Islamic supremacists such as Dalia Mogahed, Hamas-linked CAIR and Reza Aslan and their Leftist Useful Idiots such as Russell Simmons, as well as Useful Idiot far-Left “journalists” such as Michelle Goldberg and Adam Serwer, are in a fine froth about the Lowe’s decision to drop advertising from All-American Muslim. It’s bigotry, you see, for a company to drop advertising on a Muslim TV show for whatever reason, but it’s not thuggery to try to force American companies to advertise on that show by using threats, intimidation, and smears.
Leftist journalists and Islamic supremacist spokesmen always march in lockstep, using the same talking points, as I’ve pointed out previously in connection with Aslan’s frequent recycling of tired and discredited themes. In this case Goldberg enunciates the theme that this whole attempt to bully Lowe’s and other advertisers is sounding: “Right-wingers attack TV”s All-American Muslim for portraying Muslims as ordinary folks, and Lowe’s pulls its advertising””signaling that it agrees Muslims shouldn’t be depicted as anything other than terrorists.”
My article here is often referred to in support of this idea, but of course I didn’t say that, and the idea that that’s why anyone objects to All-American Muslim is ridiculous on its face. The Left and Islamic supremacists are so intellectually bankrupt that they cannot mount a coherent refutation of their enemies; all they can do is caricature, misrepresent and defame them.
In reality, All-American-Muslim purports to be fighting “Islamophobia.” That is a claim that the show makes about itself in the beginning of the very first episode. Yet it then goes on to depict Muslims who by their own account aren’t observant, and so not reading the texts and teachings that Islamic jihadists use to justify violence — and so they’re not the kind of people who would have given rise to any suspicion of Muslims in the first place. If All-American Muslim had said it was fighting “Islamophobia” and then shown pious, devout Muslims teaching other Muslims that the interpretation of Islam of al-Qaeda and other jihadists was all wrong, we might have had something useful. If they’d shown Muslims fighting against terror, it might have been inspiring.
And if they’d simply have left “Islamophobia” out of it and shown people from a Muslim background living their lives, it might have been an enjoyable show without pretending to deal with larger political and societal issues.
As such it is just misleading. I never called for advertisers to drop the show, and neither did my colleague Pamela Geller — contrary to widely published claims. But if Lowe’s and 63 others decided to do so, they are perfectly within their rights and should not be harassed or intimidated.
“Group Says Lowe’s Is One of 64 Companies to Pull Ads From “˜All-American Muslim,– by Jorge Rivas for Color Lines, December 13 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
The conservative Christian group that’s claiming responsibility for home improvement chain Lowe’s pulling their ads from the reality show “All American Muslim” says there are 64 other companies that have cancelled their ad buys for the show as a result of their e-mail campaign.
McDonalds, Amazon and Bank of America are among the companies the Florida Family Association (FFA) says they”ve targeted to get their commercials off the reality tv show “All American Muslim.” Lowe’s was the first to make headlines because they”re the only company to confirm they canceled ad buys as a result of the the conservative group’s campaign.
“While we continue to advertise on various cable networks, including TLC, there are certain programs that do not meet Lowe’s advertising guidelines, including the show you brought to our attention. Lowe’s will no longer be advertising on that program” a representative for Lowe’s wrote in a statement.
“The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish,” read one of FFA”s emails to it’s members that urged them to contact dozens of companies and ask them to “discontinue advertising on this show.”
According to the Muslim Public Affairs Council, FFA”s campaign against “All-American Muslim” stems from the work of two “infamous Islamophobes” writers Robert Spencer, author of “The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran,” and Pamela Geller, author of “Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance.”
“The main danger of All-American Muslim is that it’s misleading,” wrote Geller in an article reprinted by FFA. “The Muslims portrayed in the show are free to choose their path. That is the beauty of living in a free society. But so many aren’t. “¦ Who speaks for Jessica Mokdad, who lived not far from where this show is taping, in Dearborn, Michigan? Mokdad was honor murdered by her stepfather, Rahim Alfetlawi, for “˜not following Islam.–
There are, however, some sane voices jumping into this mind-boggling debate.
“Lowe’s should be ashamed for succumbing to this type of bigotry,” said Deana Nassar, Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Hollywood Liaison on the group’s website. “The show is an important effort to portray the everyday lives of a group of normal, mainstream Muslim Americans. Caving into the fear campaign initiated by thinly veiled hate groups sends the wrong message at the wrong time.”
Mia Farrow and Russell Simmons have called for a boycott of Lowe’s on Twitter, with Simmons promising to “sic every civil rights agency on (Lowe’s) until they straighten this out.” A representative for Simmons also confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that he will buy any remaining ad space on the show to promote the RushCard, a prepaid Visa credit card.
MoveOn.org has also started a petition calling on the companies FFA targeted to continue buying air time on “All American Muslim.”
Or else.