Pamela Geller's Hit Job On Mitch Daniels Easily Dismissed

There was a time when Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugs was a voice that could be trusted, but not anymore. 

This is not to say that she is never right, because there are some times when she nails it spot on. But there are also times she gets it dead wrong and there are many blind followers who take her word for everything she ways without verification.

She often publishes posts about events that the MSM would never dare to report, and that's a good thing. We need people like her to do this more often. But there are moments when she runs with stories that are inaccurate. There are times when she presents a remarkably slanted perspective, without doing enough research before she hits the send button.

This hurts her credibility greatly.

Here is one example: Mitch Daniels "Honored" by Notorious Jew-Hating, Supremacist Organization AAI

You really don't have to read much more of her post to see where she is going with this. But if you took Geller's word as gospel, you might be tempted to jump to the same weak conclusion she has.

It's hard to know where to begin to dismantle this absurd presentation, but let's start with Gov. Daniels.

Daniels is the grandson of Christian Syrian immigrants who were purged from their homeland by Muslims in the early 1900s. While he is of Arab descent, he is Christian and American. Many other Syrians were purged from their country at that time, many of them settled in Indiana, many have made great contributions to this nation.

Some became businessmen and entrepreneurs in the spirit of the American dream. Others worked in coal mines and other forms of hard physical labor. Most of them sent their children to school and admonished them to study hard, so they could make something out themselves they would have never had the chance to do in their old country.

Like other ethnic immigrants, the next generation became doctors, lawyers, teachers, and some made their parents' small family businesses even bigger. So to most intelligent rational people, it should come as no surprise that one of those families has now produced a governor.

Let's look at the award Geller froths about in her erroneous fit, the Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service.

Najeeb Halaby Jr. was a second generation Syrian-American with multiple degrees and was a test pilot in the US Navy in WWII. His father cam here from Ottoman Syria in the late 1800s, they were Christians. His daughter became Queen Noor of Jordan, but Halaby was an American through and through.

For this reason, it should come as no surprise that there is an award that bears his name, one that was awarded to another American of Arab descent who has made great achievements in the state that elected him to straighten what was a horrible mess.

This brings us to the organization that gave the award to Daniels, the American Arab Institute. (Before we go further... please notice the order of that title, American comes first.)

It was formed by James Zogby, brother of the pollster and Christian American of Arab descent.

Yes, it is a liberal, left-leaning organization that probably disagrees with 90% of Daniels' conservative policies. Yes, it has been a staunch critic of many of the state of Israel's policies. It is political in nature, not theological. It does not promote jihad, it does not call for the eradication of Israel. It does call for a two-state solution, one that Israel is willing to accept but the Palestinians have not yet signed onto, due the growing influence of radical jihadist organizations like Hamas.

It is not CAIR, it is not ISNA.

I am sure that just as the AAI does not agree with the lion's share of the Daniels' policies, he doesn't agree with theirs either.

Geller's blog isn't the only one jumping out of their skin about Daniels right now.

Red State just had to follow suit and get on the pathetic bandwagon without knowing the facts, along with Geller. But at the least the major premise of this blogger's argument was made on policy. His assumption is dead wrong, but the mention of the award was an afterthought.

Daniels is a strong fiscal conservative. Not going to TEA party rallies does not mean he stands against the TEA Party principles of limited smaller government. He has spent the last 6+ years slashing spending, balancing the budget, creating a business friendly environment that has led to increases in jobs, and did it without punishing the rich. Does that sound like a RINO?

And as for the Jew-hating tendencies that Geller wants uninformed people to believe, here is a speech you may want to watch before you let her get you sidetracked into believing a lie.

This is Daniels receiving the Man of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League:



Bottom line: Daniels is not anti-semitic, not a RINO.

He just doesn't cater to the reactionary crowd that Geller associates herself with. And if you want Barack Obama to be sitting in the WH for four more years, just let people like her hijack this dialogue and distract from the important issues of the day. She has done a fine job of reporting many things in the past and my hat goes off to her for that. But this is not about her, it is about what is best for this nation.

It is not fair to categorize this man as a Jew hater for accepting an award from an organization that represents his heritage. Doing so takes a play right out of the Democrats' playbook, which will play very well into their hands in 2012.Doing so, exposes a terrible hypocrisy and severely cripples the GOP's chances of presenting a united front against an out of control government.

But the most important thing to learn from this is tolerance and acting within the boundaries of rationality. Lumping every American of Arab descent into the mold of Islamic jihad is not fair, and not what I want this nation to become accustomed to doing. I know many and have worked with them over the years, they bleed red, white, and blue, just like any American. Even like Pam Geller.


(Hat Tip for the video, and the inspiration to write this long-winded post comes from Advance Indiana.)

Helen Thomas - Charlatan, Bigot

I have always thought Helen Thomas of the WH Press Corps was impersonating a fair and unbiased journalist. Now we have the proof that she is not and is a bigot, to boot. If you have been in a news vacuum over the weekend, you may have missed these comments from her own mouth:



Looking at facial expressions and body languages can tell us much about a person and what they are telling us, but in this case the "eyes" have it. Note the sinister look in her eyes as she says these despicable things. They are clear and tell us that these are not the words of someone suffering from dementia. She knows what she is saying and really means it.

Then, let's analyze this further and see what the reaction would be if we modified her statements a little bit:

- Suppose she had said this about Mexicans: They should go back home to Mexico, this is American land and they are invading it.

- Suppose she had said this about Blacks: Time for them to go back to Africa where they came from, they should not be here now that slavery is over.

Once this hit the airwaves and the internet, she would be banned from the WH Press Corps. I guarantee you, she would not have a place there - anymore.

Secondly, Hearst would retire her immediately. If she went quietly, she could get her benefits and move on with her life for however long she has left on this earth. If not, she'd be fired outright.

Neither of these things will happen, of course. For many people in this world, Jews are the scourge of society--much like they were in Hitler's day. They are the lowest form of life and are not considered to be human beings, worthy of any rights... whatsoever. Back in Nazi Germany and the European lands it conquered, many turned their backs because they weren't Jewish and it didn't directly affect them. They were cowards.

I suspect this is also the case today, as the MSM has been anti-Israel for some time now and this has planted seeds of anti-semitism in young minds that will now grow up hating Jews. An entire generation has been educated by anti-semitists and liberal apologists -- who oppose Israel's existence. It actually seems to be cool to hate Israel on most university campuses, these days.

Let's be clear about something here at PYY:

If Helen Thomas had said either of those two things I just mentioned (in any form or modification), PYY would vehemently condemn her statement or staements. No questions, no excuses. Such is the case with the statements she did make in this video. They are vile and worthy of all condemnation and should qualify her for immediate termination. There is no excuse, no taking out of context, no explanation that is credible enough that will change my mind.

And....for anyone who makes the argument that she is merely condemning Zionism, you are welcome to respond to this post. But if I were you, I would take a moment and think about something before you look foolish. Her words reflect nothing short of religious cleansing, which was taking place in Kosovo in the late 90s. Nothing....not one damn thing is different and I challenge anyone to try and prove otherwise.

It's time for people to stand up to this kind of blatant hatred and stop coddling people who are a threat to peace and stability in the world, even if they are old people who should know better. It's time to start understanding that eradicating and/or dispersing 7.5 million people from a tiny strip of land in the Middle East is not worth another world war. It's time to let worthless haters know that this is not okay.

Israel has been a nation for 60 years now, they are not going away without a fight. And I don't blame them one bit for protecting their homeland from their sworn enemies. They will be there for a long time. So Helen, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terror-loving entities need to deal with it, and get used to it.


Addenda:

1. It doesn't happen very often that Lanny Davis and I are on the same page, but evidently he is with me on this.

2. Want to give Hearst Corporation a piece of your mind? Here is the e-mail of the PR contact from their website: [email protected]

I told them I would unsubscribe to the four magazines they publish that come to my house on a regular basis, if they did not fire her. I doubt they will go under because they lose my business. But if enough people did it, who knows?

3. The ball may be beginning to roll, here is the statement released by Helen's publicity agent:

"It is with a heavy heart that Nine Speakers, Inc. announces its resignation as the agent for Helen Thomas, Dean of the White House Press Corps. Ms. Thomas has had an esteemed career as a journalist, and she has been a trailblazer for women, helping others in her profession, and beyond. However, in light of recent events, Nine Speakers is no longer able to represent Ms. Thomas, nor can we condone her comments on the Middle East. Nine Speakers will continue to enthusiastically represent all of our other current and future clients." -- Diane Nine

Bravo!!!

If you know anyone needs an agent, send them to Diane. Her e-mail is [email protected]

Recommended Reading

It's another long day for me. But if you want something interesting to read, I have some things here you may be interested in looking at:


Interesting discussion over at Mustang's Social Sense. Take a look here.


Equally interesting is this post by AC at Fore Left.


Interesting article over at NRO, about the efficacy of Congress. You can say NRO is biased if you want, but the vast majority of Americans think this Congress is a dismal failure (albeit for different reasons).


Today's liberalism is not your daddy's brand of liberalism. You can read about it here in the LA Times.

Anti-Semitism In Europe: Myth Or Reality?

If you ask Europeans about anti-semitism or anti-Jewish sentiment, there are those that will downplay it as though it is something of a myth or is simply over-exaggerated. They may cite some polls here and there like one in this report, showing favorability ratings of French views on Jews as being:

Very Favorable 28%

Somewhat Favorable 53%

Unfavorable 11%

Now, at a glance it doesn't look so bad in France, does it? But if we take a glance at this article, we see quite a different picture from the French, themselves.

Two thirds of French people think that anti-semitism is on the rise in France, despite recently released government statistics illustrating a downturn.

Among the 1,005 people polled for the weekly magazine Paris Match on 2 and 3 March, 64 percent said they think the problem has increased, with more marginally women than men recognising the recent upsurge in anti-Jewish hatred.

To France's credit, they have tried to fight anti-semitism. But despite it's best efforts, it's very difficult to reverse attitudinal trends simply by enacting laws forbidding them.

Currently, in most of Europe, it is against the law to deny the Holocaust. Here is one case from last year, worthy of some consideration.

An Austrian court has sentenced the British historian David Irving to three years in prison for denying the Holocaust while in Austria in 1989, dismissing his argument that he had changed his views.

While I think this law goes way too far, I think it is somewhat of a sign there is a consensus among those in power; they do not want to go back down the road taken by Germany in the early part of last century (one that led to the systematic slaughter of people, simply for being Jewish). The reason I say this is because you cannot legislate attitudes or morality. And if someone has an offensive attitude, I feel it's best to allow them the right to express it, so that the rest of us can see who it is and use it as a teaching tool for others that are forming their opinions (especially young people, in the formative years of their lives).

But this attitude is certainly not limited to France. In this article published today in the Jerusalem Post, we see there is cause for concern in other countries in Europe, as well.

Thirty-nine percent of Europeans believe Jews have too much power in the business world, while 44% think Jews have too much power in international financial markets, according to the results of a survey published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Monday.

The survey of five European countries - France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland - showed that a large number of Europeans continued to harbor anti-Jewish attitudes, holding on to the classical anti-Semitic canards and conspiracy theories that have haunted Jews through the centuries.

If this poll has any measure of accuracy at all, 44% is a rather large number. Another interesting thing to note is, four of the countries surveyed are predominantly Catholic.

But, if that is not enough, here's another fly in the ointment from the same article:

The survey also showed that large portions of the European public continue to believe that Jews still dwell too much on the Holocaust. Overall, 47% of those surveyed thought the statement was "probably true."

On one hand we have the "powers that be" prosecuting those that deny the Holocaust and on the other, we have people that think Jews ruminate too much on the subject. One must pose the question: How much of this is due to the ridiculous law or more plainly, is this a backlash of that law?

But back to the Catholic issue.

Historically, Jews in Europe have suffered persecution and discrimination, because of early church views that Jews were guilty of crucifying Christ. It matters not that the church teaches that Christ willingly laid down his life for all of us, they still bore then and still bear today, the brunt of that event:

In addition, 51% said they believed Jews were more loyal to Israel than to their country and 20% of those surveyed continue to blame Jews for the death of Jesus.

And if that is not enough, there's this little issue of Israel's existence and its resolve to defend itself, from those that seek to destroy it:

Meanwhile, 25% said that their opinion of Jews was influenced by Israel's actions and of those, 52% said their opinion of Jews was worse as a result of the actions taken by Israel.

How many times have we all heard that being anti-Israel is not the same as being anti-semitic? I know that I have personally read and heard this argument before. And while this may be the case in some people's view, this point bears out that it is not necessarily true in all cases.

Here's the point, I want to make in all of this.

Being something is never a cause to hate. And while some people's attitudes are offensive, they should have the right to express them. But equally, those that are the targets of such hate speech certainly have the right to form their own opinions and express them, as well. In the grander scheme of things, words of hate are bad enough (this much is true), but they are preferable to acts of hate. It is there, where we must concentrate our efforts.

If someone is found guilty of an act of violence against someone merely because they are who they are, then the penalty should be severe enough to discourage others from doing the same thing. Everyone has the right to live their lives as they see fit, as long as they do not infringe on others' rights. But even more importantly, we have to recognize the problem, before we can fix it. And clearly from all of the data I have seen, there is a problem in Europe that many Europeans either refuse to accept, or try to explain away with some feeble reasonings, by using obscure polls that are not necessarily reflective of the real situation.