Spineless Cowards.....islamist and the liberal establishment

I am going to run two subjects then tie them together on this post...Yay Touretts!!

"Squirrel"

     Y'all by this time have seen the ensuing drama in Paris where an Islamic hit squad killed 12 people including 4 cartoonist of the French Satire magazine Charlie Hebdo that in the past has mocked Islam.

    Charlie Hebdo also has mocked all other religions, their favorite target seemed to be the Vatican, home to the Catholic Church, but Catholics didn't have a wish to kill the cartoonist, they may not like the cartoons and considered them "Tacky".  But somehow the "Religion of Peace" seems to have a different opinion, so they decided to go kill the satirists at Charlie Hebdo to silence the critics of their religion.  What get me is that the liberals and their fellow travelers instead of condemning the act of murder and the attack against free speech, all they could do was worry that some Muslims might get their feelings hurt and that there might be a backlash against them..............Really?   

     I don't know exactly what it is , but liberals and their fellow travelers treat the followers of islam with kid gloves, when the islamist misbehave by burning stuff and killing people...all liberals can do is find some ways to justify the actions of the islamist instead of condemning it.  If the Christians or buddaheads  get ugly and protest, the liberals all climb on their high horse and condemn and mock those protesting, but let islam protest, it is totally different, the liberals treat the followers of islam like kids.  They think that they are parents and the followers of islam are children and misbehaving is somehow "OK"  having your kid throw a tantrum.  a liberal will let their kid show out in a store, whereas a conservative will quickly remind the child that there are rules of behavior to be followed.

   There is a weird symbiotic relationship between liberals and the followers of islam, I think it stems partly from the liberals hatred of western civilization and the belief in the individual, not groups and tribes.  The liberals believe, live and breath group dynamics and group politics....like lemmings. and the islamist will use the liberals for their own ends, usually having to do with the fall of Western civilization.

cartoon I saw at work and took a picture of it

   I think liberals believe that if they show how tolerant they are, that one day the followers of islam will do the same...they don't understand that the followers of islam have a totally  different mindset, the islamist truly believe that they are on a mission to spread the call of islam all over the planet, it says so in the quran.  The "older" religions also had their barbaric colonization period, but in this day and age, we have a 7th century religion in a 21st century you tube generation.  and the teachings of the islamist are totally incompatible with American ideals, we have no "state" religion, you can worship what you want.   Many came to America to flee religious persecution and our founders wanted no state religion for that was one of the issues with England.  But now we have a state religion, you can insult all other religions except islam..if you exercise your first amendment right to free speech and say unkind things about the followers of islam, you have to worry about the department of justice paying you a visit. 

     the same people that bad mouth Christianity will not say anything against islam, they are afraid of that religion.  They know that if they insult Christians or Buddhist or other groups, nothing will happen.....but if you insult islam....you have to worry about getting killed.  That ability severely limits the free speech aspects.   

    

   the same people that will publish a picture of a container of urine with a crucifix in it and call it "art" will immediately back down and not say anything about the the followers of islam and they will not publish any cartoons that depict Muslims in a bad light or depict Mohammed the prophet of islam, they call it "journalistic standards of decency" but in a new york minute show something derogatory about Christians or buddaheads....they are spineless cowards and have no journalistic integrity.  They are more afraid of offending a protected minority than speaking the truth, in this case the islamist have already won, the belief of "free Speech" is only free if you slander an acceptable group to the average liberal, all others must be protected.

     What I am tying together is the liberals and the followers of islam, the weird relationship they have, the liberals have a double standard, they will criticize all others except the followers of islam.  The politically correct groupthink is more important.  the liberals are willing to sacrifice the belief in western civilization, the belief in the individual. 

Islam, Jihad and the United States

For those that don't know, Geert Wilders was put on trial in the Netherlands for saying not nice things about the cult of islam.  They tried to prosecute him on "hate crimes" statutes and he was found innocent.  Mr. Wilders has had threats on his life from those that believe that he "insulted the qoran and the prophet mohommed"

In a generation or two, the US will ask itself:

'Who lost Europe ?'Here is the speech of Geert Wilders, Chairman, Party for Freedom, the Netherlands , at the Four Seasons, New York , introducing an Alliance of Patriots and announcing the Facing Jihad Conference in Jerusalem .

Dear friends,

Thank you very much for inviting me. I come to America with a mission.
All is not well in the old world.
There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic.
We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe.
This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West.
The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe.

First I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe . Then, I will say a few things about Islam. To close I will tell you about a meeting in Jerusalem .

The Europe you know is changing.

You have probably seen the landmarks. But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass-migration.

All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen.
And if they are, they might regret it. This goes for the police as well.
It's the world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby strollers and a group of children.
Their husbands, or slaveholders if you prefer, walk three steps ahead.
With mosques on many street corners. The shops have signs you and I cannot read. You will be hard-pressed to find any economic activity. These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious fanatics. These are Muslim neighborhoods, and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe . These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe , street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city.

There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe . With larger congregations than there are in churches. And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region. Clearly, the signal is: we rule.

Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam , Marseille and Malmo in Sweden . In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities.

In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims.

Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'. Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin.

In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin . The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity.

In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels , because he was drinking during the Ramadan.

Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya , Israel . I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories about Islamization.

A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe . San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.

Now these are just numbers. And the numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate. But there are few signs of that. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France . One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks. The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate. Muslims demand what they call 'respect'. And this is how we give them respect.. We have Muslim official state holidays.

The Christian-Democratic attorney general is willing to accept sharia in the Netherlands if there is a Muslim majority. We have cabinet members with passports from Morocco and Turkey .

Muslim demands are supported by unlawful behavior, ranging from petty crimes and random violence, for example against ambulance workers and bus drivers, to small-scale riots. Paris has seen its uprising in the low-income suburbs, the banlieus. I call the perpetrators 'settlers'. Because that is what they are. They do not come to integrate into our societies; they come to integrate our society into their Dar-al-Islam. Therefore, they are settlers.

Much of this street violence I mentioned is directed exclusively against non-Muslims, forcing many native people to leave their neighborhoods, their cities, their countries. Moreover, Muslims are now a swing vote not to be ignored.

The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the prophet. His behavior is an example to all Muslims and cannot be criticized. Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem. But Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a pedophile, polygmist, and had several marriages - at the same time. Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed. Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza. If it is good for Islam, it is good. If it is bad for Islam, it is bad.

Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion. Sure, it has a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins. But in its essence Islam is a political ideology. It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the life of every person.. Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life. Islam means 'submission'. Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia. If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies.

Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam 'the most retrograde force in the world', and why he compared Mein Kampf to the Quran. The public has wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian narrative, and sees Israel as the aggressor. I have lived in this country and visited it dozens of times. I support Israel . First, because it is the Jewish homeland after two thousand years of exile up to and including Auschwitz, second because it is a democracy, and third because Israel is our first line of defense.

This tiny country is situated on the fault line of jihad, frustrating Islam's territorial advance. Israel is facing the front lines of jihad, like Kashmir, Kosovo, the Philippines , Southern Thailand, Darfur in Sudan , Lebanon , and Aceh in Indonesia . Israel is simply in the way. The same way West-Berlin was during the Cold War.

The war against Israel is not a war against Israel . It is a war against the West. It is jihad. Israel is simply receiving the blows that are meant for all of us. If there would have been no Israel , Islamic imperialism would have found other venues to release its energy and its desire for conquest. Thanks to Israeli parents who send their children to the army and lay awake at night, parents in Europe and America can sleep well and dream, unaware of the dangers looming.

Many in Europe argue in favor of abandoning Israel in order to address the grievances of our Muslim minorities. But if Israel were, God forbid, to go down, it would not bring any solace to the West It would not mean our Muslim minorities would all of a sudden change their behavior, and accept our values. On the contrary, the end of Israel would give enormous encouragement to the forces of Islam. They would, and rightly so, see the demise of Israel as proof that the West is weak, and doomed. The end of Israel would not mean the end of our problems with Islam, but only the beginning. It would mean the start of the final battle for world domination. If they can get Israel , they can get everything. So-called journalists volunteer to label any and all critics of Islamization as a 'right-wing extremists' or 'racists'. In my country, the Netherlands , 60 percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II. And another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat. Yet there is a greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing. The lights may go out in Europe faster than you can imagine. An Islamic Europe means a Europe without freedom and democracy, an economic wasteland, an intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military might for America - as its allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic bombs. With an Islamic Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage of Rome , Athens and Jerusalem ....

Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts. My generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives. All throughout Europe , American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and whose memory we cherish. My generation does not own this freedom; we are merely its custodians. We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe 's children in the same state in which it was offered to us. We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams. Future generations would never forgive us. We cannot squander our liberties. We simply do not have the right to do so.

We have to take the necessary action now to stop this Islamic stupidity from destroying the free world that we know.

The Angry Muslim

"The Angry Muslim"...what a cliche.   It goes together like Peanut butter and Jelly, wait...can't use that it might be construed as racist.   Ok lets try Pork and beans....what can't use that either, it is an insult to Islam.  Well we can try Gin and tonic....wait..can't use that either they hate booze...it offends them.   Well it seems that everything offends them.   That is what happens when you have a 7th century religion in the 21st century with internet access.

     When most people are offended, they launch boycotts or hold signs....well when Islam is offended..people die.    Religion is supposed to teach people how to get along better with each other and provide a moral compass to live a good life.  Religion is supposed to teach the "Golden Rule" on how to deal with your fellow man.  But with Islam there is no "golden rule"   If you don't agree with Islam, you have offended the Prophet Mohommed and you will get a fatwa and somebody will try to kill you for insulting Islam.  Other religions have had their aggressive colonial period, but now Islam is going through this and they are exposed to the internet and you tube.  When other religious people do something stupid like the Westboro Baptist Church with their signs, they are rightly pilloried as kooks. 
     Islam is treated to a double standard, other religions are treated as grownups whereas Islam is treated like a child..It throws a  temper tantrum and the adults just pat Islam on the head and say condescendingly "there, there".  islam isn't treated to the same standard.  If Christians acted in this way, there would be worldwide condemnation of the act.   People are afraid to do or say anything for fear of offending...this is P.C. run amuck.  When the Muslims rioted the past week, people immediately blamed some low budget movie and this was the excuse for the bad behavior.  Now they want us to suspend our first amendment rights to appease the "Angry Muslim".  When will it stop?  Right now we are viewed as a paper tiger and weak.  This will encourage more bad behavior.
    Now we have this newsweek cover and it has the leftist in a tizzy....they are afraid of offending Islam some more.   When will it end?

Islam don't have a sense of humor....

   I have on my blog a quote from Charleton Heston that stated that "Political Correctness is Tyranny with manners".  I havn't made any comment about Islam lately...they call Islam the Religion of Peace...There is a piece of you here and a piece of you there......   Anyway, It is very condescending to treat people this way..if you can't laugh, you are too uptight.  The people that bash Islam are pilloried, threathened with a Fatwa and other items from having the department of justice investigate you if you say something that isn't complementary to Islam.  Here in America, we are supposed to be open to all religions, and all can practice here. but certain religions are elevated, the unofficial religion for the United States is Islam.  That religion has special protections under the law that all others don't have.   But Because radical Islam is not compatible with free, Western societies, the followers of that faith take joking very seriously. Their prophet can’t be depicted in cartoons and liberals who applaud Christian-bashing “art” are never brave enough to mock Islam.

 There was an English writer that had commented one time that a good test of a good religion was if you could make jokes about it.  Mr Chesterton made that quote a while back.  Mr Cleese who is famous for his roles with Monty Python and other roles made a comment.

For something completely different, watch (above) as Cleese discusses political correctness with Bill Maher. When Maher noted that Islam is a religion that you can’t joke about in public, John Cleese replied that you CAN but

It just means that they’ll kill you. Theoretically you could.

And,

The problem is if you make jokes about people who are going to kill you, there is a sort of tendency to hold back a little, isn’t there?

The cartoon that a few years ago got a "fatwa" against the artist for "insulting Islam

 

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Islam..the state Religion....?

I have been hearing through various media outlets that the D.O.J   you know the organization that started "Fast and Furious", the failure to prosecute the black panthers in their intimidation of white voters in the city of brotherly love..., the same one that spied on journalist, lead the raid on Gibson Guitars, lessee...refused to enforce DOMA...I am sure that I forgot a few....  The same Eric Holder and the D.O.J has sent letters to Muslim groups and dispatched a top lawyer to reassure them that if people post what they consider inflammatory remarks against Islam that it would be a civil rights violation...Here are more details from Judicial Watch:

    
A top Department of Justice lawyer warns that posting offensive material on Islam will have legal repercussions.
Judicial Watch reported – via Ace:

In its latest effort to protect followers of Islam in the U.S. the Obama Justice Department warns against using social media to spread information considered inflammatory against Muslims, threatening that it could constitute a violation of civil rights.
The move comes a few years after the administration became the first in history to dispatch a U.S. Attorney General to personally reassure Muslims that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is dedicated to protecting them. In the unprecedented event, Attorney General Eric Holder assured a San Francisco-based organization (Muslim Advocates) that urges members not to cooperate in federal terrorism investigations that the “us versus them” environment created by the U.S. government, law enforcement agents and fellow citizens is unacceptable and inconsistent with what America is all about.
“Muslims and Arab Americans have helped build and strengthen our nation,” Holder said after expressing that he is “grateful” to have Muslims as a partner in promoting tolerance, ensuring public safety and protecting civil rights. He also vowed to strengthen “crucial dialogue” between Muslim and Arab-American communities and law enforcement.
Evidently that was a precursor of sorts for an upcoming Tennessee event (“Public Disclosure in a Diverse Society”) that will feature the region’s top DOJ official, who serves as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and an FBI representative. The goal is to increase awareness and understanding that American Muslims are not the terrorists some have made them out to be in social media and other circles, according to a local newspaper report. The June 4 powwow is sponsored by the American Muslim Advisory Council of Tennessee.
The area’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Killian, will address a topic that most Americans are likely unfamiliar with, even those well versed on the Constitution; that federal civil rights laws can actually be violated by those who post inflammatory documents aimed at Muslims on social media. “This is an educational effort with civil rights laws as they play into freedom of religion and exercising freedom of religion,” Killian says in the local news story. “This is also to inform the public what federal laws are in effect and what the consequences are.”

     Now Let me get this straight...If I say that Islam is a 7th century religion and all I learned about Islam I learned when I saw the planes crash into the WTC on 9/11.  the D.O.J will come after me because I might offend a group of muslims....?    Really?....you got to be shitting me.....The same D.O.J that selectively prosecutes cases depending on the agenda out of the white house?   They will go after my 1st amendment rights....Lessee if I can find my 1st amendment rights real quick in my copy of the U.S. Constitution.:

     FIRST AMENDMENT:  “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; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

    Yep found it.   What part of the 1st amendment does the D.O.J not get...?   Where is the fucking ACLU?  those bastards protest at the drop of the hat when they feel that their first amendment is being trampled on...unless it is Obama and his minions doing it, then they are silent.  Where is the outrage of the left...they like to scream about their first amendment rights on a regular basis.  They are silent also.  They are so P.C. dominated that they are afraid to say anything for fear of being  labeled haters that they will bow down before this.
    As y'all can see from my language I have a real problem with this.    Let me give a refresher on the 1st amendment...it protects all speech...even the "Unpopular" ones....The government cannot curtail what I say, it is my right as an American citizen to say what I want and have no fear of getting shipped off to a gulag.     I see them trying to start a state religion...All other religions are at the same standard except Islam, it is held to a special category...why?   All the prople in D.C. are intent on protecting Islam....is it our new state religion and I didn't get the memo...oh wait...I will have the D.O.J drop in for a visit and tell me that I have to kiss Islams ass or I will find myself in jail for violating the civil rights of muslims...what my civil right not to have a state religion forced down my and other Americans throat.   What kind of crap is that....you have to be nice to Muslims....or else.    
    Yep be nice to muslims or they get offended and either blow themselves up along with a bunch of innocents people or they cut your head off.

Why are we being nice to these savages?   We are expected to be tolerant of their religious belief, but they are not tolerant of others.....You doubt me...Ask the Copts in Obama's Egypt.  They have churches burned on a regular basis and the same with other religions in places where Islam is dominant.  But nothing is said from the Obama white house now let people here in America make unkind comments about Islam in social media and they will put me in jail....?  well fuck them   this crap really pisses me off.  Also mentioned in the ist amendment...you know the one that the ACLU assholes like to preach about....there is a part where it states that  
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,   
      Well it looks like we have a state religion now.....They can insult Christianity on a regular basis and  it is OK, but insult the imams of Islam and there is hell to pay.   or they chop your head off...

    

                                              
                                    “WHEN THE ILL WINDS BLOW, I WILL ALWAYS
                                        STAND WITH THE MUSLIMS!”

"Brooklyn Mike" Part 2

This is the continuation of the story that I had read from Matt Bracken.  To me it shows what can happen in the near future.

This is how I view islam, you can't criticize it or you run afoul of the "PC Police"

And agencies of the government that seems that it is its job to punish those that insult islam.  If you doubt me, remember that the DOJ is heavily politicized and AG Lynch has set up special branches of the DOJ to investigate anti islam behavior.   The United States was founded as a place where you can worship as you please without government getting involved. but now we seem to have one "Protected" religion.

Piss Christ? Piss Koran!
Part Two: Morning Light
by Matthew Bracken
At seven minutes after six, Mike closed his notebook and put the bottle of apple juice behind his pack and near the bottom of his poncho shanty. Then he took a Sony portable AM/FM radio the size of a cigarette pack from a cargo pocket of his trousers. It already had a wire for a single ear bud wrapped around it. He switched it on: it was preset for WNYR-FM.
Jerry Conroy was talking over his show’s lead-in bumper music. “Folks, if you’re just tuning in, we have a major situation happening near 6th Avenue and 53rd, right across from the BCA television network building in Manhattan. If you were listening to this show last Friday, then you already know about the Serrano exhibit that’s opening today at the Modern Art Museum. If you’re not up to speed, Andres Serrano is the artist who created the infamous Piss Christ. Well, today there’s a man sitting up on a construction crane across 6th Avenue from the BCA building, and, he’s threatening to create some new art of his own if the Serrano exhibit opens up this morning. Brooklyn Mike, are you still there?”
Mike Dolan removed the ear bud, and picked up his flip phone. “I’m here, Jerry.” He looked down at the screen of his iPhone. Charlie Thorn was staring intently, saying nothing, and then the BCA camera cut back to its shot of him up on the crane. Then a still picture of Jerry Conroy appeared with the caption, “WNYR talk radio host Jerry Conroy.”
“Mike, can you explain to our listening audience what you’re doing up there?”
“Well, Jerry, like you just said, it’s about the Serrano exhibit.”
“Folks, if you didn’t already see it on BCA a few minutes ago, Brooklyn Mike is threatening to douse a copy of the Koran in urine if the Serrano exhibit opens up. Do we understand that correctly, Mike?”
“You got it, Jerry. If they show the Piss Christ at the MAM, then I’m going to create the Piss Koran up here.”
“Mike, if you do that, you have to know that millions of Muslims around the world are going to be very, very upset.”
“Then that’s their problem. Almost nobody seems to object to the Piss Christ, so why should the Koran be out of bounds? I mean, if we all have the freedom of expression, why shouldn’t I be free to create my own art? The mayor said that we had to respect Serrano’s artistic vision and his right to free expression, so why should the Koran be off limits?”
“That may all be true, but let’s be practical. Let’s be realistic. You have to know there’s going to be a terrible reaction to your stunt. And the responsibility will lie with you.”
“With me? Jerry, last Friday you asked why Christians and Jews were just expected to take this kind of abuse like sheep, but we couldn’t say one word about Islam, or bombs would go off. So you gave me the idea, Jerry, you did. So why don’t you have to share some of the responsibility? How far back does this responsibility thing go? I mean, is there still free speech in America, or not?”
“But if you go through with this stunt, come on, Mike, you know that a lot of people are going to be hurt. A lot of people.”
“Why is that? I’m not threatening to hurt anybody. I’m just going to create a new work of art — just like Serrano.” Mike checked his smart phone again. The still picture of Jerry Conroy was across from him in the corner of the screen.
“Do you understand all of the ramifications of what you’re doing today, Mike?”
After a pause, he said, “Yes, I believe that I do.”
Conroy sighed. “Well, Mike, are you willing to take some questions from callers?”
“Why not?”
“Okay, folks, first up is Reverend Samuel L. Peterson, pastor of the Faith Tabernacle Mission. Reverend Peterson is also on the board of the New York Interfaith Council. Reverend Peterson, go ahead.”
The reverend sounded old and frail. “Mike, oh, Mike, are you really going to do this terrible thing? If you do, you are going to cause an unimaginable outbreak of rage across the Muslim world! I fear that many people are going to be hurt! Do you really want to do that? Do you want that on your conscience?”
“Why would it be on my conscience? I wouldn’t hurt a fly. I’m just creating a new work of art, just like Serrano. Nothing more, and nothing less. I can see the Modern Art Museum from here, down 53rd. It was in the news all last week, pastor. Were you planning to come down to protest against it?”
“Uh, Mike, well, I’m, you see, I’m not much of an expert on art — ”
“And you’re just so busy, I know. Too busy to worry about the Piss Christ, or what Christians think about it. But you’re Johnny-on-the-spot today, aren’t you?”
“Michael, may I call you Michael? Michael, two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Mike snorted. “What? Is that the best you can do? Seriously? Reverend Peterson, tell me something. Do you know what a dhimmi is? In English, it’s spelled d-h-i-m-m-i. Dhimmi. It’s an Arabic word. Do you know what it means? Ever hear of it?”
“Michael, I’m not sure what that has to do with — ”
“It has everything to do with everything! Dhimmi! Do you know the word, or not?”
“I must say that I’m not familiar with it. I don’t speak Arabic, and I don’t see — ”
“Well, I suggest that you look it up, you old fool! Lenin would have called you a useful idiot. You’re not leading your flock to verdant pastures, you’re leading them straight to a pack of hungry wolves! You’re a dhimmi, and you don’t even know it.”
After a moment, Jerry Conroy came back on and said, “Ah, Reverend Peterson seems to have dropped off the line. Mike, we’re not going to get very far if you treat our callers this way.”
“I’m sorry the reverend is gone, because I had some more to tell him. ‘Interfaith’ preachers like Peterson are nothing more than Judas goats, leading their flocks straight into the slaughterhouse. He’s doing the work of the jihadists, and he’s too stupid to even understand it.”
“So, what does this dhimmi thing mean, anyway?”
“You don’t know either?”
“No, should I?”
“Yeah, you should. Look it up sometime.”
“Okay, I will. But now we have more callers waiting. If you can keep your temper, maybe we can work this out. Imam Sayyid Qutb of the Al-Hijra Mosque in Brooklyn is on the line. I’m told that Imam Qutb is one of the foremost authorities on Islamic jurisprudence in America. Imam Qutb, you’re on the air. Am I pronouncing your name correctly?”
An elderly male voice, with a strong Middle Eastern accent. “Yes, that’s fine. And am I also speaking to the man up on the crane, the man who is causing all of the worry and consternation today?”
Mike felt a chill of recognition at the name of the imam, and his mosque. “If you say that I am, then I guess I am.” He had purchased his Koran and his other Islamic holy books in the Al-Hijra Mosque’s bookstore. Then he had done some more research into the mosque, and he even read a few short on-line biographies of the well-known Imam. Mike scanned his iPhone: BCA news had a still shot of the imam on the screen, with a telephone symbol next to it. Below his photo, the caption read “Imam Sayyid Qutb, National Islamic-American Council.” In the photo Qutb had a long gray beard, wire-rimmed glasses, and a checkered scarf around his head.
The imam said, “Oh, Mike, don’t do it — I implore you. Please don’t do it.”
“Why not? Last week the mayor said that multicultural diversity is New York’s greatest strength, and he said that we all have to respect diverse views about what constitutes art, so I’m pretty sure that he’ll love the Piss Koran — ”
“Please, don’t say that! I implore you, Mike, don’t say that again.”
“What’s the problem with saying Piss Koran? It’s a free country, isn’t it?”
“Because you must know that the violent extremists will be provoked. What you have discussed doing will be taken as an extreme provocation by Muslims around the world. I can hardly imagine a worse provocation. I fear that great violence will be the result of such a great act of blasphemy.”
“Nobody cares about the Piss Christ except for a handful of intolerant Christian bigots, that’s what the mayor said. So why should anybody care about the Piss Koran?”
“Mike, it’s a sad reality that there are Muslim extremists who misunderstand the underlying peaceful message of the Holy Koran. If you commit this act of provocation, many people will be hurt, that is my great fear. I don’t want to see that happen, and I’m sure that you don’t want to see it happen either.”
“Imam Qutb, are Muslims really that close to committing violence, that they’ll commit violence over a simple work of art?”
“Mike, Muslims are very peaceful people. The Holy Koran says that anybody who murders another, it is as if he murdered the whole world.”
“Yes, it does say that. In fact, I have a bookmark on that page, so I can read it right now.” Mike took the Koran from the bucket, and opened it across his lap.
“Here it is: Sura 5:32. I even highlighted it. ‘Whoever kills a human being for other than murder or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind. And who saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.’ The problem I have with that verse is the part about ‘or corruption in the earth.’ In context, that refers to unbelievers who resist the spread of Islam after they have heard the message. When it was written, it was referring to the Jews in Arabia, and they were all slaughtered for resisting Islam. Now, I’m not an Islamic scholar, but that ‘corruption in the earth’ part seems like a pretty big loophole to me. It sounds to me like that means it’s fair game for Muslims to kill any infidels who resist the spread of Islam.”
“Where did you ever hear such a thing, Mike?”
“It’s in the Koran, and the Hadiths of Mohammed. And Reliance of the Traveller, and some other Islamic holy books that I’ve been studying.”
“Did you read them yourself, or did somebody tell you that? I fear that you have been very badly misinformed. Islam is first and foremost a religion of peace.”
“Then what about Sura 9:5, the Verse of the Sword?” Mike flipped to another bookmark. “Fight and slay the unbelievers wherever you find them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war. But if they repent and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them; for Allah is forgiving and most merciful.”
“The Christian Bible also contains violent passages, would you like to hear some of them as well? You see, there are many differing interpretations of Islam, and there are unfortunately a small percentage of extremists who prefer to choose among the more violent verses. Just as there are violent Christian extremists, who choose among the violent verses of the Bible.”
“But there are over a hundred verses in the Koran that tell Muslims to wage jihad against the infidels until they submit to Islam, so I don’t think that you can compare the Koran to the Bible. And there’s something even more important than the number of times that the Koran tells Muslims to slay the unbelievers — I’m talking about the Islamic principle of abrogation. Tell me if I’m wrong, but abrogation means that the verses from the later chapters cancel out the earlier verses if there’s any contradiction. Sura 9 was the last chapter that Allah gave to Mohammed, so it abrogates any earlier verses that contradict it. It erases them. The peaceful verses were written when Mohammed was in Mecca, and his new religion was only just beginning.
“But in Mecca, Mohammed’s new religion wasn’t pulling in many converts, at most, maybe one or two hundred, and that was after a few years of trying, so he left. It wasn’t until after Mohammed’s hijra migration to Medina that he started to pull in thousands of new converts. You know, hijra — like the name of your mosque. And the big reason that they were suddenly attracted to Mohammed’s new religion was because after he got to Medina, Allah told Mohammed that his followers could kill anybody who opposed the spread of Islam, and take their property, and take their women as slaves. The Verse of the Sword cancels out the peaceful verses from the Meccan period, isn’t that true? Isn’t that the meaning of abrogation?”
“I don’t know where you have learned your understanding of Islam, but I fear that you have come under the influence of the Islamophobes.”
“Imam, you’re one of the leading Islamic scholars in America, so I’m sure that you understand the principle of abrogation. I thought it might be important, so I wrote it down on another bookmark. Here it is: abrogation is ‘naskh’ in Arabic. At least, that’s how they spell it in English. You never heard of it?”
“I’ve heard of it, but I’m afraid that you have only learned one meaning of naskh from among many. A true understanding of these concepts would take many years of careful study at an Islamic university. There are differing ways to interpret the meaning of the holy books, and Muslims understand their faith in differing ways. Thankfully, most Muslims are quite moderate in their beliefs, just as most Christians are.”
“Moderate Muslims…that reminds me. I wrote down something about that. Here it is. President Erdogan of Turkey said that ‘There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it. These descriptions are very ugly, it is offensive and an insult to our religion.’ So, was he wrong to say that?”
“President Erdogan speaks only for himself. I don’t know what was in his mind, or even if that is a true quotation of what he said.”
“Well what about you, Imam Qutb? Do you think it’s insulting to suggest that there is moderate and immoderate Islam? Since you live in America now, do you consider yourself to be a moderate Muslim? I mean, you’re not one of those radical extremists, are you?”
“I consider myself to be a faithful and principled Muslim. But why are you questioning me? That which you are planning to do will lead to a great catastrophe! My question to you is, why are you doing it? What is your hidden agenda?”
“Why? I told you already: I want to create another great work of art like Serrano’s Piss Christ. Maybe even better. Then, someday I can have an exhibit in the Modern Art Museum, too.”
“The unnecessary deaths of many people will be upon your name if you go ahead with this great blasphemy! Are you willing to accept that terrible responsibility?”
“Any murder is the responsibility of the murderer and nobody else. Imam, you’re from Egypt, and Arabic is your first language, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, that is correct. And I must say that if you have been reading the Koran in English, then you can’t really understand the many subtle nuances that are lost in translation.”
“But Imam Qutb, I bought my Koran at an Islamic bookstore, and it says right here that the translation is fully certified by the Al-Azhar Islamic University in Cairo, and it’s recommended for teaching non-Muslims about your faith.” Mike held the inside cover of the Koran up for the camera. “See, it has English on one side, and Arabic on the other. And most of the Muslims in the world don’t speak Arabic, so they have to use a translation of the Koran, otherwise, they can’t read it. So what about the people that can’t read Arabic? Are you saying that only Arabic speakers are able to fully comprehend Islam? Why wouldn’t Allah make Islam comprehensible to all people in all languages?”
“You are speaking in riddles, Mike, and I don’t know why. I’m afraid that a complete understanding of Allah’s divine intentions for mankind are much more complicated than can be conveyed with a brief explanation over the telephone.”
“Well, in that case, can you explain just one more Arabic word to me, with all of its subtle nuances? I think it’s an important word for all Americans to understand.”
“What word is that?”
“Taqiyya. Can you tell us the meaning of taqiyya, and how it relates to dawah, which is the spreading of the faith of Islam among the unbelievers?”
“Oh, Mike, I can see that I am wasting my time with you today, and I am very sorry for that. Clearly, your mind has been poisoned by the professional Islamophobes.”
“So, you won’t tell everybody what taqiyya means?”
“Mike, I’m very sorry that your mind is closed to the truth of the message of Allah. And again, I urge you in the very strongest terms not to conduct your act of blasphemy.”
“Can you please explain why blasphemy against one religion is acceptable, but not against another?”
“I would never say that any blasphemy is acceptable, ever. Faithful Muslims are against all forms of blasphemy. If it was my decision, no such blasphemy would be permitted.”
“But in our country, we have the freedom of expression under the First Amendment of the Constitution, and the Constitution is still the supreme law of our country.”
“Free expression is not an excuse for the incitement of violence. One may not shout fire in a crowded theater, to use a famous example.”
“I am doing no such thing. I’m all by myself.”
“Mike, I equally condemn the blasphemous Serrano exhibit as I condemn what you are planning. And I would call on Muslims who honor all of our prophets to come to the place where this blasphemous Serrano exhibit will held, to protest against it.” Imam Qutb then spoke a few sentences in Arabic, which, of course, Mike could not understand.
Jerry Conroy said, “I’m sorry, but what does that mean? What did you just say?”
“I said that faithful Muslims should come to the place of the blasphemy, to pray for peace among all people of faith.”
“Oh, all right. We can certainly all agree on that. Thank you, Imam Qutb. Thank you for your unique perspective.”
“You’re welcome.” Then the imam spoke few more words in Arabic, and he was gone.
Conroy said, “Folks, I know this is an unusual situation, but we’ve blown right through our scheduled break. We’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.”

Up on the crane, Mike looked at his smart phone. BCA had also cut to a commercial. He reached into his pack, took out a half-liter water bottle, and sipped from it. He’d been drinking only sparingly since the night before, and had eaten nothing, so that he would not be interrupted by a call of nature. He was much too wired to feel hunger or to need a cup of coffee or any other stimulant. He put the pocket radio’s ear bud back in, and listened to the commercials on WNYR, so that he would know when the break was over.
Then he pushed the preset button for National Public Radio. A panel was discussing the dramatic situation in Midtown Manhattan. Voices were shouting over one another about how to avert the great calamity that was going to befall New York, and indeed, the entire world, if the “standoff” on the crane was allowed to proceed any further. One of the female panelists even suggested that it would be better for the police to shoot Brooklyn Mike dead where he sat, rather than to allow his desecration of the Holy Koran to occur! As the lesser of evils! To save lives! On NPR, no less! Then Mike went back to WNYR, so that he wouldn’t miss the next segment.
He looked down 53rd toward the MAM while he was waiting. It was full morning light, and even though the street was still mostly in shadow, he didn’t need his binoculars to see what was happening. The flatbed with the extra police barricades was now parked at the 6th Avenue end of 53rd in the shadow of the BCA tower. City workers in orange vests were setting up a police line across 53rd where it intersected 6th Avenue. Then he heard the Jerry Conroy Show bumper music, and picked his phone back up.
Conroy was saying, “We’re back live, folks, and all I can say, is — wow! Did anybody see this coming? Brooklyn Mike, are you still there?”
“I’m here, Jerry.”
“Next, we have a special guest who would like to speak with you. In the studio with me is Victor Del Rio, a special assistant to the mayor for public safety. Victor, you’re on.”
“Mike, this is Victor Del Rio, but you can call me Vic, everybody does. So how are feeling up there, buddy? Me, I can’t stand heights. So what are you thinking, big Mike? Anything you need? I’m sure that we can work something out. I’m sure we can settle this problem without anybody getting hurt.”
Mike hesitated before he spoke. “I haven’t said a single word about hurting anybody, Vic. So now I’m guessing that you’re some kind of police negotiator, is that right?”
“Mike, um, no, I, uh, no, uh… No.”
“Vic, I don’t have any weapons. I don’t have a bomb. And I’m not going to jump. You have nothing to worry about from my end. So why don’t you put Jerry back on?”
“Well, gee, Mike, it looks like Jerry has stepped out for a minute, but I’m sure he’ll be back in a while. In the meantime, why don’t you and I talk?”
Mike looked at his iPhone. The shot of him at the end of the crane occupied the entire screen. There was no photo of “Victor Del Rio.” If he was really one of the mayor’s “special assistants,” then BCA News would have a picture of him ready to show the world. They’d had no trouble finding a photo of Imam Qutb, or Reverend Peterson.
“All right, Vic, we can talk. But first, I want to show you something, and then we can talk about it.” Mike took out his aluminum clipboard case, slid out a sheet of paper, and held it up for the camera. “I printed this right off the BCA website over the weekend. See? It’s Serrano’s Piss Christ, right on their website. The web page had links to a couple of their old news stories about it, and I watched some of them. BCA News had no problem at all showing Piss Christ on national television at least five different times.”
A glance at his smart phone showed that BCA was indeed broadcasting the printed screen capture of their web page, complete with a large, well focused rendition of Piss Christ in bright orange and yellow. “See that, Victor? They had no problem at all showing anti-Christian art. The web page was still up yesterday, and it’s probably still up right now.”
Then Mike took another sheet of paper from the aluminum case and held it up for the camera. “But here’s a picture from a much bigger news story. People got killed over pictures like this, but BCA never showed them, not even one single time.”

Mike held a full-page copy of a cartoon next to the copy of the BCA News Piss Christ web page. It was a hand-drawn caricature of a bearded, glaring man wearing a turban. The turban had a lit fuse, making it into a bomb. Mike held the two pictures as steady as he could in his left hand, side by side, because he had to hold the phone in his right. The breeze was coming up, and he had to hold the two pages against his chest to keep them from blowing around. The picture on his smart phone cut away to Charlie Thorn, who appeared completely startled, but no words were formed by his gaping mouth. Then the screen returned to the live crane shot, but this time, both pages on Mike’s chest were pixilated. Mike held the two pages up for a few more seconds, and then he put them away.

“Now, isn’t that interesting, Vic? All these years, and BCA News never had a problem with showing a photograph of Jesus Christ on the cross, submerged in piss. If Christians didn’t like it, that was their problem. But when I put the Piss Christ next to a cartoon of Mohammed, all of the sudden it gets blurred out. Now, why do you think that is?”
Victor Del Rio said, “Mike, I agree with you, man. One hundred percent. And I’m glad that BCA is finally coming around and showing some respect for our Christian values and sensibilities, and we all have you to thank for that. You’ve done a great service today, Mike, you really have. Now, if we can talk about how we’re going to resolve this other situation, I think that — ”
“Vic, I think that you’re an NYPD hostage negotiator, but I don’t see any hostages, do you? So why don’t you put Jerry Conroy back on the phone?”
“Mike, I can’t do that right now. Jerry’s, uh, Jerry’s on his way over to the BCA News studio, and, uh — ”
“Vic, I know it’s just your job, but if you don’t put Jerry back on in the next sixty seconds, I’m not waiting until ten o’clock when the Serrano exhibit opens. I’m not a complete fool, Victor. Fifty seconds.” Mike pinched the phone between his left shoulder and cheek, wishing he had brought some kind of a headset to keep both hands free. He reached behind him and dragged over the bottle of apple juice, set in on the deck in front of the Koran in the bucket, and unscrewed the cap one-handed.
Then Jerry Conroy’s voice returned. “I’m still here, Mike. Please, put the bottle away. I’m still here.”
“I’m glad you are, Jerry. But I don’t want to hear from any more psychologists or police negotiators. If the mayor wants to talk to me, then put on the mayor. If the police commissioner wants to talk to me, then put him on. But no more stooges, okay? No more. Don’t sandbag me like that again. Don’t insult my intelligence.”
“I’m sorry, Mike, I’m really sorry. You have to understand, I’m under a lot of pressure here.”
“You? Under pressure?” Mike snickered. “Tell me about it.”
Jerry Conroy laughed too. “Yeah, I can see your point. You want to take another call?”
“Only if it’s legit. No more stooges.”
“It’s legit, I promise.”
“Then put him on.”
“Okay, Mike. Here’s Joseph. He says he’s a Christian Arab from Lebanon. Okay, Joseph, you’re on the Jerry Conroy Show with Brooklyn Mike.”
“I’m on? Okay. Mike, like Jerry said, I’m a Christian, a Maronite Catholic. Most of my family was wiped out, and the rest of us were driven out of Lebanon by the Muslims thirty years ago, when I was a young man. Now it’s happening again in Syria, in Iraq, everywhere in the Middle East. Ethnic cleansing, religious cleansing, right in the lands where Jesus walked. And I understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. I understand your feelings, I understand your anger. But Mike, if you go through with it, it’s going to be a slaughter. You understand that? A complete slaughter! Innocents will die. The Muslims are going to go absolutely out-of-their-minds bat-shit crazy if you do it.”
“What they do is up to them, Joseph. Are they human beings, with reason, and free will, or are they just robots that look like humans, but are programmed to kill on command?”
“I hear you, Mike, and I know what you’re saying. I really do. But I also wanted to warn you, to warn everybody, that what the imam said that he said in Arabic wasn’t what he really said. This is what he really said.” The caller spoke in Arabic, and then in English again. “He called all the Muslims in the city to come down and stop the great blasphemy, no matter what the price. So I’m very afraid for your safety, Mike. I’m afraid for everybody down there. That’s all I wanted to say. And good luck. But don’t do it.”
“I appreciate that, Joseph, but I’m not changing my mind. If the Serrano exhibit opens, I’m going to create my own work of art. Nothing will change my mind.”
Conroy said, “All right, next caller, but please, keep it in English, so that everybody can understand. Mike, are you ready for another caller?”
“Go ahead, Jerry.”
“All right, next up is Ghazi from Queens. Go ahead, Ghazi.”
“Mike, you are out of your mind, my kafir friend. Out of your mind! Do you know what is going to happen if you go through with this great blasphemy? Do you know? You are not only going to wish that you were dead, you are going to pray for death!” Then the caller launched into a stream of blistering invective in Arabic before he was cut off. With the ten-second delay, Mike guessed that nobody listening would have heard his threats, or what he said in Arabic at the end.
Conroy said, “Real sweet, Ghazi. Real sweet. Listen, folks, we won’t get anywhere like that. If we can’t have a civil conversation, we’re going to clear the lines and start all over again with new callers. Next up, Mohammed is calling from Maryland. Go ahead, Mohammed.”
Another male voice with a thick Middle Eastern accent. “Mike, you are making a very terrible mistake, a very terrible mistake. Already millions of Muslims around the world are watching what you are doing. The whole world is trembling for what you are about to do! The Holy Koran is the received truth of Allah, and Muslims take it very seriously. Please, don’t do this thing to our Holy Koran!”
“Listen, Ghazi, you came to my country, I didn’t go to yours. If you don’t like it, then why don’t you — ”
Conroy cut in. “Mike, the mayor is on the line.”
“Great. Put him on.”
Hizzoner’s deep, gruff voice. “Mike, do you have any idea what kind of hornet’s nest you’ve whipped up? Do you? And not only in New York.”
“I have a pretty good idea, Mr. Mayor. So, are you going to cancel the exhibit, or not?”
“We don’t give in to extortion, Mike. We can’t. Not under duress, not with a gun pointed at our heads. You come on down, and we’ll discuss it like mature adults, I promise. We’ll work something out, we’ll reach a compromise.”
“I don’t have a gun, mayor. But I’m glad you called, because I have a bone to pick with you. Last week, you said that right-wing Christian bigots had to learn to show tolerance for the views of others. That was when you announced that the Serrano exhibit was going ahead no matter how much anger it was creating. Don’t you think that it’s time you gave the same tolerance lecture to the Muslims?”
“How can you possibly equate the two situations?”
“How can you not?”
“Nobody is threatening violence over the Serrano exhibit.”
“And I’m not threatening violence either, so what’s your point?”
“Mike, I’m sure that we can discuss this like mature adults.”
“I’m sure that we can. So call off the Serrano exhibit, Mr. Mayor. Box it up and get it out of the city. After that, we’ll talk about me coming down.”
“I can’t do that, Mike. That would be surrendering to extortion.”
“Well, then I don’t think that we have — ”
Then a blue and white helicopter dropped out of the sky, lurching to a stop fifty feet in front of Mike’s perch, facing him like a science-fiction super insect. It must have been hovering on top of the building to arrive so suddenly and without warning. The rotors and engine were barely audible, but then a wall of sound blasted from the chopper louder than the front row of a death-metal rock concert. Driven by animal reflex he turned away just in time to see a smaller helicopter swerve in from behind the bank building and pull up over the crane’s jib.

Blinding, pulsing light hit Mike’s platform from behind him, so bright that he could barely see, even though he wasn’t looking toward it. It was only a matter of luck that he hadn’t been staring at the police helicopter when the light started flashing, but even while looking away from it he was half blinded by its relentless strobing. The continuous whooping acoustic roar was head-splitting, louder than standing directly behind a jet engine at takeoff, but the sound was uneven, up and down in tone, coming in erratic waves that were synchronized with the blinding light. Waves of nausea rolled through him, his hands clamped over his ears, feeling as if his skull was going to explode.
The smaller helicopter that appeared from behind the building had a pair of SWAT commandos dressed in black leaning out on both sides, their feet on its skids. The pilot worked in close to the crane, the helicopter’s whirling rotors only feet from the window walls of the bank building. Two SWAT cops on the building side of the little helicopter kicked away from the skids and dropped, descending on ropes toward the crane’s jib, halfway out to Mike’s perch.

The fall of a strongman

The attempt to establish a post-colonial order of kings and strongmen to replace the British and French colonial rule over the Arab Muslim world was doomed from the start. Some of the kings were overthrown by native officers who had been trained by the British and the French to fight their wars. The officers who overthrew them became strongmen themselves. 

The recently deposed Ben Ali was a Tunisian officer trained in French and American schools, who had helped push out the French and his predecessor. Egypt's Mubarak was an Air Force officer who replaced Sadat, who replaced Nasser-- all members of the Free Officers Movement which overthrew the Egyptian monarchy. Saddam Hussein took power in a coup against the coup led by army officers which had deposed the King of Iraq. Syria's Assad was an Air Force officer who took power after a long series of coups by army officers that it would take too long to list. If you're seeing a pattern here, congratulations and welcome to the Middle East.

The only Middle-Eastern Arab countries which held onto their monarchies, were either oil rich enough to spread the wealth to the important families and retain only a weak military to avoid the risk of being overthrown by their own army while relying on US protection (e.g. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE) or so small and deliberately apolitical to avoid attention (Jordan, Morocco). The rest ended up with military strongmen, some backed by the US, some backed by the Soviet Union. The Soviet backed strongmen usually unveiled some poorly thought out version of Arab Socialism. The US backed strongmen just stuck to taking a cut of everything and packing it away in foreign banks.

But there was a ticking time bomb underneath these pyramids of wealth and misery. Islam. 

 

The kings had been nothing more than British puppets. The strongmen that replaced them were the apex of a new praetorian guard. Despite whatever philosophies they brought to the table, sooner or later they tried to become kings as well. Syria's Assad passed power on to his son. Saddam was preparing his sons to oversee his own dynasty. In Egypt, Mubarak is trying to do the same thing. But they have no tradition and no history on their side. Their rule is a farce in which they call themselves presidents and prime ministers, and go through the pretense of holding elections, but function like absolute monarchs. An unbalanced situation that eventually implodes. 

The strongmen depend on army backing, but the armies of the Arab world are split drastically between an elite officer corps and the soldier who is treated like sheep dung. The officers and the secret police run the country, but when a mob gathers, it's up to the soldiers to hold them back. If the soldiers choose not to, then it's time for the strongman to get on a plane and escape the country. (This is essentially what also brought down the Soviet Union.)  As an alternative, the strongman will leverage support from tribal structures, appointing loyalists to top positions in the bureaucracy and the military. (This is what kicked off the initial insurgency in Iraq.) But that too is a balance. Elevating one family, alienates another family. The tribal power structure has its own enemies built in. Those maneuvers for power can cause the incredible chaos so common after the fall of a strongman.

The Arab world may hold elections, but it is a long way from accepting notions such as equality, open access or guaranteed freedoms. Its rulers will occasionally sign on to UN covenants on women's rights or religious rights, without ever taking them seriously. The idea that one man is just as good as another, regardless of his family or religion, is a completely alien one to them. A woman being just as good as a man is not even a conversation starter. The Middle East still mostly consists of peasants from feudal backgrounds lorded over by a small elite. Bring democracy and human rights to the Middle East? You might as well walk into 12th century Europe with a copy of the Constitution and expect not to be beheaded.

So what happens when a strongman is overthrown? Either he will be replaced by one of the coup leaders who will become the new strongman. If not he will also be overthrown. Or he will be replaced by an oligarchy which will eventually come to be dominated by its strongest and most ruthless member who will become the new strongman. (That is how Iraq ended up ruled by the House of Saddam.) As you can see there really isn't an alternative here. It's the strongman or nothing.

But there is a seeming alternative. A different power structure than a corrupt dictator and his thugs. One  based not on power, greed and family-- but religion.  Islam. 
Most of the 'reformers' are usually fighting for either a takeover by the local socialist party or the local Islamist party. The general public will join in the stone throwing and the looting, without necessarily taking sides. Often the socialists and the Islamists will actually cooperate to bring down the dictator. Then one will take power and begin killing the other. Western media rarely bother to report this, either out of ignorance or due to propaganda. They treat most of the crowd scenes as popular uprisings, which they are but not in the sense that the people will get to decide one way or another. Only that they get a chance to take part in the brief spurt of violence before being ordered to go home.

The Islamists promise a system based on Allah's law. Rule by moral clerics instead of greedy officials. Traditional values, benefits for families and teddy bears not named Mohammed for everyone. It's a scam of course. The Islamist takeover means another strongman or oligarchy. Except instead of being named General Saddam Hussein, he'll be known as the Ayatollah Khomeini. The differences are minimal. The ruling families will still sock away money in foreign banks. Loyalists will still be appointed to top positions. The bureaucracy will go on abusing and blackmailing the public. The police will still be vicious thugs. And law will be promulgated by Imams or Muftis or Mullahs, but it will still be the law that those at the top want.

Despite all that, or maybe because of it, the Islamists are still inevitable. Islam manufactures a group identity that may be paper thin, but it still more solid than recently manufactured national identities for regional Arabs who are expected to see themselves as Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians or Iraqis. Islam bridges tribal identities better than strongmen do. Its rulers will ultimately still reward their own families and favor their own tribes, but the process will take place under the guise of Islam. 

When Mohammed invented Islam, he took existing beliefs and laced them up into a grand tribal identity. Islam is the meta-tribe, less a religion than a makeshift political system based on tribal alliances with the convenient sanction of a deity. Islam expands by creating a two-tier system that puts non-Muslims on the bottom, and encourages Muslims to wage constant war against them. None of this makes for a stable system, but it does make for a very volatile and expansionistic one. Arabs who will not die for Saddam or Ben Ali or Mubarak, will die for Islam. 

The Islamists may not take over in Tunisia this time, but they will take over sooner or later. There and all across the Muslim world. (If it happened in militantly secularist Turkey with its army, then it really can happen anywhere.) Dictators will come and go, and eventually the local Islamists with funding from Saudi Arabia or Iran will put together a proper show and take over. And eventually the people will go tired and try to throw them out, as is happening in Iran. It's the natural political cycle of a region with no true national identities, no real principles of government, no law and no commitment to anyone outside the family. 

We could slow down or even avert the process, by pushing Westernization and cutting the legs off Saudi Arabia and Iran. But we aren't about to do it. We could at least stop sending them money by the barrel, but we aren't about to do that either. And that's the real problem, not Ben Ali or Mubarak. Calling for the regimes to respect democracy and human rights just undermines whoever is in power. It does not lead to them being replaced by anything better. To do that, the entire culture would have to change. And that isn't happening.

The strongmen will fall. And the media will act like it's Romania in 1989, rather than just part of the cycle of coups in a system that cannot have anything better than tyrants of one sort or another. Eventually Islamists will come to power and wage war against us. It's up to us whether they win or not.

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/01/fall-of-strongmen.html

"I'm a Muslim, I don't support terrorism nor hate other religions, there are thousands like me, yet people always stereotype that Muslim = terrorist?..........."

 We came back from our cruise and it was great!  The ship was big but it didn't feel big, so I wasn't "peopled" out like normal.  I will post a bit about it tomorrow.

     I saw this one on quora while I was at the airport waiting for the plane. I ordered the book.

Mark Roseman wrote the response.

I'm a Muslim, I don't support terrorism nor hate other religions, there are thousands like me, yet people always stereotype that Muslim = terrorist and Islam is (a religion of hatred and not peace). Why is that?

So glad you asked. After the 9/11 attacks, Americans were screaming, Who are these people? Muslims, we were told. President George W. Bush did everything he could to keep the lid on, to prevent a violent reaction against Muslim Americans. But Muslim Americans were strangely silent in their own defense. Oh yes, they said a few perfunctory things about a religion of peace, but it was not with the intensity or conviction we expected, and hardly credible.

Several books came out to help Americans understand Islam. A good one is The Crisis of Islam, by Bernard Lewis. If you are wondering why Americans think Islam is the religion of the sword, and a religion that has not progressed from the Dark Ages, get a copy and find out. Americans were asking themselves, What is a Caliphate? Are these people serious? As the years went by we learned about Sharia law and viewed clips of Taliban enforcers whipping women in the streets. Not exactly good PR for Islam.

While only a small percentage of Muslims may be terrorists, we fear the Muslim community is a breeding ground and a haven for them.

How many Muslims have publicly criticized the barbarity of the attacks against Israel, and I mean the rapes and acts of gratuitous sadism? All we hear are excuses. Where was the outcry from the Muslim community after the Boston Marathon bombing? One of the perpetrators, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was an immigrant who became an American citizen and was later radicalized here. Hey, thanks, buddy. How many more of you are out there looking just as cute and innocent as you do?

He was captured and later explained that had he escaped, he and his brother had planned another bombing for Times Square. If you are an American citizen, how do you commit acts like that against other Americans? It is fair to assume he expected praise from other Muslims.

Maybe you are afraid to speak out? Maybe you don’t want to suffer the fate of Salman Rushdie, living in hiding with a fatwa on his head for writing a book critical of Islam. What is the civilized world to think of Islam when one of its leaders calls for the assassination of a writer—and moderate Muslims don’t say anything?

You wrote, “I don’t support terrorism.” That is not the same as speaking out against it. Do you view acts of Islamic terrorism as murder? If you were on a jury, would you find the terrorists guilty and vote for the death penalty? Anything less tells me you are part of the problem.

Holland"islam democrat wants to ban dogs"

I got this from one of the German news sites that I frequent for news that our obungler media buries or ignores.

Holland: “Islam Democrat” Wants Dogs Banned

In Holland there is something that will soon be in Germany as well: an Islamic Party. The party, ironicallly, is called “The Islam Democrats,” as though Islam and democracy have anything at all to do with each other, or should have. The newest, overall intelligent recommendation by this party in The Hague city council is the banning of dogs. In our part of the world, the dog is man’s best friend. In the Muslim world, it’s quite the opposite. Dogs are considered najassah (unclean), and the word “dog” is also used as an insult.

Hasan Kücük, member of The Hague city council for the Islam Democrats has therefore demanded that the ownership of dogs as house pets become a crime. This bill, of course, has led to protests among the Dutch people. Many of them see this bill, and rightly so, as a part of the advancing islamization of Europe.
A dog is thankful to you when you provide for him, when you provide a place for him to live, and when you take care of him. We also take care of the Muslims who come here, we also take care of ourselves, provide for them, offer them a place to live, pay their bills, give them money, etc. In contrast to the dog, however, they are not thankful, but are ready at anytime to kick you in the back if you dare insult Islam in any way.
The Muslims don’t come here because they appreciate Europe and our lifestyle, but to take over the continent. Since they don’t have the power to carry this out with military violence, instead they are doing it through immigration, reproduction, political infiltration and thereby using the demand of multiculturalism and politically correct tolerance that so many European politicians are encountering them with.
Hasan Kücük will probably not make it through with his bill today. Today, there is still no Islamic Party in Germany. But tomorrow is another day, and another reality where such issues will without a doubt become reality, if today’s Muslim mass-immigration and political cowardice persist