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Incite Watch
Cincinnati Enquirer – October 11, 2007
Radio host Cunningham says:
"The war of this generation is the war against Islamic fascists”
By Robert C. "Chip" Harrod
On Oct. 1, Bill Cunningham proclaimed on his radio show: "The war of this generation is the war against Islamic fascists. They do not live for life, they live for death. Only through death can they, they believe, be with the 72 virgins in heaven and have sex with children for eternity, which is the goal of that religion. It's despicable and it's wrong."
Such a false statement promotes a vastly inaccurate and unfair image of the faithful followers of "that religion."
The level of ignorance of Islam, one of the world's great religions, that such comments reflect is too profound to address here. Yet, it must be said that these comments are extremely harmful to a faith community that is especially vulnerable right now to bigotry and negative stereotyping.
WLW's pattern of permitting unchecked the socially irresponsible and hurtful insults from its "talk" medium is deplorable.
Our Muslim neighbors are just the latest in a long line of "talk" victims of Clear Channel and Cunningham. Previously, we have heard similarly reprehensible rhetoric from Clear Channel and Cunningham directed at African-Americans, Jews, gays, women and other easy targets of inter-group prejudice.
Most recently, the station aired comments and plastered advertisements on billboards around our city derogatory to our community's Hispanic population.
All of these comments are hateful, harmful, counter-community, and perhaps worst of all, designed to attract ratings for a radio program.
WLW's social irresponsibility hurts everyone and embarrasses our entire community. Cunningham has admitted many times in the past to pandering to his audience with reckless and outlandish comments merely to gain ratings.
As a community committed to inclusion and unity, we need to call WLW to task and discredit its tactics as a media outlet….
Robert C. "Chip" Harrod is executive director of Bridges for a Just Community.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071007/EDIT02/710070348/-1/all
October 11, 2007
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: 'We are at war with Islam'
Reason: Should we acknowledge that organized religion has sometimes sparked precisely the kinds of emancipation movements that could lift Islam into modern times? Slavery in the United States ended in part because of opposition by prominent church members and the communities they galvanized. The Polish Catholic Church helped defeat the Jaruzelski puppet regime. Do you think Islam could bring about similar social and political changes?
Hirsi Ali: Only if Islam is defeated. Because right now, the political side of Islam, the power-hungry expansionist side of Islam, has become superior to the Sufis and the Ismailis and the peace-seeking Muslims.
Reason: Don’t you mean defeating radical Islam?
Hirsi Ali: No. Islam, period. Once it’s defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It’s very difficult to even talk about peace now. They’re not interested in peace.
Reason: We have to crush the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims under our boot? In concrete terms, what does that mean, “defeat Islam”?
Hirsi Ali: I think that we are at war with Islam. And there’s no middle ground in wars. Islam can be defeated in many ways. For starters, you stop the spread of the ideology itself; at present, there are native Westerners converting to Islam, and they’re the most fanatical sometimes. There is infiltration of Islam in the schools and universities of the West. You stop that. You stop the symbol burning and the effigy burning, and you look them in the eye and flex your muscles and you say, “This is a warning. We won’t accept this anymore.” There comes a moment when you crush your enemy.
Reason: Militarily?
Hirsi Ali: In all forms, and if you don’t do that, then you have to live with the consequence of being crushed…..
http://blog.zeit.de/joerglau/2007/10/11/ayaan-hirsi-ali-bush-ist-zu-soft-mit-dem-islam_827
Media Matters – October 10, 2007
Coulter: “We Christians just want Jews to be perfected”
During the October 8 edition of CNBC's The Big Idea, host Donny Deutsch asked right-wing pundit Ann Coulter: "If you had your way ... and your dreams, which are genuine, came true ... what would this country look like?" Coulter responded, "It would look like New York City during the [2004] Republican National Convention. In fact, that's what I think heaven is going to look like." She described the convention as follows: "People were happy. They're Christian. They're tolerant. They defend America." Deutsch then asked, "It would be better if we were all Christian?" to which Coulter responded, "Yes." Later in the discussion, Deutsch said to her: "[Y]ou said we should throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians," and Coulter again replied, "Yes." When pressed by Deutsch regarding whether she wanted to be like "the head of Iran" and "wipe Israel off the Earth," Coulter stated: "No, we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say. ... That's what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws."
After a commercial break, Deutsch said that "Ann said she wanted to explain her last comment," and asked her, "So you don't think that was offensive?" Coulter responded: "No. I'm sorry. It is not intended to be. I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to live up to all the laws. What Christians believe -- this is just a statement of what the New Testament is -- is that that's why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don't believe our testament." Coulter later said: "We consider ourselves perfected Christians. For me to say that for you to become a Christian is to become a perfected Christian is not offensive at all." ……
http://mediamatters.org/items/200710100008
The Nation - October 15, 2007
Jews, Jesus, and Republicans: Playing Ann Coulter's Game
By Jon Wiener
When Ann Coulter remarked on CNBC that Jews should become Christians, it wasn't "a faux pas," and she wasn't being "an idiot," as many commentators suggested. Instead she was playing her game -- provoking her critics to get her into the media spotlight that helps sell her books.
That raises the question: should the Republican candidates be asked whether they agree with Ann Coulter that America would be a better place if we were all Christians? Or is that simply playing Ann Coulter's game?
Many people are playing her game this time around: Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, denounced Coulter for speaking in "the classic language of anti-Semites throughout the millennia." The National Jewish Democratic Council asked broadcast news organizations not to give Coulter airtime. Then right wing talk radio got to yell at liberals for trying to deny Ann Coulter her right to free speech.
So it's happened again: Ann Coulter is controversial. Ann Coulter is important. We all need to take a stand for or against Ann Coulter's right to express her views, no matter how repugnant they may be.
But what if we ignored her latest publicity ploy? What if we didn't play Ann Coulter's game – again?.......
So it would be good to ask Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and their rivals: Ann Coulter is a best-selling Republican pundit; do you agree with her that the ideal America is a Christian America?
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=242805
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