Thursday, October 21, 2010

Liberalism's Kristallnacht: October 21st, 2010

(w/updated thoughts and further commentary here)

The problems with purges is that they never stay small...

NPR got the ball rolling this morning by firing Juan Williams for speaking for himself, candidly, on FOX News. This afternoon, the lower-echelon cadres got involved, and followed the lead of their jackbooted masters by rescinding ex-Marine and celebrated Sci-Fi author Elizabeth Moon's invitation to attend WisCon 35 as "guest of honor". Instapundit has much more....

Why? Because she does not approve of building a mosque at Ground Zero.
Here is the thought crime for which she has been summarily convicted, without trial:

When an Islamic group decided to build a memorial center at/near the site of the 9/11 attack, they should have been able to predict that this would upset a lot of people. Not only were the attackers Islamic--and not only did the Islamic world in general show indecent glee about the attack, but this was only the last of many attacks on citizens and installations of this country which Islamic groups proudly claimed credit for. That some Muslims died in the attacks is immaterial--does not wipe out the long, long chain of Islamic hostility. It would have been one thing to have the Muslim victims' names placed with the others, and identified there as Muslims--but to use that site to proselytize for the religion that lies behind so many attacks on the innocent (I cannot forget the Jewish man in a wheelchair pushed over the side of the ship to drown, or Maj. Nadal's attack on soldiers at Fort Hood) was bound to raise a stink.


It is hard to believe that those making the application did not know that--did not anticipate it--and were not, in a way, probing to see if they could start a controversy. If they did not know, then they did not know enough about the culture into which they had moved. Though I am not angry about it, and have not spoken out in opposition, I do think it was a rude and tactless thing to propose (and, if carried out, to do.)

Moon is a liberal, mind you. She just doesn't subscribe to party orthodoxy. And when the purges begin, and the blood starts running down the streets, it is not just the blood of the nonbeliever which seeps its way around the cobblestones. It is joined by the blood of those who only have the slightest traces of impurities, those who agree with 95% of what you say but proffered their own thoughts about the other 5%. (remember the drumming out of Joe Lieberman?) On the liberal's Kristallnacht, the man (or woman, in this case) with the slightest doubts about The Agenda are as guilty as Karl Rove, and must suffer his fate.

How much more of liberty's blood will run today?

UPDATE: When I use the word "summarily", it is done with full meaning.
Juan Williams on his firing from NPR today:

Wednesday afternoon I got a message on my cell phone from Ellen Weiss who’s the head of news at NPR asking me to call. When I called back she said, “What did you say? What did you mean to say?” And I said, “I said what I meant to say.” Which is that it’s an honest experience that when I’m in an airport and I see people who are in Muslim garb, who identify themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I do a double take. I have a moment of anxiety or fear given what happened on 9/11. That’s just the reality. And she went on to say, “Well, that crosses the line.” And I said, “What line is that?” And she went on to somehow suggest that I had made a bigoted statement. And I said, “It’s not a bigoted statement.” I, in fact, in the course of this conversation with Bill O’Reilly, said that we have, as Americans, an obligation to be careful to protect the constitutional rights of everyone in the country and to make sure we don’t have any outbreak of bigotry. But that there’s a reality. You cannot ignore what happened on 9/11 and you cannot ignore the connection to Islamic radicalism. And you can’t ignore the fact of what has been recently said in court with regard to this as the first drop of blood in a Muslim war in America.

And then she said, “You know, this has been decided up the chain.” I said, “You mean, I don’t even get the chance to come in and we do this eyeball-to-eyeball, person-to-person, have a conversation? I’ve been there for more than ten years. We don’t have that chance to have a conversation about this?” And she said, “There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind. This has been decided above me and we’re terminating your contract.”


UPDATE II: More fascism - remember how the Soviets used to send dissenters to "insane asylums"? Well, that meme is alive and well at NPR:

Fired NPR news analyst Juan Williams should have kept his feeling about Muslims between himself and "his psychiatrist or his publicist," the network's CEO told an audience at the Atlanta Press Club earlier today.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, Kristallnacht was less of a purge and more of an outpouring of racial hatred, so I am not sure the analogy works, although your point is clear - today's the day, apaprently, to burn the nonbelievers.

Caught in a vice - about to lose power in a dozen days, the people abandoning them, their media outlets struggling to put forth their propoganda against the rebellion, their figureehad president becoming an international laughingstock - the left has reacted by turning against itself, thinking - like some petty tyrant - there must be someone on the inside bringing them down. So they tear themsevles apart, and "purge" all those who do not swear 100% loyalty to the crown.

It is an uncomfortable thing to witness.

The JerseyNut said...

Best way to see what a liberal really thinks, Montana, is to listen what he accuses other of. Like the recent "foreign money" gambit, which has mysteriously vanished from the Dems talking points. Based on that, you're one ugly human being.

I'll leave you with Sarah Palin's defense of Juan Williams - a man who has oft spoke ill of her. She's got more courage and principle in her left nipple than the entire liberal nation has in their collective balls:

At a time when our country is dangerously in debt and looking for areas of federal spending to cut, I think we’ve found a good candidate for defunding. National Public Radio is a public institution that directly or indirectly exists because the taxpayers fund it. And what do we, the taxpayers, get for this? We get to witness Juan Williams being fired from NPR for merely speaking frankly about the very real threat this country faces from radical Islam.

We have to have an honest discussion about the jihadist threat. Are we not allowed to say that Muslim terrorists have killed thousands of Americans and continue to plot the deaths of thousands more? Are we not allowed to say that there are Muslim states that aid and abet these fanatics? Are we not allowed to even debate the role that radical Islam plays in inciting this violence?

I don’t expect Juan Williams to support me (he’s said some tough things about me in the past) – but I will always support his right and the right of all Americans to speak honestly about the threats this country faces. And for Juan, speaking honestly about these issues isn’t just his right, it’s his job. Up until yesterday, he was doing that job at NPR. Firing him is their loss.

If NPR is unable to tolerate an honest debate about an issue as important as Islamic terrorism, then it’s time for “National Public Radio” to become “National Private Radio.” It’s time for Congress to defund this organization.

NPR says its mission is “to create a more informed public,” but by stifling debate on these issues, NPR is doing exactly the opposite. President Obama should make clear his commitment to free and honest discussion of the jihadist threat in our public debates – and Congress should make clear that unless NPR provides that public service, not one more dime.

Mr. President, what say you?

Anonymous said...

The Elizabeth Moon thing actually happened the night of the 20th, but why let facts get in the way of a hyperbole-filled blog post...

The other thing about it: the committee felt that her speech is not what they wanted to label "honored". They did not censor her; they are not preventing her from talking; they are not even asking her not to show up. They simply said, this is not speech we care to honor.

Anonymous said...

Kristallnact is not the right comparison here.

Pere Ubu said...

Godwin much?

Pere Ubu said...

BTW, I think the dumbass Nazi analogy you're looking for is the Night Of The Long Knives, but, being a leftie, what the hell do I know?

Anonymous said...

On the bright side, Williams will feel at right at home with the other Nazis at Fox.