My book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) has for the week of November 6 once again made the New York Times Bestseller List (paperback nonfiction). It is at number 23 in its eleventh week on the list.
The book has had a remarkable run -- far beyond anything I expected for it. And it is all the more surprising given the fact that while I appeared on well over a hundred talk radio programs, the mainstream media ignored the book, and it was reviewed only in Human Events, the American Thinker, and Front Page.
I suspect that other publications (both liberal and conservative) didn't review it because they couldn't show that I was incorrect. Since they couldn't run a list of the book's errors and inaccuracies, they opted to pretend it didn't exist. To them I issue a standing invitation: go ahead. Prove me wrong. If you're right and I have made a false statement in the book, I'll acknowledge it publicly right here. But you can't do that, can you?
Congratulations on your book sales! l am so upset that major radio talk show stations in my area have not had you interviewed! l did get to hear you on Clash Radio on the computer, and so that was awesomme! My brother ordered your book, l have a friend who is a head librarian, and will have her order your book for that library for all to read!
I suspect that other publications didn't review it because they couldn't show that I was incorrect. Since they couldn't run a list of the book's errors and inaccuracies, they opted to ignore it altogether.
While you are correct in saying that they couldn't discredit your account of Islam, I think that the reason they don't review it is because their stockholders may have a bias in favor of Islam. Like the wealthy Saudi that owns 10% of FOX News.
It may strike some of us as odd that the mighty conservative media empire of John Mellon Scaife, Rupert Murdoch, Sun Myung Moon, Clear Channel Communications, EIB Network, FOX News, dozens of daily papers, et al. won't touch your book with a ten-foot pole, but I'm not surprised in the least.
I've been warning the Jihad Awareness "movement" in general (and my right-wing Zionist friends in particular) that the more enamoured with Saudi money the 'wingers get, the more they will continue to ignore us.
That is why I beg, and will continue to beg you and my fellow Anti-jihadis to try and engage the Left Wing in supporting our cause. We liberals may be wrong on some things, but we don't change coats when the going gets tough.
That's why the Left-wing "alternative" media were AAAALL over Clinton for bombing Milosevic: they are opposed to war. Right wingers are only opposed to war started by Democrats.
"Left-wing" Amnesty International criticizes Israel, Iran, China, Pakistan, AND "palestine" for Human Rights abuses. Right-wingers only criticize Cuba and a few Muslim nations (not Saudi Arabia, though) and NEVER China. Unless it's for the Chinese abortions laws, and I haven't heard much on that issue lately either.
The "Left-wing" ADL criticizes Nation of Islam, the Militias, etc. for Anti-Semitism, David Horowitz will ONLY criticize what he thinks are left-wing groups like the Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, etc. When a left-winger apologizes for Islamic terror, Horowitz gives them the bastinado treatment (with words only, of course) but when a right-winger lik Grover Norquist (R-Closet Muslim) does it, Horowitz either ignores it like the Pope ignores "palestinian" terrorists or prefaces his criticism with a three-paragraph psuedo disclaimer, an apology to his old chum in advance, as it were.
Just politely explain to your liberals friends the facts about Islam in regards to delusions of granduer, patriarchy misogyny, homophobia, etc. etc. and some of them will come around.
What puzzles me is why someone like Charles Krauthammer or Tony Blankley doesn't review your book. They are read by millions, and are otherwise very intelligent and tough-minded.
I suspect that all those connected with the establishment, i.e. actual power, feel that it is necessary as a strategy to focus on 'militant Islam' as an aberration.
I agree with KJ. The anti-Jihad movement has to find a way to reach out to Liberals. Liberals value the ideals of this country and the west. Islam threatens them, conservatives, heck, even people who do not identify with any political label.
Every time someone that is a part of this site, or the anti-Jihad movement, upbraids Liberals for their failure to grasp the threat of the global Jihad, more people are alienated from the good fight.
It is absolutely true that the "hard left" is rotten. But many people who sympathize with the left's ideals could be awakened to the threat of Jihad, and their minds changed. We must remember, the enemy is the global Jihad, not those who do not understand it.
Quijybo
"I suspect that other publications (both liberal and conservative) didn't review it because they couldn't show that I was incorrect."
-- posted by Robert
Or they are fearful of violent retribution for printing a good review.
One wonders how many threats have been quietly passed along, and the chilling effect they would exert.
Bravo Mr. Spencer.
I've begun taking your book to work, a facility for the developmentally disabled, sporting a multinational staff. I always try to spend 15 minutes or so an evening bringing up facts pertaining to Islam and the Jihad, current events and the issues and events behind them, the reality of a woman's life under(an apt word, under) Islam, comparisons of Biblical and Quranic content, and the finer points of economic jihad, demographic assault, and the bizarre dichotomy of standards demanded by muslims. I have found that people will pay attention and absorb more in 15 minute bursts than in longer sessions that cause both the head to begin to spin and the posterior to ache.
An interesting observation I've made since starting my little mission, though on further reflection, not very surprising at all really, and I am sure Vikrant can attest to it's accuracy;
When I try to educate white Americans(and for that matter the Haitians, Koreans, and folks from the Dominican Republic and Mexico), it takes work, patience, repeated attempts and countless reassurances that no, I'm not crazy or making it up. Despite my efforts, results range from "I can't think about it, it's too frightening, please stop and let me continue to ignore it all" to glazed eyes and a "yeah, wattaya gonna do"(not a question), to "that's amazing, what's on Oprah?". Can't say as I've made any "converts" yet, but I've managed to get a few thinking in the right direction and they look forward to our little sessions.
But let me bring up the subject to, or let my copy of PIG be espied by, someone from India, and we go from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds flat. None of the people I work with can be told very much they don't already know. From physicians on down to aides, once I open the floodgates I am deluged with facts, opinions, and personal anecdotes to the degree that I switch off the mouth and open my ears, wide. The information and knowledge that pour forth from my coworkers is astounding. Stories from their childhoods, the changes in cities they have revisited after a decade or two of absence, the politics, the threats and subversion, family members killed or maimed, the fear. Mind-boggling, and invaluable.
I also get a feeling that they are gratified, and slightly surprised, that I, a sheltered American, find the subject in general, and their stories and opinions in particular, not just important, but important enough to devote my time and energy to.
I am grateful to have them as coworkers, both as a reminder that the whole world hasn't lost it's collective mind, and as a morale booster, the cliche'd light in the darkness.
Speaking of 'prove me wrong', Ali Sina at faithfreedom.org is one of the greatest debaters online I have ever read. The man is gifted. The imams refuse to debate him, they're too scared. I think the MSM is scared too of you, and Bat Ye'or and so many others that have removed the political correct ducttape and speak out.
It's a pretend world; if we pretend Islam is not the problem... Did they pretend during the 1930s about Hitler? You bet. The obnoxious little man with his rambling 'it's all about me' book Mein Kampf and his ideas how to raise his oppressed people from the heel of the world, especially the Joos. Mein Kamph and the Qur'an have a lot in common - they are rambling, repetitive, full of hate, us 'the oppressed' against the oppressors, we are superior. The good news is the public library now has a couple of PIG to Islam and the Crusades. Never thought I would see that. I asked for one, and they bought two.
Quijybo;
"..we must remember the enemy is global jihad..."
Exactly. The jihadis aren't going to care what flavor of infidel we are. To them both the Right and the Left are either "dead men walking", potential converts, or potential taxpaying dhimmis. Part of a successful jihad is to completely erase all vestiges of what was before the glorious liberation by submission.
My enemy's enemy is my friend, as the bad guys are fond of saying.
KJ
Love to reach out to liberals, if they will have it.
The problem with labels like "left-wing" and "right-wing" is that they distort reality. I do know of groups which most people characterize as "right-wing" which criticize China.
That being said I find that the liberals I know are obsessed with what they think the threat from "right-wing" theocracy in America is. They really believe that conservatives are a bigger threat than Islam and they have closed their minds to a critique of Islam because they believe it is "just" right-wing propaganda.
How can we overturn the knee-jerk reaction of liberals which is to embrace our enemies and claim that our government is the wrongdoer in the conflict with our enemies. That is exatly what they did all the way through the Cold War.
They are doing it now.
Best of luck working with liberals, maybe you have enough credentials with your liberal friends to make a dent. Good luck.
Actually, KJ may actually be onto something here. Yes, I have known erstwhile fire-breathing feminists who said that we might just have to give up some liberties to accommodate Islam; but I've also known liberals who said, "That does it. They're ALL enemies..." when some imam gets arrested for something or other.
As for some of us Christian rightists, we're polite only because we don't want our Muslim neighbors to think that the Gospel is a club over their heads. They are starting to wonder about why it's their co-religionists who are acting so nastily, ya know...
Hugh, Robert and other readers:
Speaking of the NY Times (or New Duranty Times as Hugh calls it), the link below shows why Hugh's nickname still applies. The Times, through selective editing, manages to turn a hero in Iraq into a victim to suit the Time's purposes. Despicable and disgusting - but they were caught out on this one.
Via Tim Blair - read it all, it's a letter to the Time's editor taking them to task. I wonder if the Times had the decency to print it?
http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/editor_asked_to_explain_editing/
BTW - regarding the above post, Michelle Malkin originally broke the story. There is some mighty fine work being done by various bloggers.
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003793.htm
It is absolutely true that the "hard left" is rotten. But many people who sympathize with the left's ideals could be awakened to the threat of Jihad, and their minds changed. We must remember, the enemy is the global Jihad, not those who do not understand it.
My only gripe against FrontPageMag and associated commentators is that they are a little too doctrinaire with the Right vs. Left dichotomy. There is a crucial difference between 'liberals' and hard left. The former can be reasoned with, and if you are honest and don't live in a cave, you know that there are many decent people who fall in this category. Talk with them nicely and rationally; they are the victims of the subtle but effective forces of political correctness.
But let me bring up the subject to, or let my copy of PIG be espied by, someone from India, and we go from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds flat.
I know quite a few Hindus from India, and this is quite true. Believe me they understand Islam, even the ones who put on a politically correct facade because they have Ph.D.s or whatever. One friend remembered Partition circa 1947, and lived in an area where riots occurred. A lifelong Muslim friend warned him one day to leave, as he felt he was no longer accountable for his actions! Even the moderate and friendly ones can suddenly change, it is sad to say. When you are taught a dogmatic religion in your youth, it can leave a very deep imprint in the subconscious.
The liberals are right when they say that some Christian conservatives can present a mild form of this dogmatism, in their overall attitude and psychology. But they are griveously wrong when they speak of a 'right-wing Christian theocracy'. As someone who voted for Kerry, since I felt it was essential to remain internationalist in going after terrorism, I will tell you that I feel confident that the vast majority of conservative American Christians are entirely dedicated to democracy and the constitution. Some of those Hollywood airheads need to get out and meet some real people.
The main problem is the media. They are the 5th column disseminating lies in tandem with islamic objectives. The left/liberals get carried away with those lies. But some there do have their heads screwed on right or are at least becoming aware.
A good e.g. is Hitchens:
'Galloway is a hot, blustering bully - but I'm staying on his case until the very end'
By Christopher Hitchens
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/18/ngall18.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/09/18/ixnewstop.html
George Galloway Is Gruesome, Not Gorgeous
Now, watch me debate him.
By Christopher Hitchens
http://slate.msn.com/id/2126121/?nav=navoa
George Galloway: Fascist Pimp and Prostitute
By Christopher Hitchens
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19967
John Sobieski`s `Book Review: Mohammedanism by Hurgronje 1916` at: http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/
has the muslim call to prayer `conquest of all nonbeleivers`. That`s 5 times a day. How many people know of this? Do the French and Spanish know? Their govts. are on a mosque building spree to boost GDP.
I doubt they do. This needs to be advertised widely. It`ll make it easier for the presidents/PMs etc to tell the truth. Now they can only skirt around.
The reason the non-muslims from the subcontinent go from 0 to 60 seconds on islamic perfidy is `cos of their knowledge.
The europeans have forgotten this part of their history and as eurabians are taught different versions resulting in the `supercilious sneering tolerants`.
T-ham......I applaud you for the efforts to do what you can to educate people around you. I have been trying to do the same.
Everyone should do this.
Everyone should sit down and come up with a plan, a plan to set aside some time every week to educate their friends and families about the very real ugly sides of Islam.
It's most definitely rough going at times, but one becomes far more efficient and less emotional after a while, plus you feel like you're actually doing something and changing people's minds, rather than sitting in front of the computer and getting frustrated and angry at the insanity in this world, as I have done time and time again.
That being said, I agree that liberals must be approached as well, even if they are harder to get through to. I just had my first experience of being called a "racist" by one of my liberal friends. It took him a good four or five rounds of emails to finally admit that I was criticizing a religion, not a race. Nonetheless there are many many liberals whose eyes and minds open up when you talk about how women are treated in Muslim countries, and that Muhammed supported wife-beating.
And John Sobieski......why do you write "Joos"? I like it and think I'll steal it from you and use it in my emails from now on. It makes me think of the times when someone is scared of something that doesn't exist, or is not worthy of fear, and another person mocks them by saying "Oooooooooo......it's sooooooo scaaaaaary!" OOOOOOO, those evil, all-powerful Joooooooooooos!!!!!
Isn't the time long past to stop believing in the silly notion of a political spectrum? of "left" and "right"?
Isn't it curious, by the way, that there's a lot of big money that supports the cover up of Islamic and Arab jihad? Moreover, there are many rich Arabs who finance terrorism. Now, if sympathy for Arab terrorists is typical of "leftists" today, then why is there a lot of big money working to make us feel sorry for the terrorists, to cover up for the terrorists [i.e., the Islamic fanatics], that is, if big money is supposed to be conservative or "rightist"? Why is so much of the "left" on the same side as much of the big money? Why is so much of the "left," such as George Galloway, supporting the murderers of poor people? After all, a bomb in a market place in India or in Israel or in Iraq, for that matter, is going to kill poor people. Does the "left" hate the poor?
Let's create a new political vocabulary that fits reality, not the fantasy of a "left-right" spectrum.
Mr. Spencer,
Your book is circulating well in the Fairfax County, Virginia, Public Library System. I personally donated two copies. Others whom I don't know, also donated copies, I think, because I never saw the book go through the appropirations process. BTW, your book sits right next to one of CAIR's sponsored donations. LOL.
Thank you for writing a book which can reach so many!