Through American Digest, I was introduced to Ann Barnhardt. Gerard posted the following two videos. I don't have much to say about them. Mostly I agree with them. Lindsey Graham is a jackass. He does not value freedom. I do. So, obviously, does Ann Barnhardt.
If he and Ann Barnhardt ever meet in person, I hope the meeting is videotaped and posted as a lesson to the rest of our political class that there are Americans who still care and are willing to forcefully and publicly defend our country and Western civilization from the barbarians both within and outside the gate. I will beg mercy for Senator Graham in that the cameras should not follow his sobbing retreat into the men's room. Even a spineless dhimmi like Graham should be afforded a little privacy after his humiliation.
Regarding the second video, I am obsessive when it comes to books, even bad books, and I do have problem with book burning. And using bacon as a bookmark would leave a nasty stain, so forget that. It is her book, though, and she has the right to do whatever she wants with it. And she's doing it to make an important point. My obsessiveness wouldn't allow me to do the same thing. If somebody is offended, they can make their own Youtube video to express their humiliation.
If the New York Times can endanger our country by printing the things they printed under the Bush Administration, then Lindsay Graham and the rest of the dhimmi class can shut up about burning Qu'rans. Actually, they can just shut up.
And is it my imagination that so many women are standing up publicly to defend Western Civilization as many of our "men" cower under the ruses of "showing tolerance", or "cultural sensitivity", or the avoidance of being called a racist or "islamophobe?"
Part two is longer than part one, and although it it repetitious, there is a point to the repetition. There are not merely a few evil passages in the Qu'ran that have to be diligently searched for. That is a book that is full of troublesome stories and advice to Muslims.
iOTW – Your communication skills are pretty impressive, do you have a background that would have prepared you for this, or are you just a natural?
Ann – I have always been a good public speaker and writer. I do apply my talent by teaching seminars for cattlemen as part of one of my businesses, and have a DVD version of my seminar as well. I deliver one of the best five-hour economics lectures on the planet. Not that that is saying much, I know.
iOTW - Have you been a political activist in the past and were there particular issues, apart from Islam, that you focused on?
Ann – I am not a political activist. I am the owner of three small businesses who looked around two and a half years ago and said, “Oh, HELL no.” Politicians make me ill. I can never and will never be a politician. For the last two to three years I have been focusing heavily on explaining and exposing Marxism, Islam and the fraud that is Obama. But that is triple-redundant, isn’t it?
and
iOTW – Have you heard from Lindsey Graham’s office?
Ann – No. They haven’t come out of the men’s room yet.
How absurd is it that the deranged pastor of a tiny Florida church can make the entire world hold its breath just by threatening to burn a book?
The Rev. Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville is a hate-filled nut, for sure. But nothing he's done or vowed to do in offering what can only be viewed rationally as a minor insult to Islam merits the paranoia in the West about a worldwide wave of bloodshed at the hands of offended radicals.
Jones was implored not to carry out his promise to burn a copy of the Quran by, among others, the United Nations, the pope, Gen.general David Petraeus and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
His back-and-forth deliberating was covered as if it was another Bay of Pigs stand-off and this scruffy preacher had his finger on the button.
Come on. Jones should have been entirely ignored. He's not an official of our government, nor is he a national leader in any fashion. He's an obscure redneck, or at least he was until the cameras showed up at his 50-member church.
That Jones captured so much attention is an indication of what the West is up against in its effort to coexist with Islam.
Yeah, I know -- all Muslims aren't mayhem makers. But the lunatic fringe is apparently wide enough to trigger an extreme overreaction from our nation's top offices to a silly little publicity stunt.
If Muslim sensibilities are so tender they can't ignore the bizarre rants of an insignificant American fanatic then this is a culture with a serious anger management issue, and one the West can't help with.
There's no way to head-off every potential slight to Islam. Last time it was Danish cartoons, this time it's a Pentecostal pew jumper who lays down his snakes to strike a match.
Tomorrow, an atheist in Italy may name his dog Mohammad, or a biker in Australia will have a likeness of the prophet tattooed on his backside.
The only answer is for Islam to grow up. Religion invites antagonism; get used to it.
Using the destruction of a book as an excuse to rampage is unacceptable and immature. A Quran, like a Bible, is a physical thing. What makes both books holy are the ideas and inspiration they contain, not the pages and ink. The religion won't be broken by taunts, or by bonfires.
Burning a Quran in the Florida swamps doesn't weaken the foundation of Islam any more than burning an American flag in Pakistan dents our nation's underpinnings, or coating an icon of the Virgin Mary with elephant poop, like that "artist" once did in Cincinnati, undermines Christianity.
Grown-ups shrug off such affronts for the ignorance they are, and move on. They don't go nuts, as the radicals did after the cartoon episode.
We've had the mantra "Islam is a religion of peace" drilled into us for the past nine years. But Muslims still have some work to do to make that case. Peaceful religions aren't so easily provoked to violence. Religions of peace turn the other cheek.
The Detroit Free Press has gone into full pro-Islamic propaganda mode today, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There are two articles and an editorial all about the strain on Muslims since that fateful day and about how members of all monotheistic faiths are coming together to promote tolerance, and battle intolerance, and to let the world know about the tiny minority of Muslims who pervert a religion of peace, and-. But let's face it. We've been force fed this crap for the past nine years, and it is still a load of crap.
The Free Press managed to interview people of differing religions to get their 9/11 stories, and wouldn't you know it, they all agree that because of that attack, innocent Muslims have been unfairly maligned, and these fine folk have gone out of their way to improve relations between themselves and people of other faiths. The deaths of the almost 3000 Americans murdered that day actually made the interviewees better people. Wasn't that a lucky break for them? And it helped make the United States a more moral nation - well, except for that war stuff, you know, when President Bush made that reactionary, non-progressive, non-enlightened decision to fight back. At least that's the way I read these interviews. Random quotes:
I'd like to think it's made everybody more aware in a better way. But I think in some way, the paranoia hasn't helped.
and
On a personal level, I became actively engaged in conversations with my Muslim neighbors. ... Upon moving to southeast Michigan, my opportunities to work closely with Muslims have only increased due to the much larger Islamic presence in this area. Yes, I do believe that 9/11 has changed me dramatically, and ironically I believe that on a personal level, that has been for the better.
and
Since 9/11, life has been filled with more work and blessed moments to enlighten others on my faith and culture. Immediately post-9/11, I found myself overanxious, more cautious of where I went, how I traveled and the people I associated with. I felt I had to constantly defend my faith, culture and fellow Muslim brothers and sisters who were being persecuted for the actions of a rotten few.
and finally
9/11 stoked our country's best and worst sides. As a country, we mobilized with incredible speed and unity. We paid beautiful tribute to the people who lost their lives and sacrificed themselves to save lives. We lost our way through wars and still have not found the courage or means to articulate the strength of our country to ourselves and the world. Our religious hostility and fear continue toward the Muslim world. We have not convincingly articulated America's strength, goodness and promise. ... Our country began chasing demonic enemies, instead of leading ... with integrity and hope.
Either the reactions I read are kind of bizarre and twisted, or I'm the one who is nuts. For some reason, I keep thinking that we should not be accepting the words of our local imams. I've read opinion pieces by some of them in our various local news rags, and based on these writings and interviews in these same rags, I don't trust them.
But there was an editorial in today's Free Press defending the peacefulness of Islam (because that's what the Qu'ran is all about, we are told) that had a line that I do agree with:
We need more dialogue, more reading of the Quran, both inside the Muslim community and out.
Yes, we should all read the Qu'ran. My son bought a copy, but it was translated by a non-Muslim. I'm not sure how accurate it is. I'd like to find one of the ones that CAIR passed out a few years ago. I've been checking used book stores. I tried reading my son's but it is a tough slog. The narrative is kind of weak, and it seems to be full of non sequitors. I can't let that stop me though. Read, I must.
When it comes to this claim in the editorial though:
The Quran is filled with such verses calling on Muslims to practice every kind of goodness. Yet most Americans know little or nothing about them. An August Pew Research poll concluded that 35% of Americans believe Islam is more likely to encourage violence than other religions, while 24% weren’t sure.
Of course, it’s not difficult to understand why. Approaching the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, we can’t forget the violence of that day. The really ugly truth: The 9/11 attackers, the Taliban and al-Qaeda are all doing far more harm to the Quran than Jones is by burning it. By distorting the verses of the Quran to justify their violent agenda, these terrorists and their sympathizers continue to breed hostility toward Islam and Muslims. Instead of spreading the Quran's message of peace, they are spreading their own message of hatred
I have to ask: how do you distort verses like:
Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war.
and
Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission.
and
So fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief [non-Muslims]) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (in the whole world).
and
When you clash with the unbelieving Infidels in battle (fighting Jihad in Allah's Cause), smite their necks until you overpower them, killing and wounding many of them. At length, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind them firmly, making (them) captives. Thereafter either generosity or ransom (them based upon what benefits Islam) until the war lays down its burdens. Thus are you commanded by Allah to continue carrying out Jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam.
and
The infidels should not think that they can get away from us. Prepare against them whatever arms and weaponry you can muster so that you may terrorize them.
and I could go on and on, or I can recommend Prophet of Doom for more quotes from the Qu'ran and other Islamic sources that the apologists, and the imams, and the spreaders of "dawah" don't talk about and don't want us to talk about. We are supposed to ignore a vast body of Islamic teaching that is not as savory as the tiny verses of love and honesty, that may have even been revoked according to the the Islamic concept of abrogation.
In an attempt to polish Islam's image, Muslim activists usually quote verses from the Quran that were written in the early days of the Islamic movement while Mohammed lived in Mecca. Those passages make Islam appear loving and harmless because they call for love, peace and patience. Such is a deception. The activists fail to tell gullible people that such verses, though still in the Quran, were nullified, abrogated, rendered void by later passages that incite killing, decapitations, maiming, terrorism and religious intolerance. The latter verses were penned while Mohammed’s headquarters was based in Medina.
When speaking with people of Christianized/Western societies, Muslim activists deliberately hide a major Islamic doctrine called "al-Nasikh wal-Mansoukh" (the Abrogator and the Abrogated). This simply means that in situations wherein verses contradict one another, the early verses are overridden by the latter verses. The chronological timing in which a verse was written determines its authority to establish policies within Islam. Non-Muslims cannot afford to be ignorant about the full implications of the Abrogator and the Abrogated Doctrine (al-Nasikh wal-Mansoukh). When Islamic spokesmen say that Islam is a religion of peace and that the Quran does not support such things as human rights infractions, gender bias and terrorism, they are lying. This means that the Western politicians and liberal journalists, who continually spout that Islam is a noble religion of peace, are in reality propagating a deception that they have been deceived into parroting.
I'm sure they won't be discussing any of that today as the imams slide some more taqiyya past the gullible Christians and Jews, and these silly infidels won't care because they can engage in vast amounts of self-congratulation based on how tolerant, accepting, and enlightened they are. Rather than be part of that charade, I'll be thinking of those murdered in the 9/11 attacks and in all of the over 16,000 Islamic terror attacks since then.
First of all, publicly burning a Qu'ran is a stupid thing to do. Being a book lover, I look at the burning of any book, even a lousy one, as a desecration. The "pastor" in charge of this fiasco needs to find a more intelligent way to make his point, like maybe doing some research into Islam so that he can spread that information. The more people who understand Islam and the terror and abuse it has spread, the brake it's put on freedom and civilization, the better we infidels will be able to battle it, along with its Leftist dhimmi enablers.
So far, the best commentaries on this silly episode come from Debbie Schlussel
Here’s what I view as far more offensive than the burning of Korans: that the outrage over this is more so than the outrage of any Islamic murder of Americans, any jihadist beheading videos featuring Westerners being slaughtered in the name of the Koran.
Also, as I recall, there was no Guantanamo, no Afghanistan war and no Iraq war on Sept. 10, 2001. And yet, somehow, Osama bin Ladin had no trouble recruiting back then. Can we retire the "it will help them recruit" argument yet?
Michelle Malkin does a good job of reminding us that there are always Muslims somewhere outraged over something we in the West are doing or not doing.
I keep wondering when some big time pundit will point out that this tells us more about both Islam and the West than either their our our leaders are willing to admit. We are bombarded with worry warts insisting that this Qu'ran burning will be a tremendous recruiting tool for Al-Quaeda and the Taliban. These days it's hard to find any behavior from the West that isn't claimed as a propaganda coup for Islamic terrorists; cartoons of Mohammed, protests against the "Ground Zero Mosque", killing terrorists, the list is endless.
If, as we are constantly assured by the apologists, that it is only a "tiny minority" of Muslims who engage in terrorism, where are they finding so many Muslims who are inspired to be terrorists at the slightest provocation? Wait - not provocation - it's any act that any Muslim finds distasteful. And if it isn't terrorism, there will be riots, lots of riots featuring burning American flags, screaming, ranting, and more than a few random murders from outraged members of what we are - again - constantly assured, is a religion of peace (just chock full of Ghandis don't you know) . . . as long as we follow their rules, you know, as long as we act as dhimmis. If they're as peaceful as the apologists claim they are, why are they so damn easy to provoke?
It's past time to let the Islamic world know that we aren't interested in being lorded over by misogynistic, insecure, tyrannical, parasitic, seventh century barbarians. But that's the problem, isn't it? Our spineless leaders, along with our mainstream media, is afraid to take that stand. Somehow, they continue to take the coward's way out and insist that - really, it really is a religion of peace, honest, and anyone who claims otherwise is an "Islamophobe." And this is from the leaders and elites of the richest, most powerful society ever developed by mankind. They have decided to wimp out. It's every infidel for himself.
The Roman historian, Tacitus insisted that in order to remain strong, a society needs to be engaged in constant warfare (but I can't find the exact quote). Stop fighting, and men become lazy and indolent. I've never been much of a fighter myself, but as I've gotten older, and had a family, and have finally come to the understanding that there are things worth fighting for, and sometimes one does have to stand up or be trampled on, I've become more willing to stick my neck out, raise my voice, and challenge the enemies of civilization. While I don't relish war, when you compare Islam to the West, not only are they willing to die (but for all the wrong reasons), they're willing to watch their children die too, if not murder them outright. Meanwhile, our children are learning that there is nothing worth fighting for, that's in morally superior not to fight, and if we just reach out to our enemy, not think of them as "the other" and try and understand their grievances against us, and compromise, we will all learn to love one another and live together in peace and harmony, if you accept slavery as peace and harmony.
I'm sure our wonderful elites would make great slaves. They could work and demonstrate their moral superiority at the same time.
Faithfreedom.org has this interesting comparison between The Qu'ran and Mein Kampf. I first discovered certain similarities in these two books and in the Islamic Hadiths while trolling the book reviews at Amazon.com. It was posted in a customer discussion by someone who calls himself, Big Horse.
* Mein Kampf:104 "The invention of democracy is a crying shame.... A majority can never replace the Man." Mein Kampf:106 "The one true leader, provided by Fate, is to be placed in that position." * Qur'an 4:65 "They can have no Faith, until they make you (Muhammad) judge in all disputes, and find in their souls no resistance against Your decisions, accepting them with complete submission." * Mein Kampf:1 "The distress of the nation gives us the moral right to acquire foreign soil and territory. The sword is then the plow. From the tears of war there grows the daily bread for generations to come." * Qur'an 13:41 "Do they not see Us advancing from all sides into the land (of the disbelievers), reducing its borders (by giving it to believers in war victories) * Mein Kampf:51 "I knew that I must rid the world of her."(speaking of all other polital sysytems, which he saw as being one) * Qur'an 8:39 "Fight them until all opposition ends and all submit to Allah." * Mein Kampf:56 "They will not recognize the outrageous curtailment of their human liberties, for in no way does the delusion of an intolerant doctrine dawn on them. * Qur'an 33:36 "It is not fitting for a Muslim man or woman to have any choice in their affairs when a matter has been decided for them by Allah and His Messenger. They have no option." * Mein Kampf:56 They see force, brutality, and the aim of the doctrine to which they finally and always submit." * Qur'an 9:29 "Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender, paying the protective tax in submission." * "Mein Kampf:56 "The technical tools of Social Democracy became clear to me. I understood the infamous mental terror which this movement exercised on the population which could neither morally nor physically resist such attacks. There was a bombardment of lies and calumnies toward the adversary who seemed most dangerous, till finally the nerves of those who had been attacked gave out and they, for the sake of peace, bowed down to the hated enemy. But these fools will not find peace after all." * Ishaq:461 "Muhammad besieged them for twenty-five nights. When the siege became too severe for them, Allah terrorized them. Then they were told to submit to the judgment of Allah's Messenger." * Bukhari :V5B59N448 "They surrendered to the Prophet. 'I give my judgment that their men should be killed, their women and children should be taken as captives, and their properties distributed."'
There is of course, much more. It shows that twisted, totalitarian, Jew-hating minds think alike.
I think hyperbole is overused in today's political discussions (especially from the Stop Alito Crowd), so I hope I'm not engaging in it here, but this article by Diana West makes me wonder how much longer Great Britian can survive as a free non-Muslim country when it still fears to correctly name its enemy.
For the defense, Edward Fitzgerald says: "It is said he was preaching murder. But he was actually preaching from the Koran itself."
Well, which is it, gentlemen? He's preaching murder that has nothing to do with Islam; or he's preaching the Koran that has nothing to do with murder. For people trying to fend off jihad in their midst, the question becomes a distracting conundrum.
At the onset of the trial, prosecutor Perry predicted the defense would likely argue that Abu Hamza "was speaking as a follower of Islam and he was speaking the words of the holy Koran." This, Mr. Perry explained, was not the prosecution's contention. "This prosecution is not brought to criticize Islam or criticize the teachings of the Koran. It is brought because of what the defendant says."
Read the whole thing. Then you can tell yourself, if you're into denial, that this is just one episode in the whole country. But there have been a whole lot of other episodes.
When the alleged Koran abuse story was posted last week on Little Green Footballs, it followed on the footsteps of another report, this one about a teenaged Muslim girl being severly beaten by her brother for dating an infidel.I left the following comment on LGF as sonofsheldon:
MEMO To: The Police From: The Muslim Community Re: Responding to crimes in the Muslim community.
If we murder our daughters, that is our business, not yours. Stay away.
In all cases of Koran desecration, real, contrived, phony, or imagined; get here NOW.
cc: to the FBI
From my point of view, that of a caring father, some in the Muslim community have their priorities mixed up.
Now we find, according to Michelle Malkin (and from today's Detroit Free Press) the whole incident was a big misunderstanding.
It turns out, you see, that the burnt Koran was left at the mosque by…a Muslim student.
According to the AP, a Muslim Virginia Tech student took responsibility saying he dropped off the burned Koran and other singed materials at the mosque, hoping "it could be given a respectful disposal." Police Lt. Bruce Bradberry reported that the student, who was not named, apparently contacted police last week, "saying he was going to be traveling abroad and didn't know what to do with the Koran, which had been burned in a 2004 house fire. The student said he placed the book and other fire-damaged materials in a bag and left the bag at the Islamic Center with a note, which apparently blew away."
Whoops.
We know that neither CAIR nor any of the other organizations representing the American Muslim community will apologize for their agonized cries of racism, islamophobia, hate crime, un-American behavior, and what ever other claims they could invent to stoke the fires of victimhood. I can live with that. They have their agenda. It's clear to anyone who will listen.
What bothers me are the infidel Americans who buy into this twisted thought process. I still don't know why so many in the MSM side with the enemy. Do they hate Bush so much that they've become irrational? Have they so lost their faith in western values and civilization that they're willing to play into the hands of an inferior, theocratic, culture that is trying to swallow us? I've read and listened to the explanations by pundits that I trust; Dennis Prager, Victor Hanson, and others, but it still doesn't make any sense.
Western civilization has given more to the world in terms of morality, wealth, and innovation than any civilization that has ever existed. No we are not perfect. There is no perfection this side of the grave. But how can people who have landed at the top in terms of wealth, quality of life, and influence embrace such a hateful regime?
As Iowahawk wrote here and especially here in two masterful satirical pieces that earned the wrath, and demonstrated the stupidity of some on the left especially at the Daily Kos:
And the next time one of you chicken martyrs puts on a keffiya and starts babbling about “solidarity with the resistance,” remember this: just because we are planning to kill you last doesn’t make you our buddy.
That doesn't sound very funny, but like the best satire, it tells the truth. And that is definitely the truth. So why don't those resentful dopes on the left get it?
This morning, on NPR, news analyst Daniel Schorr couldn't figure out who to believe in the Guantanamo Bay mishandled Koran controversey. Is the Pentagon telling the truth? Or the Jihadis captured in Afghanistan? Dan admitted, he may never know.
Personally I think he's much too excited to think about anything other than the revealing of Deep Throat. This gave him another opportunity to remind us that he was on Nixon's enemy list. Like many journalists of his pedigree, this was their golden age. Nothing will ever compare to bringing down a sitting president.
He didn't retell the anecdote about Nixon "offering him a job", a story that proves Nixon had a better sense of humor than Mr. Schorr, but I'm sure he has repeated it at other opportunities. In honor of Dandy Daniel Schorr, I humbly offer this poem:
'Twas Nixon that joked with Dan Schorr, Though Nixon did Dan Schorr abhor, Retelling old stories, Of enemy list glories, Dan Schorr has become quite a bore.
On the other hand, Ben Stein offers a contrary opinion on Deep Throat here. You should read it. It's short.
The headline of the Detroit Free Press Article reads: Pentagon admits to Koran abuse. The bold line below it claims: Guantanamo prisoner takes back toilet claim. Am I just a brainless right-wing extremist, or are these contradictory headlines?
After reading the article, contributed by the Associated Press, the most damning phrase in the article says that ". . . guards or interrogators mishandled the Koran of Muslim prisoners. . .". It goes on to state that the original claim of Koran meeting toilet was retracted. And let's face it. Mishandling is not abuse - unless you condone this article, which was run by the Free Press on the day of Israel's independence, and is chock full of Palestinians condemning Israel and blaming the Jews for all of the problems of the Palestinians.
Did the headline writer not read the article? Or was he or she offering a "nuanced" version of the truth? I'm sure there's no intention to steer the readers' emotions in any anti-American direction. After all, we've been assured time and time again that there is no liberal bias in the Main Stream Media.
Right. I'll believe that on the day I'm ready to purchase that ocean-front property in Nebraska!
"No one can find a safe way out for himself if socety is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interests of everyone hang on the result." -- Ludwig von Mises
War's legitimate object is more perfect peace. Flavius Vegitius Renatus
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CHALLAH AKBAR
