Posts Tagged ‘profiles in cowardice’

Stacy McCain while writing on the subject of Frank Rich’s column ( a painful task always since it involves reading it) accidentally or on purpose crystallizes the difference between Radical Islam and mainstream religion that Pam Geller made points about yesterday on my show.

Rich decries the pulling of a taxpayer-funded Christmas exhibit that had ants crawling over a crucifix and called those who demanded it be removed bigots and homophobes.

Stacy’s take-down of the self-righteous Mr. Rich should of course be read in full but it is this sentence that is of interest to me.

That article prompted William Donohue of the Catholic League to send suicide-bombers to maim and murder innocent women and children ask Catholics to call the museum and complain.

And herein lies the difference. Roman Catholics call and complain, radical jihadists don’t.

By an odd coincidence an even better example of this difference became apparent yesterday. Another person acting on behalf of a different religion that Mr. Rich doesn’t deign to critique decided to voice his objects to a set of cartoons in a slightly different fashion as reported by Mr. Rich’s own paper:

One man was killed and two other people were injured when two explosions hit the heart of Stockholm’s city-center shopping district on Saturday evening, the police in the Swedish capital said. The country’s foreign minister called the blasts a terrorist attack, and an e-mail to news organizations minutes before the blasts seemed to link them to anger over anti-Islamic cartoons and the war in Afghanistan.

Although many right leaning bloggers decided to condemn this act of barbarous terror Mr. Rich has however decided to courageously spend his time critiquing American citizens who object to their tax dollars being used to offend them and decided to peacefully exercise their 1st amendment rights to make their objections known.

Mr. Rich, as an elite journalist of the left, has the courage to see beyond mere murder to locate the real danger to our society.

Plus he knows Catholics won’t harm him for criticizing them.

Any questions?

How will NPR react to the firestorm, why they will double down:

That said, Williams provided a valuable voice on NPR. His long experience as a journalist and background as an authority on the Civil Rights movement enabled him to offer insights that often enriched the network’s reporting.

Ultimately, however, it seems management felt he had become more of a liability than an asset. Unfortunately, I agree.

Yup, perhaps about $1,800,000 worth of assets.

And of course it isn’t about firing a black man who appears on a conservative show: (emphasis mine)

It can’t be overlooked that this episode is occurring in a toxic political environment where people are quick to take sides and look for hidden motives. I fear some will look for racial motivations in NPR’s decision to fire Williams, who is African-American and one of the few black male NPR voices.

It’s not about race. It’s also not about free speech, as some have charged. Nor is it about an alleged attempt by NPR to stifle conservative views. NPR offers a broad range of viewpoints on its radio shows and web site.

I’m sure NPR has plenty of empathy for organization with few blacks who fire them and I’m sure they haven’t tolerated outrageous statement before, oh wait:

— Also in 2005, NPR apologized to Mark Levin, author of “Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America,” after a broadcast of its program “Day to Day” falsely accused him of advocating violence against judges. Levin accepted the apology, but said the broadcast was “illustrative of a smear campaign launched by the Left to try and silence” his criticisms of judicial activism.

— In 2002, the head of NPR issued an apology six months after a report linking anthrax-laced letters to a Christian conservative organization.

— Also in 2002, during an interview with the Philadelphia City Paper, NPR host Tavis Smiley said he strived to do a show that is “authentically black,” but not “too black.”

— In 1995, Nina Totenberg, NPR’s award-winning legal affairs correspondent, was allowed to keep her job after telling the host of PBS’ “Inside Washington” that if there was “retributive justice” in the world, former North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms would “get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it.”

In my opinion this is a perfect example of a cultural elite that only survives due to sugar daddies and don’t dare to upset them. Period!

Bad form NPR, Bad form

There was a big ta doo about a piece of “art” in Colorado that depicts Christ giving someone a BJ:

Many turned out in support of the piece and the Museum/Gallery. Some supporters of the art wore white patches on their chests that read: “Censored?”.

Well we aren’t going to take down this, this is ART, we aren’t going to be intimidated by those intolerant Christians

Nearby in the city of Denver, where residents are known for their liberal leanings, residents were more receptive to the artwork.

Denver resident Carol Ware called the piece “provocative and thought-provoking.” She added, however, that she would not want the artwork in her own living room.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Los Angeles Times weighed in on the debate, celebrating Chagoya’s controversial techniques and labeling him a respected artist. Of the provocative works of art he has created are pieces attacking President George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and former California Governor Pete Wilson.

The obvious question has been asked

Field asked if Chagoya’s artwork would be accepted if it depicted the prophet Mohammed in the same poses. “There have been examples in the past of anti-Mohammed artwork. The Muslim community has been outraged-and rightly so-but there’s also been different actions taken against the artists.”

Funny you should mention that via Rhymes With Right:

Of course, there is a way to get this exhibit shut down immediately, the artwork destroyed, and the artist killed. Point out that the following is a part of the same work of art.

The image he is referring to is Mohammed kneeling before transvestite pigs, and lo and behold what has suddenly happened?

They seem to have scrubbed the site

Now here is the question. They did not scrub the site until someone pointed out the Mohammad image. I wonder what the art gallery has to say about that. Maybe I’ll give them a call later today.

Update: Don Surber has updated his post

Well via Memeorandum Newshounds is on the case:

Whenever the persecuted Christian right gets their pure white panties in a bunch about how evil libruls are disrespectful to Christianity, they frequently claim that these same libruls show deference to Islam when it comes to depicting images of Mohammed. The phrase, taken from a book, that “anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice” is bandied about by right wing Christians and Catholics. The absurdity of this position is demonstrated by the reality that the right wing, aided and abetted by Fox “News,” promotes prejudice against a number of groups deemed anathema – particularly atheists (atheist bus signs, “war on God”) and Islam. In addition to absurdity, there is also a double standard. When the evil, librul ACLU challenges a possible violation of the “Establishment Clause,” Jesus’ BFF’s claim that their First Amendment rights are being violated – yet, when artwork, that Christians don’t like, is presented, they’re all for censorship. And that’s when the comment about how liberals are more tolerant of Islam comes into play, as demonstrated by good Catholic Brian Kilmeade who, along with his Christian “friend’ Gretchen Carlson, is concerned about some artwork that their fellow good Christians are vaclempt about. It’s not a surprise that the morning Christian culture club would be “on” this issue as, earlier this year, they attacked a gallery owner over “sacrilegious” art in which a nun (not, as Gretchen Carlson said, the Virgin Mary) was depicted holding a pink rifle. There’s more irony in that this is the same krewe that supports Christian crosses on public land and bible verses on rifles. Go figure.

The big irony is of course they have a link to the site, which has now pulled the “art” since the Mohammad part of the cartoon is getting publicity. Read the self righteous comments I’ve left one of my own, not approved yet:

I note the same artwork also displays Mohammad kneeling before transvestite pigs, so I am assuming all the commentators on this tread and the writer are all cool with this too.

That being the case I presume I can send the link to American Muslim groups since we know how tolerant of dissent they are.

I’ll let you know if it goes up and if the comment thread is scrubbed.

Left a message at Shark’s ink the site that scrubbed the print once the Mohammad connection came up, I’ll let you know what they say.

Update 2: They are much too busy to allow my comments at Newshounds

Update 3 Shark Ink has not returned calls. I called the Loveland Museum and spoke to a very nice young lady who briefly informed me there is no additional security because of the drawing of Mohammad. The people taking calls are flat out and the employees are pretty occupied. I left a callback number but was told due to the situation they couldn’t guarantee it would be returned.

You know what I like about Mitt Romney, his bold fearless leadership!

Mitt Romney endorses Christine O’Donnell for U.S. Senate
Today, Mitt Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC endorsed Christine O’Donnell, who is running to serve the people of Delaware in the U.S. Senate (www.christine2010.com ). It also is sending her campaign a maximum $5,000 contribution.

“Now is the time for Republicans to rally behind their nominee, Christine O’Donnell. She ran an impressive campaign. I believe it is important we support her so we can win back the U.S. Senate this fall,” said Romney.

Why lead from the front like Sarah Palin when you can lead from the rear?

Just the type you want leading the free world eh?

Well at least he is one up on Karl Rove.