"Serious People" at the Chronicle and in City Hall
When I was young and naive, I believed that important people took positions based on careful consideration of the options. Now I know better. Much of what Serious People believe rests on prejudices, not analysis. And these prejudices are subject to fads and fashions.
And who's supposedly more "serious" than journalists who write about important issues? Take the story in this morning's Chronicle (Offensive Muni ads lead to education on Islamophobia and anti-Semitism) on the recent Muni bus ad controversy:
The saga over advertisements on Muni implying that Muslims are “savages” and that Israel is an apartheid state seems to be coming to an end, with city officials saying they plan to implement programs to combat both Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. It all started last year when the American Freedom Defense Initiative paid for ads on the transit system calling Israel’s opponents “savages.”
The group resurfaced this spring, when they paid for another set of ads that, among other things, featured a quote from what was listed as “Hamas MTV,” saying “Killing Jews is worship that brings us closer to Allah.” At the time, the Municipal Transportation Agency said they had no choice but to run the ads, or risk being sued (as happened elsewhere). But they also offered to donate the money to the city’s Human Rights Commission.
This is pseudo-objective journalism at its worst, with falsehoods and half-truths in every sentence. What the ad said: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel, defeat Jihad."
Obviously not all of the opponents of Israel are jihadists. Though all jihadists are Muslims, of course not all Muslims are jihadists. The statement in the ad is clearly directed at violent jihadists, not all Muslims, the kind of people who attacked us on 9/11 and who we've been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001.
The implication of the next sentence is that citing Hamas for the quotation (“Killing Jews is worship that brings us closer to Allah”) is questionable, though all you have to do is Google it to come up with a Hamas video on YouTube that features the quotation as part of a song lauding violent jihad.
"At the time, the Municipal Transportation Agency said they had no choice but to run the ads, or risk being sued..." Under what arcane law could poor Muni have been sued? None other than the very First Amendment to our Constitution ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...").
The Chronicle story is the product of a mind full of prejudice, fad, and fashion.
We were told last year during the controversy that the money Muni got for the ads ($15,780) would be given to the city's Human Rights Commission to do a study about discrimination against Muslims in San Francisco.
Obviously not all of the opponents of Israel are jihadists. Though all jihadists are Muslims, of course not all Muslims are jihadists. The statement in the ad is clearly directed at violent jihadists, not all Muslims, the kind of people who attacked us on 9/11 and who we've been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001.
The implication of the next sentence is that citing Hamas for the quotation (“Killing Jews is worship that brings us closer to Allah”) is questionable, though all you have to do is Google it to come up with a Hamas video on YouTube that features the quotation as part of a song lauding violent jihad.
"At the time, the Municipal Transportation Agency said they had no choice but to run the ads, or risk being sued..." Under what arcane law could poor Muni have been sued? None other than the very First Amendment to our Constitution ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...").
The Chronicle story is the product of a mind full of prejudice, fad, and fashion.
We were told last year during the controversy that the money Muni got for the ads ($15,780) would be given to the city's Human Rights Commission to do a study about discrimination against Muslims in San Francisco.
No such study has surfaced yet on the commission's website, nor, I bet, will one ever be written. It was all window dressing by city officials in a dither about a completely imaginary offense to City Hall's official multicultural doctrine, which must respect homicidal anti-Semites lest other Muslims be offended!
In other jihad news: Recall the story last May about seven Muslims caught late at night prowling around the Quabbin Reservoir outside Boston? Turns out that they are now subjects of a criminal investigation, though that information could only be pried out of the Boston authorities with a Freedom of Information suit.
And earlier this year the FBI office in Seattle cancelled an ad campaign (pictured below) in pursuit of 16 of the world's most wanted terrorists. Since almost all of them were Muslims, the area's congressman---"Baghdad" Jim McDermott, a Democrat---the ACLU, and CAIR persuaded the FBI to cancel the campaign for fear of offending Muslims, who, not coincidentally, are almost all of the world's most wanted terrorists.
In other jihad news: Recall the story last May about seven Muslims caught late at night prowling around the Quabbin Reservoir outside Boston? Turns out that they are now subjects of a criminal investigation, though that information could only be pried out of the Boston authorities with a Freedom of Information suit.
And earlier this year the FBI office in Seattle cancelled an ad campaign (pictured below) in pursuit of 16 of the world's most wanted terrorists. Since almost all of them were Muslims, the area's congressman---"Baghdad" Jim McDermott, a Democrat---the ACLU, and CAIR persuaded the FBI to cancel the campaign for fear of offending Muslims, who, not coincidentally, are almost all of the world's most wanted terrorists.
The dhimmis in City Hall are in no position to "educate" us about anything, least of all on an imaginary "islamophobia."
A useful article on Islamophobia by Andrew Zak Williams.
A useful article on Islamophobia by Andrew Zak Williams.
Labels: Atheism and Religion, City; Government, Islamic Fascism, Muni, Muni Jihad Ads, SF Chronicle
posted by Rob Anderson @ 7:09 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Perhaps I (again) am off topic. Where is the progressive outrage over the Syrian government's gassing of their people? Silence so far.
Not true. Islam is guilty of almost all the religious violence in the world now. Pointing that out somehow violates the moronic version of multiculturalism peddled by dim bulbs like you and in City Hall.
When was the last bombing of an abortion clinic? So long ago, I can't remember it. No, Islamists are easily the greatest perpetrators of religious violence in the world.
We know old codgers have short memories...
January 1, 2012 Bobby Joe Rogers, 41, firebombed the American Family Planning Clinic in Pensacola, Florida with a Molotov cocktail; the fire gutted the building. Rogers told investigators that he was motivated to commit the crime by his opposition to abortion, and that what more directly prompted the act was seeing a patient enter the clinic during one of the frequent anti-abortion protests there. The clinic had previously been bombed at Christmas in 1984 and was the site of the murder of Dr. John Britton and James Barrett in 1994.[38]
April 1, 2012 A bomb exploded on the windowsill of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, resulting in a fire that damaged one of the clinic's examination rooms. No injuries were reported.
If you are already in power - you don't have to wage a holy war.
In the US, the religious right has the power in a lot of states and is exercising their power on poor people by restricting abortion rights.
The pen is mightier than the sword, especially when it's writing legislation.
To the extent that the "religious right" has power in the US, they got it using elections and the democratic process, not with terrorism.
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