Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Balanced over here, unhinged over there

Over on Your Freedom and Ours a thoughtful piece on the March 5 presentation of Fitna and subsequent press conference by Geert Wilders, Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Baroness Cox.

Particularly interesting (to foreign readers, but perhaps also to Dutch readers) is the section on Wilders' intended policies, of which we hear far too little, as Helen notes as well:
What are Mr Wilders’s policies? It’s worth asking that question since you will never find out the answer from the main-stream media whose denizens consider the state of Mr Wilders’s hair far more important.
All in all, of you want a short concise introduction to the political views of Geert Wilders, or a proper report on the press conference, head on over.

Elsewhere, some prominent US conservatives have decided that Europe's re-emerging self-esteem is somehow a prelude to a Europe-wide take-over by fascists. Glenn Beck is the most notable. But, as GoV points out, Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol have also joined this mad dash into little green insanity.

Or is there something more sinister going on? Several commenters made the observation that Fox is owned, in part, by Prince bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. This may have something to do with Fox actively fighting (and mis-labelling) criticism of islam and muslims. As remembered by Walid Shoebat:
He himself (Prince bin Talal) said, ‘I just had to make a phone call to [tell them to] stop using the word Muslim’ regarding the rioting in France,” Mr. Shoebad notes. “Bill O’Reilly says to Ibrahim Hooper, the head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), that he is an upstanding citizen. Since when was the head of CAIR an upstanding citizen?
Beck's interview with Geert Wilders has been taken down. But what were these Mr. Beck? Just empty words? Or are you selling out your friends and comrades in arms for a few measly pieces of silver? What are you, Mr. Beck?

[UPDATE001] Mark Steyn has his take on the situation here.
Wilders does not need to be lectured condescendingly about distinctions within Islam, because he lives with them every day.
Ouch! So true, but... Ouch!

(cross posted from Klein Verzet)

8 comments:

Always On Watch said...

Yet another way of marginalizing the threat of Islam.

If Wilders can be so labeled, then the West doesn't need to worry about Islamification, right? And there's no threat to freedom of speech and expression, either.

::head/desk::

Always On Watch said...

Another thought....A lot of conservatives do pay attention to Beck and Krauthammer.

I'm sure that the next time I bring up the significance of the trial of Wilders, I'll hear from my conservative friends that Wilders's fascism is the problem.

jeppo said...

Krauthammer and Kristol aren't conservatives, they're neocons (liberal warmongers). Glenn Beck is...well he's all over the map. Saudi-owned Fox (al-Fox?) News is now as utterly worthless as CNN or MSNBC.

Mark Steyn gets it though.

Always On Watch said...

Jeppo,
Yes, they are neocons.

But many conservatives don't realize that and follow them closely.

Pastorius said...

Krauthammer is pretty consistently Conservative.

I'm a Neocon, and I know what Islam is, though I guess Jeppo might disagree with me on that.

;-)

Epaminondas said...

Krauthammer is an ex Kennedy Dem, ad Reagan man. I don't how how to characterize that

Kristol, and his daddy are grade A total CONSERVATIVES.

ALL THE WAY

Steve Harkonnen said...

Yep.

This clearly draws a line between Neocons (idiots) and the conservatives that know the difference (Paleoconservatives).

Now, for those of you that THINK you're neocons, go and look up the definition of such. You may walk away feeling surprised.

Nine out of ten "Neocons" ended up declaring "wow, I never knew I was really a palecon this whole time."

Pastorius said...

Neocon definition from Wiki;

Neoconservatism is a political philosophy that emerged in the United States of America, and which supports using American economic and military power to bring liberalism, democracy, and human rights to other countries.[1][2][3] Consequently the term is chiefly applicable to certain Americans and their strong supporters. In economics, unlike traditionalist conservatives, neoconservatives are generally comfortable with a welfare state; and, while rhetorically supportive of free markets, they are willing to interfere for overriding social purposes.[4] The term neoconservative was used at one time as a criticism against proponents of American modern liberalism who had "moved to the right".


Yep. I'm a Neocon.