Update On Lionheart (With Addendum)

(Crossposted at Always On Watch)


On January 26, 2008, Yankee Doodle of Stop Islamic Conquest posted information indicating that Lionheart is scheduled to return to the UK in four days. Excerpt:

There is an immediacy to Lionheart's situation...

Yankee Doodle goes on to summarize what has happened to Lionheart and makes the following commentary (emphases mine):

Blogs (and bloggers) are going to start vanishing. This is only the very beginning of a big wave of oppression that is about to wash over the blogosphere.

[...]

Either we hang together, and do what we can, or rest assured we will hang separately.

1) Considering the legal assault on Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld in regards to her work exposing the financing of terrorism (see the posts in the widget on my sidebar);
2) considering the Bush Administration's efforts to gag Sibel Edmonds and other whistleblowers who have sought to expose criminal conduct which coincidentally furthers the goals of Islamic terrorists;
3) considering the persecution of bloggers, journalists and others in such "enlightened" countries as Israel, Finland, Canada, and so on;

bloggers now need to consider themselves targets of the international jihad and likely victims of government repression.

It is important to keep in mind that we in the English-speaking world have centuries of history and tradition -- replete with legal precedents -- on our side in the battle to stay free. Consequently, our fight is a peaceful one; we shall prevail by refusing to be silenced.

In addition to being illegal and wrong, any other approach to this situation would merely play into the hands of those who seek to enslave us and destroy our society.

According to this posting, to which Yankee Doodle linked (emphases mine),

[Lionheart] is currently in the US but his flight back is in about four days....and counting! He has very little money as his life has been turned upside down and I am very sad to say very few people have put their hands in their pockets to help when he needed their help the most. People who know his plight and sympathise with his views have, on the whole, let him down catastrophically. If something like a book offer, speaking position or similar is not offered to him in the next four days, he will get on that flight and return to the UK and be arrested on arrival. He will most likely be bailed after being charged and returned to his neighbourhood where he will have to live very secretively or be murdered. This is a very real possibility.

He helped the police imprison one of the drug dealers in his area and muslims in his area may well desire retribution, but more than just an eye for an eye. Even if he is released without charge, he will be in grave danger. If he goes to prison, his companions will be pimps, drug dealers and terrorists, many of whom will be muslim who will know who he is and the man he helped imprison. He has told me he would refuse to be put into protective areas as he would not want to be in the company of sex offenders. He has pictured what could and most likely would happen to him and has accepted that fate as a consequence of speaking the truth but I have not and neither should you!...

Ever since Lionheart's story broke a few weeks ago here in the blogosphere, many of us have done what we could to assist him. But, as I predicted from the beginning, the mainstream media, even those of the conservative type, have not felt Lionheart's story worthy of coverage. They'd much rather harp on the current bimbo-of-the-week or some other inane story.

The following is the edited essence of a comment I left this morning at Stop Islamic Conquest:

A few weeks ago, when Lionheart notified me of his situation, so many bloggers went after this story. We pulled out all the stops! Some of us contacted media, others political leaders. Still, we have not been able to get Lionheart's story out to the masses here in America. The mainstream media will not let us break through — and neither will the convservative pundits, even those who are blogosphere-friendly.

This shut-out of Lionheart's story puts me in mind of what happened with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who had to leave the United States because she couldn't get adequate security. We didn't even know of her situation until she had left for Europe! I've already said publicly that had I known of Ayaan's situation, I'd have taken her into my own home. I mean that!

The Christian community in the D.C. area failed Ayaan. Because she is an atheist? Perhaps. But to the credit of the Christian community, they didn't even know about Ayaan.

Is the same true for Lionheart? I don't think so. Surely, many Christians know of Lionheart's situation. What is the Christian community doing for Lionheart, who testifies that he is a believer?

Is there no lawyer out there to help him?

So, is it best for Lionheart to return to the UK and let the wheels of justice turn? Or will the wheels of injustice grind him down so that he disappears? In a few short days, we should have some kind of answer to those questions.

With apologies, Yankee Doodle included the following revised version of different lyrics for "Secret Agent Man" in his posting:

There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
With every post he makes
Another chance he takes
Odds are he won't live to blog tomorrow

Secret blogger man, secret blogger man
They've given you a login and taken away your name

Beware of friendly comments you may find
A friendly word can hide an evil mind
Ah, be careful what you post
Or you'll be givin' up the ghost
Odds are you won't live to blog tomorrow

Secret blogger man, secret blogger man
They've given you a login and taken away your name

[Lead guitar]

Secret blogger man, secret blogger man
They've given you a login and taken away your name

Swingin' in cyberspace one day
And then ridin' in the medevac next day
Oh no, you let the wrong word out
While posting with a shout
The odds are you won't live to blog tomorrow
Of course, the original version is by Johnny Rivers, way back in 1966:



Many have questioned the veracity or completeness of Lionheart's story as we know it from the web. Still, the following statement by the anti-Nazi pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) may apply to situations other than Lionheart's, perhaps to your own situation in a day not so distant:

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
1930's alert — in 2008, which may well turn out to be The Year of Silencing Voices. Certainly we have already seen the signs.

Addendum:

Over at Little Green Footballs, Charles has this posting, which points out what I failed to mention in my posting here:

...[A]fter I [LGF] supported Lionheart’s right to free speech (but not his association with the BNP), Lionheart publicly called me a “traitor” who should be shot like a WWII Nazi collaborator, and wrote that there were many who would be glad to kill me.

You know, just a tiny detail like that. Not really worth a mention, I guess.

Certainly Lionheart is not without controversy. Many bloggers and commenters have already stated their concerns, and I won't repeat all of them here in the body of this post.

But I hereby state that I did not intentionally fail to mention Charles's concerns. I assumed that commenters here would bring up the other aspects of Lionheart's situation.

The point of my posting was otherwise, as I have stated in Comment #43 at LGF.

I could take this posting down.

Maybe I should.

But I'm not sure what removing this posting would accomplish.

Besides, readers can decide for themselves about Lionheart. My purpose as a blogger who has been following the story is to bring his story to the attention of readers here at IBA.