Fleeing to Freedom

Prior to the second world war, the United States saw quite a bit of "intellectual" refugees from Europe; those who saw (like Albert Einstein) the doors of free speech, free thought, and free inquiry closing all around them. If we take their flight to be the precuser of the horrors that were about to unfold, what do we say about the state of Europe today? From The Gates of Vienna:

In addition to Hirsi Ali’s imminent departure from the Netherlands, there is a growing feeling that Europe is not safe for those who dissent even a little from the received wisdom of the bureaucratic state, or dare to confront the Muslim taqiyya so prevalent there..

An excerpt from the Wall Street Journal follows:

Across Europe, dozens of people are now in hiding or under police protection because of threats from Muslim extremists. Dutch police say politicians reported 121 death threats last year. The number this year will likely be much higher...
In Germany, several researchers, journalists and members of Parliament receive police protection because of threats by radical Muslims.

The Brussels Journal also quotes from the WSJ:

Flemming Rose, the culture editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, is also mulling a move to America, at the urging of friends and security contacts. He set off a global storm by publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. Twelve Danish cartoonists who drew the caricatures are staying out of public for fear of attack.
Mr. Rose complains that Europe is going wobbly. At the height of the cartoon furor in February, Danish businessmen who criticized their publication were denounced as traitors to free speech. Since then, a segment of the public, eager for a return to calm, has favored a more conciliatory approach toward Muslim anger, Mr. Rose says.

We welcome all of those whom understand that freedom of speech, and freedom of thought, cannot be subjugated to either an Islamist doctrine or to politically correct multicultural groupthink.
Again, America will be enriched as the world's best and brightest arrive on our shores simply to enjoy the freedoms that we take for granted - I thank these refugees of the mind and soul for reminding us what a glorious land we have here...
And perhaps the lightheaded lefties whom claim Bush is creating a totalitarian state in our midst should talk to some of these new arrivals to get a bit of perspective...

But the question remains - is this emigration from Europe the harbinger of a greater evil on the horizon, as it has been in the past? Or is it just a blip on the radar? Either way, the bureaucrats of the EU will dismiss the loss of their best and brightest, as they have waved off the loss of some of their finest business minds to America, and continue to assure those whom remain that the best is still to come.

Who will be left to believe it?