Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Mandating Political Correctness

One must consider context with bumper stickers. One sticker is a hint. A cluster offers a clearer indication of what the vehicle’s owner thinks. “Question Authority” is often found next to “Obama/Biden,” and “Love Your Mother” with an earth for the O, and “COEXIST” with the Islamic crescent for the C, a peace sign for the O,  and so forth. The vehicle is usually a Volvo or Prius owned by a greenie Democrat careful to be politically correct in everything said.

Political correctness is largely self-imposed and I don’t do it. Regular readers know this. Most Americans self-censor though, and that has implications for me in casual conversation with family, friends, and acquaintances. I don’t go out of my way to make others uncomfortable by stating my opinions, and lately I prefer to remain silent until asked for input. I get forum enough publishing a weekly column in this space.
I’m seeing a fearful trend lately, however, and I do mean fearful. Political correctness is being imposed. Just this month Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a woman I greatly admire, was offered and honorary degree at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Then the offer was withdrawn after pressure from a terrorist-funding organization called CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations.
CAIR was named an un-indicted coconspirator in the Holy Land terrorist funding trial. While it poses as a civil rights organization, its clandestine purpose is to funnel money and support to radical Muslim groups like Hamas, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and killing of every Jew there, among other horrific things. Islam also tacitly accepts genital mutilation of girls, and this was done to Hirsi Ali in Somalia when she was very young. 
Islam tacitly accepts forced marriage too, as Hirsi Ali’s father tried with her. She was supposed to marry an older, male relative in Canada, but she got off in Amsterdam where she was to board a connecting flight and was granted asylum. She was eventually elected to Dutch Parliament and produced a movie called “Submission” with Theo Van Gogh, grandnephew of the famous painter. The film depicted Muslim male violence against women, something about which Hirsi Ali had first-hand knowledge. For making Submission, Van Gogh was murdered on the streets of Amsterdam by a Muslim terrorist. A note was pinned to his body with a dagger promising Hirsi Ali would be next. Ever since, she’s had armed guards around her 24-7.
Hirsi Ali doesn’t support coexistence with Islam because if its treatment of women, and out of fear of being labeled “Islamophobic” by CAIR, Brandeis disinvited her. “Islamophobic” means “irrational fear of Islam,” but Hirsi Ali’s fear is anything but irrational given Islam’s fatwa against her. A Jewish university like Brandeis would be irrational for not fearing an organization like CAIR that raises funds for Hamas, which pledges to kill Jews and Christians “to the last one.” So why did Brandeis cave? Was it fear of CAIR, or fear of being seen as politically incorrect by the rest of academia? Looks like both to this writer.
The same week, Brendan Eich was forced to resign as CEO of Mozilla, makers of web browser Firefox and a company he co-founded. He had given a $1000 donation to Proposition 8, passed by the voters of California defining marriage as between one man and one woman. That’s politically incorrect. He was told to make an unequivocal statement in support of homosexual “marriage” or be fired immediately.
Brendan Eich
Another fearful example last week was revealed in an article by former DOJ official J. Christian Adams: “Emails obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act reveal Lois Lerner cooking up plans with Justice Department officials to talk about ways to criminally charge conservative groups that are insufficiently quiet.”
Being a Roman Catholic American is also politically incorrect. To follow the Magisterium, or teachings of the Church, is to believe abortion kills a human being and homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered.” That puts us on a collision course with the progressive Thought Police. As the former president of the American Conference of Catholic Bishops, Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, said in 2010: “I’ll die in my bed. My successor will die in prison. His successor will die a martyr. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.” Two years later, Cardinal George said he was being “overly dramatic.” Let’s hope he was, but I can't help wondering what he would say in 2014.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

“Islamo-phobic” Really?
An irrational fear or hatred?
I believe that Islam's "handbook" has a few things in it that negate the "irrational" part of the definition of (hyphen)phobic, for folks like ME anyway.

CaptDMO

aliledar said...

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a superb example of courage as well as the truth of what Islam is and Brandeis is an example of the waste of time and money that many colleges are today. As for that foolish bumper sticker, utterly meaningless as coexistence isn't possible with those who want to, plan to and do kill you.
And political correctness is antithetical to what this country stands for among other things, freedom of speech. I refuse to shut up.

Anonymous said...

I wonder why you didn't decide to express your rage during the incident in which 2 employees of a Utah business were fired because of their support for Obama?

http://news.msn.com/us/utah-company-fires-2-workers-who-supported-obama

Aaaah, the stench of hypocrisy is in the air again.

I couldn't give a crap about "political correctness", but I do value human decency and respect for all those not causing you harm.

Rick said...

Hard to believe that corporate loving, "free" trade Tom has a problem with a business making business decisions about what employees to hire and fire.

Captain MOOD said...

I find it hard to believe that several of these commenters and you, yourself, Tom, have ever met or encountered a Muslim. Actually, you probably have, but didn't know it because most of them don't go around yelling Jihad or wearing a card indicating their religious affiliation.

Every religion has its nutjobs, and it's important that we ensure that they don't harm others. However, where most people take offense with attitudes like yours is the total discrediting of upwards of 1.5 billion people who do not wish harm upon others, but simply to live good, normal lives according to the religion they were (probably) born into. Remember, the best indicator of what religion you ascribe to is where you're from and who your parents are.

So... There's no problem in fighting extreme Islam. But there is a problem with blanket statements generalizing about billions of peaceful people.

Anonymous said...

....I think I hear another column backfiring!

Tom McLaughlin said...

I stand by Israel unequivocally, yes. They're an oasis in a barbarian part of the world. Violating basic human rights? Give me a break. They've been invaded three times and rocketed regularly by Iranian proxies.

Still, they maintain the only true democracy in the region, including more than a million Arab Muslims with full citizenship/

Looks like you're the one who needs to think for yourself whoever you are. But then, you can't even put your name on your opinions so I don't know why I bother to respond.

Anonymous said...

"“Unarmed civilians were torn to pieces with flechette darts sprayed from tank shells,” Blumenthal writes. “Several other children covered in burns from white phosphorous chemical weapon rounds were taken to hospitals; a few were found dead with bizarre wounds after being hit with experimental Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) bombs designed to dissolve into the body and rapidly erode internal soft tissue. A group of women were shot to death while waving a white flag; another family was destroyed by a missile while eating lunch; and Israeli soldiers killed Ibrahim Awajah, an eight-year-old child. His mother, Wafaa, told the documentary filmmaker Jen Marlowe that soldiers used his corpse for target practice. Numerous crimes like these were documented across the Gaza Strip.”

Sounds like an oasis of true humanitarianism and democracy to me!! Probably why people like stephen hawking are boycotting them.

Tom McLaughlin said...

Terrorists from Hamas and Hezbollah regularly rocket Israel, targeting innocent civilians. They purposely position their rocket launchers in civilian homes, schools, hospitals and mosques, deliberately putting their own civilians in danger when Israeli forces take out the launchers.

They do this because they know the mainstream media will focus on the "brutal" Israeli response. It's all part of the propaganda war waged regularly against Israel by the Obama bum-klssers in the media who ignore what the Iranian proxies do and focus like laser beams on how Israelis respond.

Where does "Blumenthal" work? The New York Times? MSNBC? You didn't say.

And by the way: who are you? A cowardly poster? Unless I know your name, I won't be responding anymore. First and last, please.

I'm considering a new policy of registering with email addresses to post here. Getting tired of progressive cowards like you.

F. Barrett said...

We can compare attacks all day long. And you will certainly not gain any traction comparing rocket launched attacks vs f16 bombings of Gaza. The facts speak for themselves. Which is why many academics are boycotting this hypocritical apartheid state. And you have a pretty interesting defintion of democracy and morality. And to suggest the myriad documented hyper violenct and obscene acts carried out by the israeli military against innocent Palestinian civilians are not "brutal" is plain silly. And insulting...

And to further suggest that the mainstream media is anti-israel is a comment that is very hard to take seriously. Let's count the Jewish people involved in corporate media vs the Muslim/Palestinians..hmmm. Golly, seems there aren't any Muslims and a whole bunch of Jewish people. ( by the way I don't see Judaism and Zionism as one in the same. I am all for Judaism. And any other religion. Zionsim has hijacked the Jewish faith.) And how many dual israeli citizens are in congress vs Iranian, Iraqi, palestinain, afghan, etc.?? Hmm. Again. Not one! What's the Palestinian version of AIPAC again? Oh, there isn't one. Right... And you want to suggest an anti israel bias in this country? Please....

How many nukes does Palestine have? And israel? how about an Air Force? A navy? Etc...there is no equivocation here...at all....reality stands in stark contrast to the lies and propaganda israel and the usa promote. It's all there to see...

Remember the uss liberty???

---------------

Francis Barrett

Anonymous said...

http://monsterhunternation.com/2014/04/24/an-explanation-about-the-hugo-awards-controversy/

If you ignore the Sci-Fi writer bits, explains a bit about current trends in didn't-read-the-book "critics" simply following instructions by making stuff up, kinda' like SOME "contributors" at Wiki,and Amazon.
Oh, it's international alright.

CaptDMO

F Barrett said...

Coward, huh? Which war did you fight in again? How many sons and/or daughters did you lose to israeli proxy wars in the Middle East? Coward? Seems to me the cowardly thing to do is sacrafice America's sons and daughters for israel. Must be nice to cheer lead, comfortably, from the side lines. All the while condoning the very things your religion abhors...

And any American supporting dual citizens in congress simply cannot be trusted. And their constitutional iq is suspect, to say the least, as is their patriotism. America first. And Americans. Period..

Your comments about israel being an oasis and non barbaric are laughable and easily, very easily, disproven.

Watch out folks---- the "right" now cares more about Zionist israel than their own country!!

Coward?! Haha....

Tom McLaughlin said...

It comes down to this, Barrett. Iran wants Israel gone. It has pledged repeatedly to "wipe it off the map." Hamas and Hezbollah are its proxies and both pledge to kill all the Jews "to the last one." The Palestinian Authority wants the same thing, but the difference with them is, they pretend to want a two-state solution. Yet, when offered 95% of the West Bank, they refused. They want Israel gone too.

The PA has been used as propaganda dupes and "refugees" in camps since 1948 - for sixty-six years now. They're not only willing to attack innocent Israeli civilians, they're willing to sacrifice their own as well if achieves the kind of propaganda "victories" people like you are so willing to swallow. You, and the liberal elite from whom you get your talking points, continually overlook the almost daily rocket attacks on Israel as if they don't matter. I've been there. They're real. Suicide bombings are real too, both in Israel and against Jews in other countries.

Israel just wants to exist. I'm beginning to believe that won't be allowed until they utterly defeat those who continue to attack them. I think they'll start with Iran. They have to, or they'll all be dead in another holocaust. They know that even if you don't.

They'll do it on their own, because the United States won't, even though our last two presidents have said a nuclear Iran is unacceptable and "all options are on the table."

I thought the cowboy would do it before he left office, but he didn't. There's no way the community organizer will. He'll just make speeches. Unless Israel does something, there will be a nuclear Iran by the time he leaves office. Then the you know what will really hit the fan.

Jews have been dealing with stuff like this for millennia and they take the long view. Now they have their own country again and they're not going to lay down for crazy Muslims, Shiite or Sunni.

That's the way it is, Barrett.

John Doe said...

Tom is taken to school once again!

John Smith said...

“Question Authority” is often found next to “Obama/Biden,”

I guess this means that Republicans think you should blindly follow authority?

And is it PC to question authority?

Thanks again for another column which allows the truth to be known (thanks to responders like F Barrett, Capt. MOOD, Rick, etc...)

Brian Jones said...

Is Tom really trying to mock loving the earth, questioning authority, and trying to coexist?!!?

I guess we all know what he loves...pollution, being a sheep, and hating anybody that is different.

Rick James said...

Sorry Barrett, Tom has no time to respond to your facts....he has to run off and write another column

lol

Proudly Anonymous said...

"And by the way: who are you? A cowardly poster? Unless I know your name, I won't be responding anymore. First and last, please."

I guess Tom would also put Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in the coward category for publishing the Federalist papers anonomously. How about Thomas Paine, who "cowardly" put out "Common Sense"?

My guess is that Tom hates getting his columns ripped apart, and since he can't defend himself with facts he goes for the easy out by attacking anonymous posters.

Harry Mcgallicutterowskistein said...

Schooled? I'll say. If this were a classroom, Tom would be sitting in the corner with a dunce cap on!

Elton Johnson said...

Don't forget Ben Franklin started writing papers anonymously at age 16.

Alexander Franklin said...

Proudly anonymous said:

"…he goes for the easy out by attacking anonymous posters."

Looks like a classic case of attacking the messenger and not the message.

But if you are defenseless against the message, what's one to do?

F Barrett said...

I guess you can't answer actual questions?

Again, I'm not sure how your faith allows you to support racism, violence and hypocrisy. And huge lies.
You are conveniently ignorant in regards to israel-- it's "history", crimes, and the usa's involvement. I'm not so sure you understand the American constitution.

I'm quite sure Jesus would not approve....your justification?

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/israhell-on-earth-video.html