throwing and name-calling with whatever you like.
Here's the rub: In the 21st century,
some claiming themselves pious consider their right not to be offended---however
they perceive that---more valuable and sacrosanct than all rights of all other
Americans. Thwarting every criticism of that faction would simultaneously gut
Constitutional rights to life and liberty for all, without exception.
Muslims constitute the "political faction"
advocating loudest for "hate crime" statutes. Their intent is to "restrict and
punish speech" they dislike, i.e. criticism of Islam and Mohammed, to benefit
their global war on free speech. To consolidate gains against free speech in
Europe and the United Nations, the Islamic faction is heavily campaigning
against North American free speech too.
Most large North American Muslim organizations
hope to globally impose shari'a law, which prohibits "defamation" of
Islam and Mohammed. Muslims who leave the faith or "blaspheme" against
Islam or Mohammed earn the classical punishment, death---a statute on the books
in several Muslim states, and elsewhere, widely enforced by mob rule.
Non-Muslims daring to criticize Islam or Mohammed often receive the same
punishment, whether in Islamic states or not.
Pakistan's hudud code for example enforces
shari'a on all citizens and residents---Muslims and non-Muslims. Iran,
Saudi
Arabia and Sudan also execute
hudud laws---and not on modern whims. Under 7th century
Islamic law, these statutes apply to all
mankind.
The widespread Muslim hope to prosecute
shari'a laws globally stems partly from the basic Islamic belief that
"all people
are Muslims at birth," enshrined
for example in Morocco's
legal code and Malaysia's constitution, despite the latter's ostensibly secular nature and 40%
non-Muslim population. Indeed, everyday Muslims often advocate for global
shari'a laws. A Malaysian blogger addresses such a message to "all Non Muslims reading
this."
"You must know about the Hudud Laws of
Islam as you are also a creation of Allah, no matter that you are today a
Kaffir @ an Unbeliever in Allah because you have been born as
such
"It is up to you, as a free human being to choose to
learn and study about these True Laws of Allah, as a source of
knowledge and information about what they truly are and not be
misled anymore about them based on what you have read or
been fed by those who have an agenda to keep you in the
dark about the Truth of Islam as revealed to us by our Lord and
Creator." (emphasis in original)
Fortunately, the West has individually sponsored
websites too---like Right Side
News.
Also fortunately, America has stalwart patriots
such as Pamela Geller, editor and publisher of AtlasShrugs.com. Geller considers America's current situation extremely
dire. The U.S., she thinks, stands on the edge of a precipice. Like
revolutionary-era journalist Thomas Paine, however, Atlas speaks common sense
to, and for, common Americans. She too considers America "ultimately
unconquerable." And most
importantly, unlike Paine, Atlas will never retreat to Europe or anywhere else.
Herewith we begin an interview with Atlas
Shrugs founder Pamela Geller, on the evils of Islamic ideology. Right Side News opens this
exclusive interview four-part series by investigative journalist Alyssa A. Lappen with a discussion on the worldwide Islamic assault on
free speech, now intensifying in North America. Please check Right
Side News in coming weeks for the second through
fourth parts, covering other important aspects of the Islamic ideological
threat.
AAL: What induced you to start a blog,
and when?
Atlas: The blog was born on February 11,
2005. We just had our third birthday. I started it because I'm an individualist.
I grew up in a post-historical world, as it were. I assumed my freedom. It was a
given. After World War II, the good guys won. It was over.
I noted world events. But apart from being
Jewish and supporting Israel because it is a beacon of democracy in modern
civilization, I was not involved in politics. I was very ambitions and had a
good career. I was the associate publisher at theNew York Observer.
Then 9/11 clubbed me. On that day, I lost
everything at the very foundation of what I believed. At that moment, I realized
that nothing is forever, not even America. I felt very guilty that I did not
know anything about who had invaded this country. So what could I do? One reacts
to the political scene. But I was politically inactive, and I had a lot to
learn.
Then I went to hear [Islamic scholar] Bat
Ye'or speak at Columbia
University. After her lecture, I asked for advice. She told me to learn
everything. I started reading, and read all her books. I read everything I could
about Islam. The media was not giving us information. And I read the
internet---websites, news and blogs on subjects the media wasn't reporting. I
began to see that many people were saying what I was thinking.
In a way, I was raised to do this. My mother and
father had a very good marriage. They worked hard. My father was a tough guy. He
made $60 a day. He was a workaholic. My mother really respected him. Once, we
were driving, and he said, "Nothing is for ever." My mother objected, "America
is." My father said, "No, not even America." On 9/11, I realized my father was
right.
Initially, I did not do the blog. I went to
protests. If there was an anti-Ahmadinejad protest, I was there. If there was a
Hamas rally and counter-protest against them, I was there. I covered protests; I
took videos and recorded them. Now the same rallies are against
Jews, in America. Finally, a
really smart commentator---I have a lot of respect for him---said, "Start a
blog." He said, "Do it," and I did.
I am exactly the same now. I blog exactly the
same as when I had 10 readers, and when I had 20,000 readers. My focus is just
bigger and broader. It is hard when I go to my computer. There are always
another 300 emails. It's not terribly lucrative. But the responses are worth it.
Today, I got an email from a woman. Listen to this. She writes, "I found your
site by accident. I never realized what a mess we are in. Thank you. My eyes are
open. I am passing this on."
AAL: What took so long?
Atlas: I had never thought of blogging.
And anyway, I had to learn before I could say anything. I spent about four
years. You need to know what you're talking about. It's not like World War II.
How many people are clued in to the doctrine in the Qur'an? They can expound on
it all day long, but have never read it, and still call anyone a racist who
cites what's in there. This is not about al Qaeda, or Hamas, or Islamic Jihad,
or any of those organizations. They are just changing their underwear. It's all
about jihad.
AAL: Why did you name the blog Atlas
Shrugs?
Atlas: I loved the metaphor [Ayn Rand's
Atlas Shrugged]. That
was exactly what people were doing. Atlas Shrugging.
There are so many misconceptions about Ayn Rand.
She is individualist. Her party is the party of individual rights, the smallest
minority in the world. In this story, the world's producers and entrepreneurs,
people who make things happen, are so put upon by regulation and government. It
is like what's happening now. And the characters give nice names to things, like
now, calling it a "Stimulus package" when it's really a socialist package
In the novel, all the producers go on strike.
The book is a stunning indictment of statism. It speaks for capitalism. It says,
"I will not ask another man to live for my sake."
Ayn Rand was an uncompromising person. In any
compromise between good and evil, she understood that evil profits. The bad
never comes over to our side. Evil has to be crushed. People do not like to hear
that. But it does. Science advances and technology advances. Human nature stays
the same.
AAL: Why do you think mainstream
newspapers and broadcast media do not cover the influence of the Qur'an, Islamic
jurisprudence and theological edicts on Islam's basically totalitarian goals?
Atlas: It is auto censorship and fear.
Also, everyone is worried all about insulting Islam. Reporting even the smallest
factoid earns an onslaught of charges of bigotry and racism. The net result is
that you cannot even call an honor killing an honor killing and not get that
kind of charge.
Hey KGS, you left out Sean Hannity. Sean and Ann in a 24-hour period! Sweetness and Light takes down Charles's smear of Ann here. And now Johnson is after Hannity too -- there is no homegrown jihad? WTF is this?
the “anti-jihad movement,” it is well and truly dead.
Uh, no. No it's not. Although 'No Johnson' has done everything in his greatly diminished power to kill it. Picking off every member of the resistance one by one.
Searing piece on the Aqsa Parvez tragedy in today's Canadian news paper, The Toronto Sun. Huge props for Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun for shining the media spotlight on the gross injustice that Aqsa Parvez suffers in death -- as if her life wasn't tortured enough. Joe Warmington first reported the story of Aqsa's unmarked grave that set in motion my call to readers to memorialize this honor killing victim. Atlas readers did a wonderful thing and contributed generously, and Robert Spencer of Jihadwatch was enormously helpful. Everyone responded to this terrible injustice. Canadian Atlas reader Norman Traversy, who has been helping scout memorial locations, put Warmington in touch with me - thank you.
Let's pray that the family that murdered her is shamed into doing one small act of kindness for this girl.
Notice how now the family is refusing it -- when, in fact, the cemetery had told us the family wanted to make changes to the headstone. Their refusal is new. I wonder who advised them to change their story.
Remember this:"The family want changes and is planning on coming in to see
me. They did not book an appointment yet but I hope to see them soon."
"How could they let her rot in an unmarked grave?"-- U.S. blogger Pamela Geller
Aqsa Parvez has been gone 14 months and still, according to the
frozen ground in Lot 17 of Brampton's Meadowvale Cemetery, she's
nothing more than No. 774.
If not for two flowers placed there recently, you would not even know this is a grave.
"We had no idea we would not be able to build a memorial to this girl," said a disappointed Pamela Geller from New York City.
Geller proudly boasts being the 34th best-known blogger on the
web -- her Atlas Shrugs site of stories that may have escaped coverage
in the play-it-safe, middle-of-the-road mainstream media.
When she saw my column on the anniversary of this shocking Dec. 10, 2007, murder, she jumped all over it.
"I am always concerned about creeping Sharia law," she said,
adding that her main interest is making sure people knew this girl did
exist.
It hasn't been proved in court that Parvez was the victim of a
heinous, cultural honour killing, but it has been well reported that
both her father and brother are currently before the courts facing
first-degree murder in what Peel Police have described as a "planned
and deliberate act."
There has also been extensive media coverage of how she had
clashes at home over her not wanting to wear the traditional Muslim
hijab and had been staying with friends as a result.
When the story, and award-winning photographer Michael Peake's
stirring front-page picture of the little 774 marker, hit Atlas Shrugs,
Geller responded immediately. "I wanted to do something for her."
She set up a pay-pal system and started taking up a collection -- starting with her own $180 donation.
"People sent in $5 and $10," she said. "Some sent in $500."
So far $4,000 US has been raised and a small but tasteful stone
has been designed with the inscription "Loved, Remembered, Free" under
her name and dates of birth and of death.
Still Aqsa Parvez is no closer to getting a proper gravestone than she was before.
The Meadowvale Cemetery has indicated the family does not wish
to accept the money and will handle the grave site however they see
fit. Geller says suggestions of buying a separate plot or erecting a
memorial were also rejected.
"They don't seem to have any interest," the cemetery's
assistant manager Patty Harris said yesterday. "The family wants to do
this on their own. Sometimes people take a long time in making their
decision -- if in fact they put one on."
Not having a stone is what Geller and others are afraid of.
"It is sad," she says. "It is not acceptable. It appeals to basic humanity."
Enter Norm Traversy, a former Mississauga firefighter who has
done talks about fire safety at Aqsa's school and "with three daughters
in the same age range," wanted to do something for her and had a pretty
good idea.
There's an arboretum at the University of Guelph where he wanted to plant a tree and have a bench and a plaque in her name.
"Something low-key and tasteful," he said.
They had the money and were all set to go when suddenly, the people at the university stopped calling back or taking his calls.
"Even the people at the women's studies office," he said.
A call to the University of Guelph yesterday hasn't been
returned. They'll have their opportunity to explain their point of view
in this space in the future if they choose.
"There are times when I feel like beating my head against the
Islamist wall, partly in despair, but mostly in anger," said Tarek
Fatah, author and founder of the Canadian Muslim Congress, who has
called what he says is the hardline, radical Islamist approach to this
girl's death disgusting.
Although some say it's Muslim tradition to not mark a grave,
Fateh points out that the Taj Mahal was built to honour a Muslim woman.
You'd think sooner or later somebody would have the guts to
ensure this girl is afforded some normal dignity. Instead, the
politically correct police seem to be winning out and just when we need
them, the women's rights movement seems shockingly silent.
But Traversy and Geller aren't giving up. They have $4,000
collected and are determined to make sure it somehow goes to mark and
celebrate the life of Aqsa Parvez.
"Maybe we will do something for her in Israel," Geller said.
"Although, it would be a shame there is not some sort of memorial for
this girl in Canada, the country in which she lived."
And the country where she was allegedly murdered for wanting to be Canadian.
As of today, all that highlights Aqsa's existence is that cold grave marked by a number.
Lt. Col. Allen West was the keynote speaker on the occasion of The Lincoln Bicentennial Dinner. This is the official Bicentennial event of New York, endorsed by the US Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) to celebrate the 200th birthday of one of our greatest presidents. The Dinner Celebration honored American Patriot and War Hero LTC Allen West with the Lincoln Bicentennial Award, presented by Jed Babbin, Editor, Human Events.
This will be the premier Conservative national launch for 2010; the ‘kick off' and return of the Republican Party to the core Conservative values of Lincoln.
Part I of Lt Colonel Allen West's speech (10 minutes) . This is a great American.
Part II - Watch it all - this is leadership. The recipient of the Lincoln
Bicentennial Award, Decorated War Hero Lt. Col. Allen West delivered the
keynote address of the dinner. He ran for Congress in Florida, winning 45% of
the vote, and has been lauded as one of the great black conservative voices in
America today -- and as new RNC Chairman Michael Steele put it, he is “a great man with
the stature of Abe Lincoln.”
We honor his service, principles and vision for America as we support his candidacy for Congress and victory in 2010. Check out that chest of medals (and the USA/Israel flag pin on his right lapel):
Mayor
Michael Bloomberg was in attendance to honor the winners of the Abraham Lincoln
Bicentennial Essay Contest. This non-partisan event, sponsored by the historic
Queens Village Republican Club, the oldest in America, featured an award
ceremony for the winners of the competition involving schools throughout New York City. The winning students were awarded $500 savings bonds, with their entire families and teachers in attendance.
Along with the Mayor,
Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village), Senator Frank Padavan
(R-Bellerose), Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Jamaica) and other public officials presented the honors. Glen Oaks Village Owners Corp. and their
president Robert Friedrich, and Dr. Dolores M. Fernandez, president of Hostos
Community College, have provided generous funds for the students.
Republican candidates and elected officials - it's a tough gig, running in a one party state controlled by the Democrat corrupt political machine.
The competition had students
researching and writing essays on the topic: “What Does the Life and Legacy of
Abraham Lincoln Mean to Me?”
Jed Babbin, Allen West, Elizabeth Berney, and Phil Orenstein (tall guy)
The Educator of the Year award went to New York’s most
distinguished education reformer, Hon. Herman Badillo, who was the first Puerto
Rican to be elected to Congress and to the office of Bronx Borough President. Badillo's wife was taken ill, so he he could not be there to receive his award.
Watch West's speech -- you are looking at a 2012 presidential candidate -- this man should be in the White House.
David, Coretta and Dan Maloney, Gathering of Eagles
Florida talk show radio host and great American patriot Joyce Kaufman
Proud family members
Michael Ackerman, Susan Allen West and me :)
The achievers' families reading the essays
Herb London of the Hudson Institute (left), Mayor Bloomberg (right)
A reader forwarded me this exchange. Does anyone have information on how this is generated? It is jaw dropping, the lengths the bots will go through just to suppress information.
-Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: XXXXX
To: XXXXX
Subject: Atlas Shrugs
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 06:55:46 -0500
What the ? I got an instant message that this a fraud site from AT & T and if I continue, I do so at my own risk?
--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: XXXXX
To: XXXXX
Subject: Atlas Shrugs
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 06:55:46 -0500
H,
I don't know if you know about this blog. It is by Pamela Geller, a Jewish woman from New York. She is about my age. She is very good. She has lots of people from all over who send her video and information about things that are going on all over the world. For example, I know who Hugo Chavez is, but I did not know about the anti-semitism that is going on in Venezuela right now. Two and three weeks ago, she had video and photos from every anti-jewish rally from all over. Anyway, this is a good place to get your news that you won't hear or see on TV.
Marlene
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/
Just for knowing, I have been getting a lot of subscribers writing me that their daily
updates have stopped coming. And why? The notifications I have been
getting from Feedblitz (the subscriber list company) say Reader XXX has
unsubscribed from "Atlas Shrugs."
The reason is: 08: ISP requested removal.
"ISP requested removal" WTF?
UPDATE: D'vorah adds:
"Pamela; that's been happening to me also; you surf to website that gives you a
warning that if you continue on it will load a virus into your computer. I
don't know how an ISP (Internet Service Provider) for example, Time Warner or
RCN, would have the "nerve" to block a site, unless the site actually has been
"hacked" and that makes it impossible for others to continue on or continue on
despite a scary warning.
Ah ...the sweet taste of victory.First, let me say I want to congratulate the first place winner, the Canadian blog that took first place, Small Dead Animals. WOOT! If Atlas didn't have a horse in this race, I would have voted for Kate. She has a sharp blog (Canadian conservative) and she beat Ace! Poetic justice! Ace, snarky misogynist (this is the guy, when introduced to me at CPAC 2007, the first thing he ever said to me was 'you got nice jugs ' - true story. Needless to say, it was the last time I ever spoke to him). ACE WAS BEATEN BY A GIRL. I love that.
Sweeter still. Atlas beat LGF. Read that again. No one admired that blog more. I was crushed when he turned and came down against the counter jihad movement and smeared a racist label on a wonderful conference that included Bat Ye’or,
author of Eurabia and Islam and Dhimmitude and Robert Spencer, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), David Littman, Dr. Arieh Eldad, member of
the Israeli Knesset, Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, Director of the Institute
for the Study of Islam and Christianity, Sam Solomon, Director of
Fellowship of Faith for Muslims and author of the Charter of Muslim Understanding, the great Norwegian essayist Fjordman, Dr. Marc Cogen, Ghent University, Dr. Andrew Bostom, author of The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism,
and Laurent Artur du Plessis, author of a forthcoming book on shariah
finance, friends of Oriana Fallaci, and other brave leaders in this terrible war.
The meme at LGF is that I embraced fascists because I would not rebuke Filip Dewinter's attendance at the conference. The reality is Dewinter is not a fascist. Dewinter (years ago) said in Ghent, Belgium:
"You should know, the real enemies of Israel today are not on the right,
but rather on the left: the socialists and the Greens." The leftist/Islamic death to the Jews marches that we have seen these last 10 days haave certainly validated his point.
When LGF smeared that conference and me in the process, along with so many others, I thought it was the death of Atlas. He was huge, I was small.
A year later, I am not small. He is. from the old days, took awhile to dig it out :)
For Best Conservative Blog, there are several quality nominees,
but my vote is for Atlas
Shrugs because of her extensive research and analysis. It’s
easy to provide links to other news items and include a bit of commentary, but
Pamela Geller does a great deal of heavy lifting herself to make her blog an
original source of hard-to-find news and information. Atlas has been an
invaluable resource to me as a Clinton/PUMA blogger, and although we sometimes
differ on the finer points of politics and philosophy, I know I can count on Pam
to have integrity.
Well, I read Atlas Shrugs, Power Line, National Review blogs ...... ... Ambassador John Bolton
I'm a fan! - Mark Steyn
Fearless, intelligent, beautiful -- Pamela Geller wears her Supergirl
costume well.
Pamela Geller is a dynamo of energy and
a paragon of courage and fearlessness.
-- Robert Spencer, JihadWatch in his book Stealth Jihad
You do great work with your blog. -- Geert Wilders
"Courageous insights from a pulchritudinous pundit!!" Dr. Andrew Bostom, Leading Scholar on Islam
"Great site," Dick Morris
"Indeed, some of Israel's best friends and most articulate defenders can be found in the blogosphere .... Atlas Shrugs, [et al] all provide a refreshing alternative to the moral relativism and politically correct anti-Israel blather of the media. Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post
"The best there is," Beryl Wajsman, President Institute of Public Affairs
Speaking to the unnamed, unchampioned, beating heart of her new land, Ayn was to say: 'Yours is the glory.'"
A man whose ability and independence leads others to reject him, but who perseveres nevertheless to achieve his values. Man as an individual, as a creator. What's the most depraved type of human being? Not a sadist or a murderer or a sex maniac or a dictator; "The man without a purpose." Yet most people seem to go through their lives without a clearly defined purpose.
Life has Loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fires that sways and swing,
And children's faces looking up,
Holding wonder like a cup
Life has Loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of Gold,
Scent of pinetrees in the rain,
Eyes that love you,
arms that hold,
And for your spirit's still delight,
Holy stars that star the night.
Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of Peace
Count many a year of strife well lost
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.
![Kurdistan](http://<a href="http://northerniraq.info" title="northern iraq"><img src="http://northerniraq.info/northlogo.gif" width="135px" height="68px" alt="northern iraq"><br>northern iraq </a>){kind=link}