Before libelblogger Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs betrayed all his principles, friends and allies, he had held voting for The Fallaci. The Fallaci was an award given to a stalwart warrior for human rights against the global jihad, and was named for my dear and much-missed friend, the magnificent freedom fighter Oriana Fallaci, to whom I paid tribute here.
But as Johnson began to convert Little Green Footballs from a site for freedom's defense into a cesspool of defamation, hate, personal destruction and tired Leftist cliches, he (not surprisingly) quietly deep-sixed The Fallaci, and that was that -- until the good folks at The Blogmocracy (formerly known as Little Green Footballs 2, until the bile-choked libelblogger threatened legal action) revived it. And now the voting is on!
I am honored to note that I am among the candidates, but in this illustrious company I should not win, and you shouldn't vote for me. Stop by The Blogmocracy and vote for Geert Wilders! And thanks to the folks over there for reviving this award.
The superb award graphic above, by the way, is the work of the excellent anti-jihad artist Bosch Fawstin.
I hope Robert doesn't mind...but for those who may have missed it, I recently posted this tribute song I wrote and recorded for Oriana Fallaci on youtube. It's a bit dated...written before she died (the story of my life; a penny short and a day late). One of the few songs I've ever recorded with my banjo, which otherwise sits unused in a corner of my living room.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8HoMF75NTE
It's certainly one of the perks to an otherwise dangerous profession that Robert was able to find himself not just rubbing elbows with such a remarkable and courageous woman, but becoming close enough to her that she referred to him as "my pal, my buddy." Quite an honor!
"Penny short and a day late"
LOL, sounds like the story of my life too!
I said it before, and I'll say it again. I like that song. I've made the youtube page a favorite. What a wonderful woman, and Robert was very lucky to have known her personally.
Very well done, Cornelius. Had not heard (or heard of) it before. A fine tribute to a great lady. Let's just hope she doesn't prove to be a Cassandra. This time I hope the folks are paying attention. Gonna' share this one with my wife. Thanks so much.
Thanks for reposting your song, Cornelius ...as I had missed the previous posting. What a wonderful song paying tribute to such an amazing and courageous woman; and you have a terrific voice, too. Excellent work!
Oriana is one of the many, many true heroes 'not good enough' for St. Charles.
Nice work, Bosch!
Bosch, you are an amazing artist!! ...love your bold style.
Thanks for posting/linking & the generous words, Robert.
And thanks, Marisol & champ, appreciate it.
"...The Blogmocracy (formerly known as Little Green Footballs 2, until the bile-choked libelblogger threatened legal action)..."
When LGF 2 began, I suggested to them the name Big Red Basketballs, but they never took me up on it.
Cornelius, I will now reply to your post (as well as Wellington's) in that last thread. (Currently my computer is unable to watch video so I can't enjoy your song.)
Geert and RS are equally deserving. I say they both win.
Salim Mansur, a Muslim, in the Toronto Sun, on Wilders and Fallaci who says the very thing they warned us all about is coming true.
Thanks for the positive feedback guys.
I'd say Salim Mansur is an apostate, going on what he has written.
Cornelius,
I loved the song, and the photo montage! The only pictures I had seen of Oriana before today were the ones taken of her when she was ill (but no less defiant). Great work!
Cornelius wrote:
...but for those who may have missed it, I recently posted this tribute song I wrote and recorded for Oriana Fallaci on youtube.
...............
Cornelius, that's brilliant! Wonderful lyrics and tune. I hadn't heard about the song before, so I'm glad you posted it again. I'm always amazed by the number of talented people here.
Speaking of which, great logo, Bosch—it gives a real sense of Oriana's heroic stance.
Good for the folks at Blogmocracy for reviving this award. We need to honor all those who stand up against the Jihad.
I can understand how Robert and Pamela feel the evil of betrayal, the sting of the sick-ego--controlling-Johnson's brief feeling of power. But his fate is sealed: no one can love that which they do not trust. (Johnson's tombstone. He's a bore.)
But there is a question here. How could you and Pamela (except, probably Fitzgerald, who prudently said nothing) and others be so blind? Why did you choose not to see?
Johnson is a Madoff character. But there is a question here.
Spirit, Salim Mansur is a Ismaili Muslim.
"But there is a question here. How could you and Pamela (except, probably Fitzgerald, who prudently said nothing) and others be so blind? Why did you choose not to see?"
My theory is that both Robert and Pamela (Pamela apparently more so) have some not inconsiderable residues of Leftism in their hearts & minds (as do their other friends & colleagues, David Horowitz and Jamie Glazov), and such residues tend to have the effect of rendering one unable to see the Leftism in a colleague. To this day, Pamela seems to remain "surprised" by Johnson's betrayal. The only thing that should surprise one about Johnson's kinesis is why he left Leftism in the first place to join the anti-Jihad movement -- not why his baseline Leftism reasserted itself when he realized, with horror, that being anti-Jihad (more or less synecdochal for being anti-Islam) logically leads to condemning too many Brown People for a Leftist's comfort zone to handle.
It's mystery.
However, there is a fundamental difference between Robert-Pamela and Johnson. Robert and Pamela are bristly-pain-in-the-ass-egos and resent criticism to some degree or other (I don't think they are as important as they think they are). However, neither are controlling-insecure people and they are able to be trusted, loved.
(One of the reasons why I think Islam is doomed is because it does not have trust-as-essence. The religion is as trustworthy as Muhammad lying to gain advantage. It does not have what people (when free) run to. Johnson is doomed for the same reason.)
He may be able to redeem himself with new people, but he has lost the trust and respect of Spencer and Pamela. That's for sure. Maybe its coke or booze that caused Johnson to reveal himself. Who knows. Who cares. It does not matter.
The difference here is character-not politics. Character is destiny after all.
The issue here is trust and respect. As long as those qualities are present there there may be conflict, but not a break. This is broken beyond repair.
Wow, Corni, that's nice!
I always thought you were a female, how could I get it so wrong?
Any Dutch Jihad Watchers around?
A reader just sent me this in Dutch from Geert Wilders, I don't know if it has been translated and posted yet. Please check:
http://extra.volkskrant.nl/opinie/artikel/show/id/5059/WC-eend_adviseert_Guusje_ter_Horst
The issue of liberalism among certain popular anti-jihad figures is something that must be acknowledged and addressed. How often do we hear of the horrors of domestic jihad terrorism, honor killings, and stealth shari'ah enforcement for the assorted anti-jihad activists, yet hear no realistic solutions offered. Take Mark Steyn, a clever and witty columnist who writes often about "Eurabia", but suggests no way to stop it other then the boilerplate remarks of "reforming" Islam and spreading democracy in Middle East. Of course, when Islam refuses to "reform" (which it has and will continue to do) what then?
Pamela Geller brings story after story about the dangers of Islam inside the West, yet I cannot recall her advocating a ban on Muslim immigration to the West and other tough, yet common sense, policies advocated by her hero Geert Wilders. Many of these anti-jihad writers and bloggers position themselves as challengers of political correctness and liberal dhimmitude, yet refuse to call for a ban on Muslim immigration.
Now I'm not trying to attack these individuals or deny their hard work and activism, but they need to go to the next step. To the credit of Mr. Spencer, he has called for the end of Muslim immigration to the West, though I wish he'd be more frequent in making this point.
... which probably means he'll be seen as an infidel.
Virgil, maybe just concentrating on educating the masses about Islam, its history, and what Moslems are taught to believe, is the way to go. I think if everyone could read the truth about what a, foul, vile, human being Muhammad was then the west would be in a better position to decide what it needs to do.
Virgil,
I don't even mind if Spencer rarely calls for halting immigration of Muslims (or any other concrete measures we could take), just so long as he remains consistent about all the logical implications, whenever those implications come up. But when he says things like "I am not anti-Islam" and that he's not against Muslims qua Muslims; well, considering the mountaintop he's standing on -- a mountaintop of evidence that effectively damns Islam and Muslims which his own hard work has built for the past few years -- such a stand is curious at best. (I agree with you about Pamela Geller; and it's not entirely comforting to see that Spencer seems to have been joined to Geller's hip for the past year or so.)