Mincing no words, Judge Jeanine Pirro calls for an all-out war against Islamist radicals by the US, our allies, and especially Muslims themselves. From Justice with Judge Jeanine Pirro, Jan 10, 2015.
Hasidic gay-bashers wore watchmen’s jackets, NYPD’s Ray Kelly says December 10, 2013 and Biker in Brooklyn Gets Bullied by Hasidic Jews, Catches Entire Incident on a GoPro May 10, 2013
Fox News madness: Birmingham is a no go city for non-Muslims and London has police enforcing Sharia law.
Emerson has given evidence to at least one congressional committee, and reportedly been called as an expert witness on terrorism-related issues by at least six others.
From (even later on) Justice with Judge Jeanine Pirro, Jan 10, 2015.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) is a non-profit research group founded by Steven Emerson in 1995. It is recognized as the world's most comprehensive data center on radical Islamic terrorist groups. For more than a decade, the IPT has investigated the operations, funding, activities and front groups of Islamic terrorist and extremist groups in the United States and around the world. It has become a principal source of critical evidence to a wide variety of government offices and law enforcement agencies, as well as the U.S. Congress and numerous public policy forums. Research carried out by the IPT team has formed the basis for thousands of articles and television specials on the subject of radical Islamic involvement in terrorism, and has even led to successful government action against terrorists and financiers based in the United States.
The IPT accepts no funding from outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or religious institutions. Tax deductible contributions should be made to its fund-raising arm, the Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
Founder and executive director Steven Emerson is an internationally recognized expert on terrorism and national security and author. Consulted by the White House, National Security Council, FBI, Justice Department, Congress and intelligence agencies, Mr. Emerson is in great demand as one of the most astute, insightful and knowledgeable experts in the world today on the threat and prospects of militant Islamic terrorism. He has been quoted in more than 500 news articles and has appeared frequently on network television. His 2002 best-selling book, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us, provides the first context and understanding for how one of the most notorious terrorist groups in the world could have plotted the worst terrorist attack on American soil without detection or scrutiny by American authorities.
Petitioning The City of Birmingham and other UK cities: Let non-Muslims back in to the city of Birmingham
Wes White Glastonbury, United Kingdom Petition started on Jan 11, 2015
Today international 'terrorism' expert Steven Emerson astoundingly revealed to Fox News the literally incredible information that, 'in Britain, it's not just no-go zones - there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally muslim, where non-muslims just simply don't go in'.
Most people in Britain had no idea that non-muslims no longer 'just simply go in' to Birmingham and other cities in the UK (Emerson did not yet state which other cities he is referring to). Birmingham had loads of non-muslims in the last time I was there, so this is a real shock.
We call upon the city of Birmingham and other non-specified British cities to once again allow non-muslims to roam their streets.
Fox News Expert Said Non-Muslims Don’t Visit Birmingham And Created A Meme
A guest on the US news channel said that Birmingham is “totally Muslim” and “non-Muslims simply don’t go in”. The internet responded mercilessly.
Jim Waterson BuzzFeed News Reporter posted on Jan. 11, 2015, at 4:45 p.m.
Fox News guest Steve Emerson claimed that non-Muslims are never allowed into Birmingham, during an interview regarding recent terror attacks in France.
[the YouTube included in the item just above embedded]
Emerson, who describes himself as a terrorism expert, runs an organisation called the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
He gravely told presenter Jeanine Pirro that Birmingham was now completely closed to non-Muslims: “…in Britain, it’s not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don’t go in.”
Over 40% of Brummies describe themselves as Christian, while the city also has a large population of teenage goths. It is understood many of them are allowed to travel around their own city.
So the internet created #FoxNewsFacts, to show how the channel would report on other matters.
Because in the world of #FoxNewsFacts, it’s pretty clear Birmingham is now a Muslim-only city.
Fox News 'terror expert' says everyone in Birmingham is a Muslim Pundit on right-wing channel says non-Muslims "simply don't go" into Britain's second largest city, prompting immediate Twitter backlash 12 Jan 2015 [...] Mr Emerson is a regular contributor to Fox News and was appearing on Judge Pirro, a show hosted by the failed Republican politician Jeanine Pirro. [...] After being contacted by The Telegraph, Mr Emerson released a fulsome apology, saying he "clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry". [...] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11338985/Fox-News-terror-expert-says-everyone-in-Birmingham-is-a-Muslim.html [includes additional #foxnewsfacts/#FoxNewsFacts tweets]
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Emerson with Judge Pirro: No-Go Islamic Zones and Western Self-Denial
by Steven Emerson Interview on Fox News January 11, 2015
I have clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry. My comments about Birmingham were totally in error. And I am issuing this apology and correction for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham. I do not intend to justify or mitigate my mistake by stating that I had relied on other sources because I should have been much more careful. There was no excuse for making this mistake and I owe an apology to every resident of Birmingham. I am not going to make any excuses. I made an inexcusable error. And I am obligated to openly acknowledge that mistake. I wish to apologize for all residents of that great city of Birmingham.
Steve Emerson
PS. I am making donation to Birmingham Children's Hospital.
*
[non-YouTube version of the "Steven Emerson On Fox News - Birmingham is all Muslim (full clip)" YouTube above embedded; transcript (included next below) follows]
Jeanine Pirro: Developing tonight, new reports that terrorist sleeper cells may have been activated in France. This as we're learning new details about hundreds of no-go zones across France and other countries that are off limits to non-Muslims. Steve Emerson, founder of the Investigative Project joins us. Alright Steve, my last guest told us some chilling details about these no-go zones. What more can you tell us about these zones, Steve?
Steve Emerson: Well these no-go zones exist not only in France, but they exist throughout Europe. They're sort of amorphous, they're not contiguous necessarily, but they're sort of safe havens and they're places where the governments like France, Britain, Sweden, Germany don't exercise any sovereignty. So you basically have zones where Shariah courts were set up, where Muslim density is very intense, where the police don't go in, and where it's basically a separate country almost, a country within a country.
Pirro: You know what it sounds like to me, Steve? It sounds like a caliphate within a particular country.
Emerson: It certainly does sound like that. It's almost the prescription that they're asking Israel to do, which is to set up a separate state within their own state, except they're not recognizing it. And they're not dealing with it because they don't want to; I got into a tweet fight with the French ambassador who denied that there are any such things as no-go zones, except on the French official website it says there are and it actually has a map of them…. [A]nd in Britain, it's not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don't go in. And parts of London, there are actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and actually wound seriously anyone who doesn't dress according to Muslim, religious Muslim attire. So there's a situation that Western Europe is not dealing with. And in this country, you know, we have this, you know this selective orientation toward what is radical Islam. The president doesn't [even] say the [words, "radical Islam."] We include Turkey as…our ally, despite the fact that it supports Hamas, it provides safe haven to the leaders of Hamas that coordinate attacks on Israel. Europe just lifted the sanctions on Hamas. So when Europe says or France says, 'We're engaged in a war against radical Islam,' they don't include Hamas, they don't include Hizballah.
Pirro: OK tell me, Steve, is there any way to get these no-go zones back? In other words, does France want it back? Does Belgium want it back? Does Germany want these zones back? Because what's happening is this is metastasizing into a simple takeover. I think even you said Europe is over. What did you say, Steve?
Emerson: I said the other day, Europe is finished because if you extrapolate the number of Muslims [now into the future, you will get Muslim dominated countries] and I'm not saying that all Muslims are terrorists, far from it.
Pirro: Of course not.
Emerson: Because the problem is that the leadership of the Muslim communities in Europe deliberately don't want to integrate. And so they establish these zones which refuse to integrate and use them as leverage against the host country as political and military leverage. So will these countries take it back? I don't see it happening at this point. You see [the] reaction by the population, Judge. But I don't see the country elites taking it [the Muslim no-go zones] back. And that's really unfortunate, because it fosters the whole perpetuation of radical Islamic generations from here to come.
Pirro: Alright, I just have a few seconds left, Steve. Tell us very quickly about these women -- you know, we hear about this woman, [Hayat] Boumeddiene, as well as some of the other female terrorists, I mean there are a lot of them in France, I understand.
Emerson: Yeah, well listen, there are many of them, not many, I can't give you the specific number. But they've trained, first of all they've carried out terrorist attacks in the Middle East for sure. Hizballah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad. ISIS even has women trained [as] Islamic female terrorists, and Europe also [has]; we've seen now in Britain where [some Muslim] women [trained as terrorists] wear burkas to hide their identities, and in fact in certain airports, believe it or not, they don't require the burkas to be removed to identify them to see who they are in their passport controllers.
Pirro: Exactly. Gotta wrap. Great point. I've seen it at airports myself.
*
Copyright 2015 The Investigative Project on Terrorism
Security analyst Steven Emerson said Sunday that “non-Muslims just simply don’t go in” to the city, during a discussion of multiculturalism in Britain after last week’s Paris attacks.
“When I heard this, I choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fool’s Day. This guy is clearly a complete idiot,” Cameron told ITV News.
“What he should do is look at Birmingham and see what a fantastic example it is of bringing people together of different faiths, different backgrounds,” he said.
Emerson later apologised, saying it was a “beautiful city” and announcing that he would make a donation to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
According to the latest census data from 2011, 21.8 percent of the city’s one million residents are Muslim — one of the highest proportions in Britain.
Bemused Britons — including locals known as “Brummies” — meanwhile mocked Emerson.
Under the hashtag #foxnewsfacts, user @chris_wilde tweeted a picture of a convoy of jihadists waving black Islamic State group flags with the quip: “Heavy traffic reported in Birmingham today”.
The 1980s Birmingham band Duran Duran have been forced to change their name to Quran Quran, joked @msalimkassam, while @petermoore said of the city’s landmark telecom tower: “Birmingham City Mosque is among the tallest and most sacred in all Islam”.
Journalist Rob Crilly, writing also on Twitter, joked that Birmingham Bullring, a shopping centre, was in fact “where Christians were put to death”.
Many made references to the city’s cricketing tradition.
“Terrifying photo of how a typical Muslim from Birmingham guards the city gates against infidels,” said one user, showing a picture of a bearded cricketer with his bat ready to hit a ball.
Another published a picture of Queen Elizabeth II in a kerchief reading: “In the UK, the Queen must wear a headscarf by law when she visits Birmingham.”
A third referred to Britain’s unpredictable climate, joking that Muslims were in fact controlling it: “In some places it’s Sunni, but mainly Shi’ite”.
"Citizens in the United Kingdom — including Prime Minister David Cameron — are expressing frustration with Saturday’s episode of the Fox News show Justice with Judge Jeanine, blasting one of the show’s guests for making wildly inaccurate claims about Islam and a British city.
In a segment meant to discuss “no-go zones” — or regions in Europe that are supposedly off-limits to non-Muslims — host Jeanine Pirro called on guest Steven Emerson, a Fox News terrorism “expert” whose career is riddled with hyperbolic claims, inaccurate reporting, and even suspicious financial arrangements. After riffing on “no-go zones” as “a country within a country,” Emerson specifically cited the British city of Birmingham as home to a population that is “totally Muslim.”
“And in Britain, it’s not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don’t go in,” he said."* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
I happened to have been born in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city, though I remained there only a few months. My parents were pleased to leave the famously grim metropolis shortly after my birth in search of warmer climes. But from what I was hearing on Fox News, the weather was now merely the most prosaic of Brum’s horrors.
“Muslim density is very intense, where the police don’t go in, where it’s basically a separately country within a country,” Steve Emerson told the network on Sunday. His host, Jeanine Pirro, looked nonplussed. “It sounds like a caliphate within a particular country.”
As in Pakistan six years ago, a fact-finding mission was required.
Driving into the neighborhood of King’s Heath, a church loomed ahead, apparently in a state of advanced decay. The brick structure was mostly blackened. This, I later learned, was a product of not some Taliban-style assault but the accretion of Birmingham’s notoriously unclean air. Inside there were no parishioners. Even on a Sunday, local residents reported, it attracts fewer people than fit on the top deck of a Birmingham bus.
Of much greater prominence, of course, was the Birmingham Central Mosque. The imposing domed building cast a long shadow over the highway that runs alongside it. In the parking lot, dark long vehicles were emblazoned with ominous messages. “Every soul shall taste death,” one read. There was a long wooden box inside that strikingly resembled a coffin.
I assumed that the central mosque would be the seat of power of the Brummie caliph, from which he would presumably exhort the faithful to take up arms against the infidel threat and expand his domain. With Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon an hour away and the original town of Hollywood even nearer, great symbolic victories lay within reach.
Inside, however, the mosque looked almost abandoned, not unlike the church I saw earlier. There were no worshippers crowded under the vast chandelier that dangled from the peak of its dome. For afternoon prayers, there weren’t enough to fill the first row. Most traipsed quietly onto the streets afterward, without a single “Death to America” or similar chant.
As he slipped his shoes back on, I asked Basharat Hussain, a 39-year-old neatly bearded taxi driver, about the claims that he now lived in a de facto caliphate. “I don’t know about anything like that,” he said. “I just work and go to the mosque.” Most of his clientele are non-Muslims. “It’s all right. Most of them are friendly.” He was equally enthusiastic, in a Brummie sort of way, about his city. “It’s all right, I guess.”
Near the pulpit, an elderly prayer leader was delivering a spirited harangue. I hastened over to catch his words. It turned out to be a disappointing disquisition on the merits of maintaining silence in a mosque. “Why are people talking when they come to God’s home?” asked Muhammad Farhan Muhammad, 83.
What did he think of the massacre in Paris?
“It’s wrong. Very wrong,” he said. “How can you just attack someone like that?” He then quoted a saying of the Prophet Muhammad: “You have to love for all the people what you love for yourself. You have to think for all the people what you think for yourself.”
Confused by his timidity, I began searching elsewhere for this caliphate’s elusive power center and for signs of its influence. At the Malt House pub, there were suspiciously few drinkers, although the barmen were happy to serve. Apparently this wasn’t an act of heroic defiance, though, because the caliphate hadn’t managed to eliminate many traces of the British culture around it. “Nightlife in Birmingham is pretty bad,” said Steven Ingram, an ale-sipping factory worker. He insisted that the principal division in Birmingham is social class rather than race or religion.
Ingram and his friends were crestfallen when they realized the Fox News clip wasn’t, in fact, a piece of accomplished satire. “At first, I thought it was quite funny,” said Sam Doran, 30. He was, however, aware of the city’s tattered reputation. “To be honest, there are worse cities,” he said as persuasively as he could. Perhaps the local tourism board might adopt that as a marketing slogan.
Amy Alcock, 22, was unsure why anyone would visit Birmingham. “People come here from America,” she said, saying it was because Bill Clinton had visited the city. “Surely there are lots of other places he’s visited too?” She was even more disbelieving of Spanish visitors. “Why have you come from Spain to here?!” she asked in disbelief.
It may be Britain’s second city, but it doesn’t have its own edition of Time Out. I asked the drinkers if they could suggest a nearby attraction. “You could go to …” Doran started to suggest, before remembering, “Oh, yeah, that’s now closed.” Perhaps the religious police were active after all?
Eventually they agreed on the Birmingham Library. “It’s like the biggest library outside America,” said Ingram approvingly. Presumably, the local Taliban hadn’t gotten around to burning the books.
Along Broad Street, I encountered Catherine Jones, 27, a lawyer. She was well apprised of Fox’s analysis. “It must be a stealth operation,” she said. “I haven’t noticed anything like that.” Does she, a former Londoner, enjoy Birmingham? “It’s a normal English town,” she said without any discernible cheer. “It’s very multicultural.”
At the library, many hadn’t seen the video. As they watched it on my phone, listeners leaned in, their faces assumed a look that blurred the line between alarm and incredulity. “Where are they talking about? What, here?!”
In the foyer, an exhibition depicts the first wave of Muslim arrivals from the 1950s — the generation of my grandfather, who abandoned Pakistan for Britain. I searched the display for their motives, keeping a keen eye for out for any hint of their imperial ambitions in Birmingham.
“The first time I came here, I saw the lights,” read a quote from Mohammed Sajawal. “I thought this is a rich country. I liked everything here.” Rashida Sharif was equally taken by the place. “It was all weird at first,” she was quoted as saying, “as we had not seen electricity or sanitation before.”
By the exit was a stall testifying to the new caliphate’s awareness of the need to promote itself. It bore a mountain of T-shirts, mugs and caps bearing the legend “I (heart) Birmingham.” In the minds of some, that might be the equivalent of a black flag bearing the shahada. But for the most part, the Birmingham caliphate is doing a fearfully good job of camouflaging its true nature — under a façade of pervasive ennui.
'Want to knock Birmingham? You've got nowhere to hide' Fox News pundit Steve Emerson (left) and Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore Council leader Sir Albert Bore tells of his pride at city's humorous takedown of Fox News' false 'Muslim-only city' claim Jan 14, 2015 http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/want-knock-birmingham-youve-nowhere-8445573 [with comments]
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Fox News In The Racial Smear Zone On ‘No Go Zones’
Published on Jan 14, 2015 by The Young Turks
"Entire neighborhoods of Paris, London, and other European cities have become Muslim-run "no-go zones," off-limits to law enforcement and governed by Islamic sharia law. The story, making the rounds since last week's Paris terror attacks, is shocking—and demonstrably untrue. Yet it continues to spread.
Steve Emerson, a U.S. television commentator, set off a firestorm in Britain on Jan. 11 when he told Fox News that "non-Muslims just simply don't go in" to the British city of Birmingham, and that in some parts of London, "religious police" beat people who don't wear "religious Muslim attire." Prime Minister David Cameron called Emerson "a complete idiot," and Emerson quickly backtracked, admitting he had made "an inexcusable error." British social media had a field day, with Twitter posts showing "sharia-compliant" cloth-covered jars of homemade jam and photoshopped images of mosques dominating the Birmingham skyline.
The story didn't die there."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
Fox News analyst shouldn't be held responsible for being completely wrong
- Fox News analyst describes 'no-go zones' in England that are off-limits to non-Muslims. But they don't exist.
- Huppke defends Fox News analyst criticized for being completely wrong, explains how Northbrook is run by cats.
By Rex W. Huppke January 14, 2015, 6:59 PM
Steven Emerson is a terrorism analyst. It says so right under his name when he appears on Fox News, so I know the title is accurate and his punditry beyond reproach..
Despite such sterling credentials, this fine man has spent the week enduring scurrilous attacks from people who have a selfish predilection for the truth. If there's one thing I hate, it's seeing a perfectly good expert criticized simply because the words that came out of his mouth were demonstrably false.
On Sunday, Emerson appeared on Fox News with host Jeanine Pirro and discussed parts of Europe that Pirro referred to as "no-go zones," areas that are supposedly off-limits to non-Muslim people. Emerson said: "So you basically have zones where Shariah courts were set up, where Muslim density is very intense, where the police don't go in, and where it's basically a separate country almost, a country within a country."
He then got specific: "And in Britain, it's not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don't go in. And parts of London, there are actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and actually wound seriously anyone who doesn't dress according to Muslim, religious Muslim attire."
In the British city of Birmingham, Emerson's comment caused quite a stir, primarily because only about 20 percent of the city's population is Muslim. And Birmingham is not run by Muslims. And there are no religious police beating people based on fashion choices.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said to ITV News: "When I heard this, frankly, I choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fool's Day. This guy's clearly a complete idiot."
That struck me as a rather rude thing to say to a TV-famous terrorism analyst who made the small and understandable mistake of saying something that was utterly and completely wrong and possibly made up out of thin air.
The reaction from the fact-centric Internet-o-sphere was so fierce that Emerson — clearly the victim here — was forced to publish an apology on his Web page:
"I have clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry. My comments about Birmingham were totally in error. And I am issuing this apology and correction for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham. I do not intend to justify or mitigate my mistake by stating that I had relied on other sources because I should have been much more careful. There was no excuse for making this mistake and I owe an apology to every resident of Birmingham."
The text of his correction is placed just above the full video clip of his interview with Pirro, graciously allowing everyone to still see his admittedly nonfactual but very true-sounding comments.
Emerson also made donations totaling more than $1,000 to a children's hospital and two hospices in Birmingham, despite the fact that he has no way of knowing whether that children's hospital is run by radicalized Muslim children who refuse to treat non-Muslim children.
This overreaction to such a simple error has been shameful, and I feel bad — and partially responsible — for all Emerson has faced. You see, I'm almost certain he made his "no-go zone" comments because he was recalling my extensive reporting on the rise of feline no-go zones throughout the greater Chicago area.
Local public figures haven't been willing to address this yet, but there are parts of the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs that are off-limits to nonfeline humans and other animals, especially dogs. You basically have zones where Felis Catus courts have been set up, where Persian cat density is very intense and where it's basically a separate country within a country.
It's horrifying, yet few will admit it's happening. (In fact, I'm the only one.)
The suburb of Northbrook is now totally feline — police and canine units won't go in for fear of being severely scratched. The village is patrolled by religious police cats who actually beat and seriously wound anyone who doesn't dress according to feline religious attire (no clothing, light collar, small bell).
My guess is Emerson just got his facts a bit screwed up, mistaking Birmingham for Chicago and peaceful British human beings for cats. Who among us hasn't done that?
CORRECTION: Shortly after I finished writing the above column, I realized I had made a terrible error for which I am truly sorry. My comments about Northbrook and parts of the city of Chicago were totally in error.
My claim that I have done extensive reporting on feline no-go zones was completely false. I have done no reporting on this subject, primarily because feline no-go zones do not exist. There are no areas in the city or any of its suburbs that are run entirely, or even partially, by cats, Persian or otherwise. Cats do not prevent police officers or their canine units from entering Northbrook, and nobody has been beaten or wounded by a cat for wearing clothes or for not having a collar with a small bell on it.
There is no such thing as "feline religious attire," I just made that up. It was in bad taste and I apologize profusely to any humans or cats who may have found it offensive.
I ask the people of the beautiful village of Northbrook to please accept my sincere apology, and I have donated $50 (hey, I don't make "Fox News terrorism analyst" money) to the Heartland Animal Shelter in Northbrook. That part, at least, I am not making up.
Fox News ‘No Go Zone’ Lies Exposed In Most Wonderful Way By French TV Show
Published on Jan 15, 2015 by The Young Turks
"A French TV host this week mocked Fox News for its coverage of Muslim “no-go zones” in France by sending staffers out on the streets to discover how dangerous these places really are. Yann Barthès, the host of Le Petit Journal, showed video of a Fox guest telling Elisabeth Hasselbeck he’s been to some of these areas where non-Muslims supposedly aren’t allowed, and they feel just as dangerous as Iran or Afghanistan.
Barthès referred to them as “Barbie and Ken,” and laughed at them for citing a poll about French support of ISIS that was discredited already by The Washington Post.
And then, Barthès said, the “credibility of the two Fox News clowns disappeared when they showed a map of Paris with some ‘no-go zones.’” And he proceeded to mock Fox by sending staffers out into the streets of these supposedly dangerous areas to find… well… nothing terribly threatening."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
Perkins, who believes that the First Amendment doesn’t protect Muslim-Americans [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/tony-perkins-us-constitution-doesnt-protect-muslims ] because Islam “tears at the fabric of our society” and is really more of an “economic system, a judicial system,” didn’t exactly deliver a full-throated defense of religious freedom. He said Islam “sees itself as a judicial philosophy, an economic philosophy” and wants to “impose” Sharia law “upon the surrounding society.”
Since his own organization promotes religious law, Perkins seems more intent on curtailing the rights of Muslims than preserving a secular government. In fact, later in the very same program, Perkins demanded that judges follow “natural law” on issues like abortion rights and gay marriage, which Perkins of course believes reflects his religious views.
“Natural law, which is what the founders recognized and built upon, that’s why the issue of abortion has not been settled, because it runs counter to natural law,” he said. “Natural law, which as Christians we would make reference to, as Paul said in Romans 2, it’s written on the hearts of men. Natural law says it’s not right for a mother to kill her unborn child. That’s why regardless of what the courts said, nine unelected judges, regardless of what they’ve said, the issue has not been resolved and it won’t be resolved. And the same is true for marriage, I don’t care what a court rules, I don’t care what a judge says, the issue of marriage, because it emanates from natural law, from creation, it’s going to be here and it will be an issue politically from here until as long as I’m alive.”
It’s odd for Perkins to criticize Islam for having “a judicial philosophy, an economic philosophy” at the same time as he is explicitly advocating for public policy to correspond to his own religious views. Perkins also believes that Jesus Christ preached capitalism [ http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/06/my-take-jesus-was-a-free-marketer-not-an-occupier/ ], a claim he outlined in an article for CNN’s Belief blog, and the FRC regularly rails against judges whom they believe defy biblical precepts.
Dr. Ben Carson makes controversial comparison during RNC winter meeting speech
01/16/15
During his [01/15/15] speech at the RNC winter meeting, Dr. Ben Carson said, "we are busily giving away every belief and every value for the sake of political correctness” while ISIS is willing to die for its “wrong philosophy.”
"We've got ISIS. They've got the wrong philosophy, but they're willing to die for what they believe, while we are busily giving away every belief and every value for the sake of political correctness," he said during his speech at the RNC's winter meeting. "We have to change that."
Carson acknowledged his comments were likely to spark controversy and gain headlines, but he preemptively dismissed the press attention.
"They are just so ridiculous," he said, to laughter from the crowd.
The remarks are similar to ones he made previously, likening the United States government to Nazi Germany in that both, he argued, worked to silence their opponents. Carson stood by those comments when pressed in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer [ http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/03/politics/carson-stands-by-nazi-germany-comparsion/ ].
It's that very penchant — for frank and often controversial comments — that has made him so popular with the GOP base, and turned the retired neurosurgeon into a rising conservative star who just last month polled third in a CNN/ORC survey [ http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/28/politics/bush-leads-gop-field-poll/ ] of the potential GOP presidential field.
Many within the establishment wing of the party remain wary of him, however, because of his talent for the very remarks that make him so popular with the far right. He also started a firestorm of criticism over comments he made that Obamacare was the "worst thing" to happen to the U.S. since slavery.
But his appearance at the RNC's winter meeting, alongside the likes of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, suggest that Carson's popularity on the right has earned him some notice from the establishment as the party charts its course heading into 2016.
Dr. Ben Carson is now warning that there will potentially be NO ELECTIONS in 2016 due to widespread anarchy breaking out across the country!
Nihilist Unleashed Upon America - Albert FreeMason Pike's WW3 (Zionism & Islam Are Crushed, then Christians are Targeted to allow Luciferianism to Evolve for the Xmen New-Man)
Friends, this video points to a suspension of the 2016 US Presidential election during a time of great national crisis in America. According to Revelation 13:3, a failed attempt on the life of the First Beast of Revelation (not Antichrist), identified by the Clock as Barack Obama, will result in an act of Congress extending his Presidency by a period of one year. This extension is part of 42 months that begin at the center of this passage (made known using Daniel's Master Prophecy Number as shown in recent updates at the website) and ends exactly one year after the currently scheduled date of the U.S. Inauguration on January 20, 2017. This 42 month period will thus conclude on January 20, 2018.
The man we call Antichrist, referred to in Revelation as the Second Beast (Rev 13:11, identified on the Clock as Prince William of the UK), will rise to power immediately after the fall of the First Beast. He will come to the aid of the disabled U.S. President and help quell social unrest in America. He will then call for use of advanced robotic technology to restore Barack Obama, whose disabling head wound will prevent him speaking (or even appearing) in public. This is why the "IMAGE" referred to in Revelation is given "life" (physical movement) and a "mouth to speak" (computer voice synthesis), in a near-perfect emulation of the fallen leader. This synthetic version of Obama may be remotely linked to him using neural-based computer software, a kind of remote-controlled "body double" used by Antichrist to rally public support for the MARK OF THE BEAST. According to Revelation, those who receive the MARK or the Number of his Name will be cast into the lake of fire.
While all this may seem far-fetched, it will be the "miracle" of modern technology that Satan will use to bring worship and adoration to the First Beast, after which the Second Beast will introduce the *MARK* for the purpose of global human chipping. The man who brings about the MARK will be the Antichrist.
We may progress to the War of Psalm 83 before the rise of Antichrist as early as the Fall of 2014, where it falls on the Clock of the Four Night Watches. The oppression of Jerusalem prophesied in Revelation 11:2 was reached on the Clock on Christmas day in 2013 and was marked by the passage of Comet ISON, a sign of distress for the nation of Israel. The Blood Moon that fell on Passover in 2014 was another divinely placed sign in the heavens revealing the imminence of these events. A Blood Moon will also occur on Passover in April of 2015.
*Please read my updated Q&A at the website ( http://www.the-measure-of-days.com ) to understand why there are three men who together embody the role of Antichrist in these last days.*
God bless as you continue to Hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches!
Peter John
IMPORTANT: DATES SHOWN IN THIS VIDEO ARE NOT DATES OF PREDICTED FULFILLMENT BUT DATES TO WATCH
Best-selling author and potential presidential candidate discusses what happened in Ferguson, Missouri, what we must do to confront ISIS, and why he might actually run for president.
Duke Muslim Scholar Shuts Down Franklin Graham's Call To Prayer Claims In 30 Seconds (UPDATE) 01/15/2015 [...] Omid Safi [ https://today.duke.edu/2014/07/safi ], director of Duke’s Islamic Studies Center, had a few choice words for Graham during an interview with HuffPost Live [ http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/archive/segment/54b7dbf002a7600e55000059 ]. "Every day from that same Duke chapel, church bells ring, and twice on Sunday. The cross is on the emblem of Duke University. The entire quad, and the entire campus of Duke University is laid out as a cross. And the Christian chapel is the very symbol of Duke University. So the kind of fanatical proclamation that Christianity is being erased from Duke’s campus is frankly a poor indication of the intelligence of that argument." [...] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/15/duke-muslim-prayer-safi_n_6479824.html [with (separate) embedded video report, and comments]
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How Duke University was pressured into bigotry against Islam and its 700 Muslim students
attribution: Duke University w/ permission
by Shaun King Fri Jan 16, 2015 at 09:51 AM PST
Duke University has over 700 Muslim students from all over the world. They represent, in Duke's own words, " a strikingly different face of Islam than is seen on the nightly news: one that is peaceful and prayerful." These students pay Duke's premium tuition costs and excel in every way.
Muslim students and a campus imam already host their weekly gatherings on a lower level inside of the chapel and the plan was for a public call to prayer for Muslim students and staff to happen. Soon though, Christian conservatives began to express their outrage and demanded that Duke not allow Muslim students to use the chapel for a public call to prayer. According to the Associated Press [id.]:
The original plan drew the ire of evangelist Franklin Graham, who urged Duke alumni to withhold support because of violence against Christians he attributed to Muslims. Schoenfeld said emails and calls came from alumni and others in the community.
"There was considerable traffic and conversation and even a little bit of confusion, both within the campus and certainly outside, about what Duke was doing," Schoenfeld said. "The purposes and goals and even the facts had been so mischaracterized as to turn it into a divisive situation, not a unifying situation."
The problem with what Franklin Graham is saying is obvious because he presumably knows that moderate Muslim Duke University students have nothing to do with any attacks against Christians. If it is true that rogue factions of a faith who act unjustly and terrorize others prohibits that entire faith from freely using Duke's chapel to pray, then Christians should've been prohibited from using it from 1900-1970 as so-called Christian members of the KKK terrorized African Americans all over the American South.
Truthfully, though, religious people have always terrorized other people in the name of their faith and instances of modern-day Christians slaughtering and terrorizing people still exist around the world. Since Franklin Graham has little to do with those instances and since we all know it's unlikely that the Christian students of Duke University have little to do with those attacks or with the KKK, they are then allowed to use the space without limit—as they should.
Both Duke University and the United States of America expressly support religious pluralism. However, when we begin selectively holding members of one faith accountable for every member of that faith, we must do this with all faiths.
You and I know that'll never happen.
When Duke bowed to the pressure of Franklin Graham, it drifted into a subtle bigotry and pushed its Muslim students into a form of second-class citizenry in which they are now forced to use the grassy area outside of the chapel for prayer instead of the chapel itself. In may ways, this echoes the days in which African-American Christians, who actually proclaimed the same faith of white Christians, were forced to sit in church balconies and even prohibited from entering certain religious buildings.
It's not right and Duke University has dropped the ball on this one.
Hundreds of Duke students rally with Muslims at Friday’s call to prayer
Students rally outside Duke Chapel at Duke University after school officials canceled the Friday call to prayer for Muslim students, which was to be broadcast from the chapel’s iconic bell tower. RNS photo by Yonat Shimron.
Duke Chapel sits at the heart of the Gothic-style campus in Durham, N.C. Photo courtesy Erini Barker/Flickr.
Students rally outside Duke Chapel at Duke University after school officials canceled the Friday call to prayer for Muslim students, which was to be broadcast from the chapel’s iconic bell tower. For use with RNS-DUKE-MUSLIMS, transmitted Jan. 16, 2015. RNS photo by Yonat Shimron.
Yonat Shimron | January 16, 2015
DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) In the end, the Muslim call to prayer was broadcast from a small black speaker perched on the steps of the Duke Chapel Friday (Jan. 16), as hundreds of students, some Muslim but mostly non-Muslim, gathered in solidarity for the right of all students to pray publicly.
The gathering, replete with signs reading “Let us worship together,” and “Please pray here,” was quiet and peaceful, and emerged spontaneously after Duke University officials on Thursday abruptly reversed their decision to broadcast the Muslim “adhan,” or call to prayer, from the bell tower atop its iconic chapel.
The plan was to recite a moderately amplified call to prayer with the words “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,” from the 210-foot tower for about three minutes each Friday.
Instead, the prayer was broadcast from a portable public address system at the foot of the chapel, first in English, spoken by a woman, then in Arabic, recited in the familiar sing-song chant.
Speaking to a flank of reporters and TV cameras prior to the 1 p.m. call to prayer, Michael Schoenfeld, Duke’s vice president of public affairs and government relations, offered little insight into the cancellation besides saying there were “security concerns.” Neither he nor Luke Powery, the dean of the chapel, used the word “threat,” and it appeared no law enforcement agencies aside from Duke campus police were called to investigate.
“The chapel is a very powerful and potent symbol of the university for anybody who has ever been here,” Schoenfeld said. “When things happen involving the chapel, it means there has to be a very thoughtful and deliberative process for looking at that. That didn’t happen in this case.”
While Duke officials denied it, some suspected the real cause for the cancellation was the loud and forceful criticism voiced by the Rev. Franklin Graham, of Boone, N.C., who called on Duke alumni to withhold donations until the call to prayer was suspended. On Friday, Graham called [ https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/posts/847596288629887 ] the change “the right decision.”
Graham, who leads his father’s Billy Graham Evangelistic Association from the other end of the state, in Charlotte, said [ https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/posts/847571468632369 ] the call to prayer was the very one shouted by Islamist militants during last week’s deadly terrorist attacks across Paris.
Many students who arrived on the lawn outside the chapel shortly after noon said they suspected Duke caved in to donors or potential donors.
“I think it was money,” said Matthew Wiseman, a graduate student in religious studies who stood near the chapel entrance along with throngs of other students. “There were donors who threatened to stop supporting the university.”
Duke was founded by Methodists, and its limestone chapel at the center of campus is used as a Christian church. But, as the dean of the chapel explained to reporters, the chapel also serves a “moderator” and “convener” for other faith groups on campus, including Muslims.
“Our aim is to live into a generous hospitality toward different traditions,” said Powery.
Duke has attracted a growing number of Muslim students, now numbering about 700. In 2008, it became one of the first U.S. universities to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain. Shortly afterward, it began offering Friday jumah prayers, which now take place in the basement of the chapel. A few years ago it opened a Center for Muslim Life in a converted ranch house on campus.
Imam Adeel Zeb, the current chaplain, acknowledged that the university has done more than many others to make campus life more inviting to Muslim students.
“We’re very proud to be here as Muslims at Duke,” Zeb said. He also told reporters there are no plans to reintroduce the bell tower call to prayer.
First to show their support to the Muslim students on Friday were Duke Divinity School students who gathered on the lawn in large numbers.
“Christians are called to be people of peace,” said Sarah Martindell, a third-year-graduate student who drew a sign that said “Duke Divinity Supports You.” “This demonstrates our solidarity with our Muslim neighbors.”
But many others joined in, including a smattering of students from other universities. Sarah Zamamiri, a Muslim, who recently graduated from the nearby University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said nothing would have stopped her from showing her support to her Muslim brothers and sisters.
“I felt really disappointed,” she said of Duke’s decision. “What Duke did was to amplify the whole conversation of diversity and inclusion. It was a great day when I heard it. It’s so unfortunate it had to be canceled.”
President Obama Meets with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
January 16, 2015 | 01:02:18
On January 16, 2015, President Obama delivered remarks after meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom.
*
Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom in Joint Press Conference
East Room January 16, 2015 12:37 P.M. EST
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody. This month marks a notable anniversary -- 200 years since the Battle of New Orleans. Here in America, we call it a great victory over a mighty United Kingdom. Our British friends call it a technicality. The treaty ending the war was signed weeks before.
Either way, we’ve long since made up. On this 200th anniversary of a great American victory, we count the United Kingdom as one of our greatest friends and strongest allies. And today it’s a great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister David Cameron back to the White House.
Now, as many of you know, David recently noted how comfortable the two of us are working together. This sent some commentators into a tizzy. Some explored the linguistic origins of the word “bro.” Others debated its definition. Several analyzed how this term has evolved over time. Some seemed confused and asked -- what does Obama mean?
And so, let me to put this speculation to rest. Put simply, David is a great friend. He’s one of my closest and most trusted partners in the world. On many of the most pressing challenges that we face, we see the world the same way. We recognize that, as I’ve said before, when the United States and United Kingdom stand together, our nations are more secure and our people are more prosperous, and the world is safer and more just. Great Britain is our indispensable partner, and David has been personally an outstanding partner, and I thank you for your friendship.
With both of our economies growing and unemployment falling, we used our working dinner last night to discuss how we can help create more jobs for our people. We believe that this needs to be the year when the United States and the European Union make real progress toward the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. And we share the view that boosting demand in Europe can also keep our economies growing.
As innovative economies in this information age, we’re expanding our collaboration on digital technologies to improve how our governments serve our citizens and businesses. Given the urgent and growing danger of cyber threats, we’ve decided to expand our cooperation on cybersecurity to protect our critical infrastructure, our businesses and the privacy of our people. And as leaders in the global fight against climate change, we believe that a strong commitment to reducing greenhouse gases will be an essential element of any ambitious climate agreement that we seek in Paris this year and that this actually will help spur the creation of more clean energy jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
With regard to security, American-British unity is enabling us to meet challenges in Europe and beyond. We agree on the need to maintain strong sanctions against Russia until it ends its aggression in Ukraine, and on the need to support Ukraine as it implements important economic and democratic reforms. We agree that the international community needs to remain united as we seek a comprehensive diplomatic solution to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And I’d add that additional sanctions on Iran at this time would undermine that international unity and set back our chances for a diplomatic solution. And as the two leading contributors to the global response to Ebola in West Africa, we urge the world to continue stepping up with the resources that are required so that we don’t simply stop this disease, we do more to prevent future epidemics.
Now, much of our discussion obviously focused on the continuing threat of terrorism. And in the wake of the vicious attacks in Paris, as well as the news surfacing out of Belgium, today we continue to stand unequivocally not only with our French friends and allies, but with also all of our partners who are dealing with this scourge. I know David joins me when I say that we will continue to do everything in our power to help France seek the justice that is needed and that all our countries are working together seamlessly to prevent attacks and to defeat these terrorist networks.
With our combat mission in Afghanistan over, we’re also focused with our NATO allies on advising and assisting and equipping Afghan forces to secure their own country and deny to al Qaeda any safe haven there. We’ll continue to count on our British allies as our -- one of our strongest counterterrorism partners, whether it’s helping countries fight back against al Qaeda affiliates or Boko Haram in Nigeria.
We reviewed our coalition’s progress against ISIL. We are systematically taking out their fighters, we’re destroying their infrastructure, we are putting them on the defensive and helping local forces in Iraq push these terrorists back. And David and I agree that we need to keep stepping up the training of Iraqi forces, and that we’re not going to relent until this terrorist organization is destroyed.
The Paris attacks also underscored again how terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIL are actively trying to inspire and support people within our own countries to engage in terrorism. I led a special session of the United Nations Security Council last fall to rally the world to meet the threat of foreign terrorist fighters, including coming from Syria. David and the United Kingdom continue to be strong partners in this work, including sharing intelligence and strengthening border security.
At the same time, we both recognize that intelligence and military force alone is not going to solve this problem. So we’re also going to keep working together on strategies to counter the violent extremism that radicalizes, recruits and mobilizes people, especially young people, to engage in terrorism. And local communities -- families, neighbors, faith leaders -- have a vital role to play in that effort.
We also look forward to welcoming our British friends to our summit next month on countering violent terrorism. Because whether in Europe or in America, a critical weapon against terrorism is our adherence to our freedoms and values at home -- including the pluralism and the respect and tolerance that defines us as diverse and democratic societies.
And finally, I want to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate David on last month’s Stormont House Agreement. It’s a tribute to the courage and determination of everyone involved, especially the leaders of Northern Ireland as well as the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The United States was pleased to play a small role in achieving this agreement, and we’re going to keep doing what we need to do to support the peace process and a better future for the people of Northern Ireland.
So with that, let me turn it over to my good friend, David Cameron.
PRIME MINISTER CAMERON: Well, thank you very much, Barack. And thank you for welcoming me again to the White House. You are a great friend to Britain and to me personally. As leaders, we share the same values and, as you said, on so many issues, we see the world in the same way. And most of the time, we speak the same language. (Laughter.)
In the last six years since you became President, and in the nearly five since I’ve been Prime Minister, we’ve faced some big issues on our watch. And those challenges have boiled down to one word: Security. Economic security -- the jobs and the living standards of our citizens -- and national security -- the ability of our peoples to live safely and in peace.
And at the heart of both issues are the values that our countries cherish: Freedom of expression, the rule of law, and our democratic institutions. Those are the things that make both our countries strong and which give us confidence that even in the midst of the most violent storms, with strong leadership, we will come through to safer, to calmer and to brighter days.
During your presidency, you’ve had to deal with the aftermath of a massive banking crisis and a deep recession. When I became Prime Minister, Britain had the highest budget deficit in its peacetime history, our economy was in grave peril. Five years ago, we had 110,000 troops serving together in Afghanistan. Thanks to their efforts, today it is Afghan forces taking responsibility for security in their country.
But we continue to face difficult times for the world. First and foremost, we have to deal with the warning lights flashing in the global economy. Wheat growth in the eurozone has slowed down in emerging markets. That is why it is vital for our shared prosperity that we both stick to the long-term economic plans that we’ve set out.
We agreed that 2015 should be a pivotal year for an ambitious and comprehensive EU-U.S. trade deal which could benefit the average household in Britain by 400 pounds a year. The U.K. is now the top destination for American and foreign investment, with 500 projects last year providing 32,000 jobs. And America is the U.K.’s biggest trade partner, with exports worth nearly 90 billion pounds. We want to build on this.
So our message on the economy today is simple: We are going to stick to the course. Because seeing through our economic plans is the only sustainable way to create jobs, to raise living standards, and to secure a better future for hardworking people.
Now, Britain and America both face threats to our national security from people who hate what our countries stand for and who are determined to do us harm. In recent weeks, we’ve seen appalling attacks in Paris, in Peshawar, in Nigeria. The world is sickened by this terrorism, so we will not be standing alone in this fight. We know what we’re up against, and we know how we will win.
We face a poisonous and fanatical ideology that wants to pervert one of the world’s major religions, Islam, and create conflict, terror and death. With our allies, we will confront it wherever it appears. In Iraq, the U.K. is the second largest contributor to the anti-ISIL coalition. RAF aircraft have conducted over 100 strikes and will continue to play a leading role. We will deploy additional intelligence and surveillance assets to help Iraqi forces on the ground, and we will ensure they are better trained and equipped to counter explosive devices.
But most important of all, we must also fight this poisonous ideology starting at home. In the U.K., we’re passing a law so that every public body must combat extremism. And this morning, we have agreed to establish a joint group to identify what more we can do to counter the rise of domestic violent extremism, and to learn from one another.
In Europe, Russia has chosen to tear up the international rulebook and trample over the affairs of a sovereign state. This threatens our stability and our prosperity. It is important that every country understands that, and that no one in Europe forgets our history. We cannot walk on by. So we will continue to put pressure on Russia to resolve this crisis diplomatically, and at the same time, we will continue our efforts to support Ukraine on the path of reform, including with financial assistance. We also reaffirmed our obligations as NATO partners to stand by our allies, and we’ll be contributing an additional thousand troops for exercises in Eastern Europe this year.
On Iran, we remain absolutely committed to ensuring that Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. The best way to achieve that now is to create the space for negotiations to succeed. We should not impose further sanctions now; that would be counterproductive and it could put at risk the valuable international unity that has been so crucial to our approach.
We also have to keep pace with new threats, such as cyber attacks. We’ve discussed that in the last two days, and we’ve today agreed to deepen our cybersecurity cooperation to better protect ourselves.
Finally, we face -- the entire world faces a growing threat from diseases. Today, our fight is against Ebola. In the future, it could be against a global flu pandemic. Through our action in Sierra Leone, the U.S. action in Liberia, France and Guinea, we are beginning to turn the corner, but we must get better at responding to these global health emergencies and make sure we can master them before they master us.
So reforming the WHO, the World Health Organization; establishing a team of experts to be on standby to deploy anywhere in the world; a new international platform to stimulate the design and development of new drugs -- all of these things are needed. And let 2015, the year we must crack Ebola, also be the year we tackle extreme poverty and climate change.
On poverty, we must set new, clear goals to eradicate extreme poverty, to fight corruption and to build strong institutions. And on climate change, we want an outcome in Paris that keeps our goal of limiting global warming by 2050 to two degrees within reach. These two things -- and they go together -- have the potential to give security to future generations to come.
For almost two centuries, after those little difficulties we were discussing earlier, America and Britain have stood as kindred spirits in defending our freedoms and advancing our shared prosperity. Today, as we survey a world in flux, our alliance stands strong, rooted in its long history, and reinvigorated by the challenges we face today. If our forebears could join us here in the White House today, they might find the challenges that we’re facing from ISIL to Ebola, from cyberterrorism to banking crises, they might find those hard to comprehend, but they would surely recognize the ties that bind us across the Atlantic and the values that our peoples hold so dear.
We’ve stood together so often, not just because we faced common threats but because we fundamentally believe in the same things. That is as true today as it has always been, and it hugely benefits our countries and the people that we’re here to serve.
Thank you very much.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you, David. We’re going to take a few questions. We’re going to start with Jonathan Karl of ABC.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. You mentioned your opposition to the sanctions bill on Iran, and this is obviously a bipartisan bill supported by some very senior top members of your own party in Congress. Why do you oppose a bill that would only impose sanctions if you fail to reach an agreement? And if the Iranians fail to agree to take steps to curtail their nuclear program, would you go so far as to veto a bill supported by top Democrats in Congress on this issue?
And to Mr. Prime Minister, I understand you’ve been making phone calls to senators on this issue of the Iran sanctions bill, is that correct? Are you actually lobbying the U.S. Congress on this?
And if I may, Mr. President, I’d really like to hear your reaction to the news that Mitt Romney is thinking about running for President again. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: On your last question -- (laughter) -- I have no comment. (Laughter.)
Q None at all?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: On your first question, when I came into office, I made a commitment that Iran would not obtain a nuclear weapon, that we would do everything we could to prevent that. And that is important for our security and it’s important for the world’s security. If Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, then it would trigger an arms race in the Middle East, make our job in terms of preventing the proliferation of nuclear materials much more difficult. Given their missile capabilities, it would threaten directly our closest allies, including Israel, and ultimately could threaten us.
And so what we did was systematically, with the help of Congress, construct the most forceful, most effective sanctions regime in modern history. And what was remarkable was that when I came into office, the world was divided around this issue, and Iran was united. And through some very strong diplomatic work, we united the world and isolated Iran. And it’s because of that work that we brought them to the negotiating table -- not for posturing, not for meetings that lead nowhere, but to a very hard-nosed, nuts-and-bolt discussion of their nuclear program.
Now, the interim deal that we entered into also froze progress on their nuclear program, rolled back in some cases the stockpiles of material that they had already accumulated, and provided us insight into their program that was unprecedented. We have people on the ground who are able to verify and inspect and tell us what exactly is going on. That's not just our assessment, that's the assessment of intelligence services around the world, including the Israelis.
So the agreement has held, and the negotiations have been serious. We have not lost ground. Iran has not accelerated its program during the time these negotiations have taken place. In fact, Iran’s program has not only been in abeyance, but we’ve actually made gains in rolling back some of the stockpiles that they had.
Now, we have on the table currently a series of negotiations over the next several months to determine whether or not Iran can get to yes. And what’s been remarkable is the unity that we have maintained with the world in isolating Iran and forcing them to negotiate in a serious way. The P5-plus-1 includes not only China, but also includes Russia. And they have continued to cooperate with us in setting forth positions that would give us assurances that Iran was not developing a nuclear weapon.
Now, I’ve always said that the chances that we can actually get a diplomatic deal are probably less than 50/50. Iran is a regime that is deeply suspicious of the West, deeply suspicious of us. In the past, they have surreptitiously and secretly advanced aspects of this program. We have huge differences with them on a whole range of issues. But if, in fact, we still have an opportunity to get a diplomatic deal that provides us verifiable assurances that they are not developing a nuclear weapon, that is the best possible outcome that we can arrive at right now.
And the question I had for members of Congress, including those folks in my own party is: Why is it that we would have to take actions that might jeopardize the possibility of getting a deal over the next 60 to 90 days? What is it precisely that is going to be accomplished?
I can tell you what the risks are, and I think David shares my assessment here. Under the interim deal that brought Iran to the table, we were not supposed to initiate new sanctions. Now, you’ll hear arguments -- well, these technically aren’t new sanctions, they're simply laws putting in place the possibility of additional sanctions. I assure that is not how Iran would interpret it or our partners would interpret it.
So the likelihood of the entire negotiations collapsing is very high. And if that happens, there is no constraint on Iran at that point going back and doing exactly what it had been doing before they came to the table: Developing a heavy water reactor that, once built, is extraordinarily difficult to dismantle and very difficult to hit military; going back at underground facilities that are very hard to reach militarily; accelerating advanced centrifuges that shorten the time span in which they can achieve breakout capacity.
And they would be able to maintain that the reason that they ended negotiations was because the United States was operating in bad faith and blew up the deal, and there would be some sympathy to that view around the world -- which means that the sanctions that we have in place now would potentially fray, because imposing these sanctions are a hardship on a number of countries around the world. They would love to be able to buy Iranian oil. And the reason that they’ve hung in there, despite it being against their economic interest, is because we have shown that we are credibly trying to solve this problem and avert some sort of military showdown.
Now, in that context, there is no good argument for us to try to undercut, undermine the negotiations until they’ve played themselves out. Now, if Iran ends up ultimately not being able to say yes, if they cannot provide us the kind of assurances that would lead myself and David Cameron and others to conclude that they are not obtaining a nuclear weapon, then we’re going to have to explore other options. And I will be the first one to come to Congress and say we need to tighten the screws.
And, by the way, that’s not the only options that are going to be available. I’ve consistently said we leave all options on the table. But Congress should be aware that if this diplomatic solution fails, then the risks and likelihood that this ends up being at some point a military confrontation is heightened, and Congress will have to own that as well, and that will have to be debated by the American people. And we may not be able to rebuild the kind of coalition we need in that context if the world believes that we were not serious about negotiations.
So I take this very seriously. And I don’t question the good faith of some folks who think this might be helpful. But it’s my team that’s at the table. We are steeped in this stuff day in, day out. We don’t make these judgments blindly. We have been working on this for five, six, seven years. We consult closely with allies like the United Kingdom in making these assessments. And I am asking Congress to hold off, because our negotiators, our partners, those who are most intimately involved in this, assess that it will jeopardize the possibility of resolving -- providing a diplomatic solution to one of the most difficult and long-lasting national security problems that we’ve faced in a very long time. And Congress needs to show patience.
So with respect to the veto, I said to my Democratic caucus colleagues yesterday that I will veto a bill that comes to my desk, and I will make this argument to the American people as to why I’m doing so. And I respectfully request them to hold off for a few months to see if we have the possibility of solving a big problem without resorting potentially to war. And I think that’s worth doing. We’ll see how persuasive I am, but if I’m not persuading Congress, I promise you I’m going to be taking my case to the American people on this.
PRIME MINISTER CAMERON: I think the big picture is very clear. The sanctions that America and the European Union put in place have had an effect. That has led to pressure. That pressure has led to talks. And those talks at least have a prospect of success. And I would argue with the President, how much better is that than the other potential outcomes? And that is what we should be focusing on.
But to answer you very directly, yes, I have contacted a couple of senators this morning and I may speak to one or two more this afternoon -- not in any way as British Prime Minister to tell the American Senate what it should or shouldn’t do; that wouldn’t be right -- but simply to make the point as a country that stands alongside America in these vital negotiations, that it’s the opinion of the United Kingdom that further sanctions or further threat of sanctions at this point won’t actually help to bring the talks to a successful conclusion and they could fracture the international unity that there’s been, which has been so valuable in presenting a united front to Iran.
And I say this as someone who played quite, I think, a strong role in getting Europe to sign up to the very tough sanctions, including oil sanctions, in the first place. And I would just simply make this point: Those sanctions have had an effect. And to those who said, if you do an interim deal, if you even start discussing with the Iranians any of these things, the sanctions will fall apart, the pressure will dissipate, no one will be able to stick at it. That has demonstrably been shown not to be true.
So the pressure is still there. And as the President says, if the Iranians say no and there is no deal, then by all means let’s sit down and work out what extra sanctions to put in place. Because I think we’re absolutely united in a simple thought, which is a deal that takes Iran away from a nuclear weapon is better than either Iran having a nuclear weapon or military action to prevent it. In the end, it comes down to that simple choice. And so will I do what I can to help as one of the country’s negotiating? Sure I will.
Q Do you acknowledge a less than 50/50 --
PRIME MINISTER CAMERON: I think the way the President put it, I wouldn’t disagree with. It’s very hard to know what the Iranian thinking is about this. I’m the first British Prime Minister in 35 years I think to meet with an Iranian President, and it’s very hard to know what their thinking is.
But there is a very clear offer there, which is to take Iran away from a nuclear weapon and to conclude an agreement with them which would be mutually beneficial. That’s what should happen.
I think we’ve got a question from Nick Robinson at the BBC.
Q Mr. Nick Robinson, BBC News. Prime Minister, with extra security being put in place today for the Jewish community and also for police officers, would people be right to conclude that the threat of an attack on the streets of Britain is now all but imminent?
And, Mr. President, you’ve spoken of the threat posed by fighters coming back from Syria. Do you ever worry that this is a legacy of the decision of the United States and the United Kingdom to in effect stand on the sidelines during Syria’s bloody civil war?
And if I may briefly, if you’ll forgive me, on the economy, you said you agree. Is he right? Is it time to stick to the plan?
PRIME MINISTER CAMERON: Well, first of all, look, we do face a very serious Islamist extremist terrorist threat in Europe, in America, across the world. And we have to be incredibly vigilant in terms of that threat. We’ve got to strengthen our police and security. We ought to make sure we do everything we can to keep our country safe. And that involves an incredibly long-term, patient, disciplined approach.
There is no single, simple thing that needs to be done. It means closing down the ungoverned spaces that the terrorists operate in. It means working against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. It means countering this poisonous, fanatical death cult of a narrative that is perverting the religion of Islam. It means working together with our oldest and best partners so that we share intelligence and security and we try and prevent terrorist atrocities from taking place. It means all of these things, and it is going to be a long, patient and hard struggle.
I’m quite convinced we will come through it and we will overcome it, because in the end, the values that we hold to of freedom, of democracy, of having open and tolerant societies -- these are the strongest values there can be. And in the end, we will come through. But like some of the challenges our countries have faced together in the past, it will take great discipline, great patience, great, hard work.
You asked specifically the question about imminence. We have a system in the United Kingdom where threat levels are set by the Joint Terrorism Assessment Centre. They’re not set by politicians. They have judged that the threat we face is severe. That means, in their words, that an attack is highly likely. If ever there is an imminent threat of attack, it goes to the next level up, which is critical. But it’s their decision, not mine. My responsibility is to make sure we marshal everything we have as a country in order to defeat the threat.
Q On the Jewish community?
PRIME MINISTER CAMERON: And on the Jewish community, I think it’s good that the metropolitan police have announced that they’ll be stepping up on patrols. I met with the Jewish Leadership Council earlier this week. We already provide through their security organization, the Community Security Trust, we already provide government money to help protect Jewish schools. But I think this is -- we have to recognize in fighting terrorism, as we found in Britain before, you cannot simply rely on policing and security. This is a job for everyone. This is a role that we’re all going to have to play in the vigilance and in making sure that we keep our community safe.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: With respect to Syria and the connection to foreign fighters, there is no doubt that in the chaos and the vacuum that’s been created in big chunks of Syria, that that’s given an opportunity for foreign fighters to both come in and come back out. And I chaired a U.N. Security Council meeting, and we are now busy working with our partners to implement a series of actions to identify who may be traveling to Syria in order to get trained, to fight, or to hatch plots that would be activated upon return to their home countries. So it's a very serious problem.
The notion that this is occurring because the United States or Great Britain or other countries stood on the sidelines I think is -- first of all, mischaracterizes our position. We haven’t been standing on the sidelines; it's true we did not invade Syria. If the assertion is, is that had we invaded Syria we would be less prone to terrorist attacks, I’ll leave it to you to play out that scenario and whether that sounds accurate.
We’ve been very active in trying to resolve a tragic situation in Syria -- diplomatically; through humanitarian efforts; through the removal of chemical weapons from Syria that had been so deadly. And now as ISIL has moved forward, we’ve been very active in degrading their capabilities inside of Syria, even as we’re working with partners to make sure that the foreign fighter situation is resolved.
But I think David’s point is the key one. This phenomenon of violent extremism -- the ideology, the networks, the capacity to recruit young people -- this has metastasized and it is widespread, and it has penetrated communities around the world.
I do not consider it an existential threat. As David said, this is one that we will solve. We are stronger, we are representing values that the vast majority of Muslims believe in -- in tolerance and in working together to build rather than to destroy. And so this is a problem that causes great heartache and tragedy and destruction, but it is one that ultimately we’re going to defeat. But we can’t just defeat it through weapons.
One of the things that we spoke about is how do we lift up those voices that represent the vast majority of the Muslim world so that that counter-narrative against this nihilism is put out there as aggressively and as nimbly as the messages coming out from these fanatics. How do we make sure that we are working with local communities and faith leaders and families -- whether in a neighborhood in London or a neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan -- so that we are inoculating ourselves against this kind of ideology. And that's going to be slow, plodding, systematic work, but it’s work that I’m confident we're going to be able to accomplish, particularly when we’ve got strong partners like the United Kingdom doing it.
Q On the economy --
PRESIDENT OBAMA: On the economy, I would note that Great Britain and the United States are two economies that are standing out at a time when a lot of other countries are having problems, so we must be doing something right.
Major Garrett.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Good afternoon, Mr. Prime Minister. Good afternoon to you, sir.
Questions for all -- for both of you. I want to make sure we heard what you were trying to say. You clearly are directing a message to Congress in the context of Iranian negotiations. Were you also sending a message -- both of you -- to Iran that if the sanctions talks fail, that war footing is the next most likely alternative for this country and those who are allied with us in this common pursuit?
And atrocities in Paris, raids and threats either in Belgium and Netherlands, I’d like to ask you both: Do you believe Europe is at a turning point now in its recognition of what its threats are and its own mobilization in terms of new laws, security footing, larger budgets? And you both talked about cybersecurity. There is a crucial issue for both countries -- backdoors in encryption to protect people and also privacy. I’d like your comments on that. Thank you.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: I am not -- repeat, not -- suggesting that we are in immediate war footing should negotiations with Iran fail. But as David put it very simply -- if, in fact, our view is that we have to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, then we have to recognize the possibility that should diplomacy fail, we have to look at other options to achieve that goal.
And if you listen sometimes to the rhetoric surrounding this issue, I think there is sometimes the view that this regime cannot be trusted; that, effectively, negotiations with Iran are pointless. And since these claims are being made by individuals who see Iran as a mortal threat and want as badly as we do to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon, the question then becomes: Well, what other alternatives exactly are available?
That is part of what we have to consider as to why it’s so important for us to pursue every possible avenue to see if we can get a deal. Now, it’s got to be good deal, not a bad deal. I’ve already shown myself willing to walk away from a bad deal. And the P5-plus-1 walked away with us. And so nobody is interested in some document that undermines our sanctions and gives Iran the possibility of, whether covertly or gradually, building up its nuclear weapons capacity. We're not going to allow that. And anything that we do, any deal that we arrive at -- if we were to arrive at one -- would be subject to scrutiny across the board, not just by members of Congress, but more importantly, by people who actually know how the technical aspects of nuclear programs can advance and how we can effectively verify in the most rigorous way possible that the terms of the deal are being met.
So the bottom line is this: We may not get there, but we have a chance to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully. And I should point out also, by the way, that if -- even if we get a nuclear deal and we are assured that Iran doesn’t possess nuclear weapons, we’ve still got a whole bunch of problems with Iran on state-sponsored terrorism, their rhetoric towards Israel, their financing of Hezbollah. We’ve got differences with respect to Syria. It’s not as if suddenly we’ve got a great relationship with Iran. It solves one particular problem that is urgent, and it solves it better than the other alternatives that might present themselves.
So my main message to Congress at this point is, just hold your fire. Nobody around the world, least of all the Iranians, doubt my ability to get some additional sanctions passed should these negotiations fail. That’s not a hard vote for me to get through Congress. And so the notion that we need to have additional sanctions, or even the possibility of sanctions hanging over their head to force them to a better deal, I think the Iranians know that that is certainly in our back pocket if the negotiations fail.
With respect to violent extremism, my impression is that Europe has consistently taken this seriously. During the course of my presidency, we have worked collaboratively and with great urgency and a recognition that not only do you have foreigners who may be trying to hatch plots in Europe, but that, given large immigrant populations, it’s important to reach out to and work with local communities and to have a very effective intelligence and counterterrorism cooperation between countries and between the United States and Europe.
There’s no doubt that the most recent events has amplified those concerns. I think one of the things that I’ve learned over the last six years is that there’s always more that we can do. We can always do it better. We learn from mistakes. Each incident that occurs teaches our professionals how we might be able to prevent these the next time.
And I’m confident that the very strong cooperation that already exists with Europe will get that much better in the months and years to come.
Q Do you believe that Europe has been as sensitized as the United States and Great Britain has?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Here’s where I actually think that Europe has some particular challenges, and I said this to David. The United States has one big advantage in this whole process, and it’s not that our law enforcement or our intelligence services, et cetera, are so much better -- although ours are very, very good, and I think Europeans would recognize that we’ve got capabilities others don’t have. Our biggest advantage, Major, is that our Muslim populations, they feel themselves to be Americans. And there is this incredible process of immigration and assimilation that is part of our tradition that is probably our greatest strength. Now, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t subject to the kinds of tragedies that we saw at the Boston Marathon. But that, I think, has been helpful.
There are parts of Europe in which that’s not the case, and that’s probably the greatest danger that Europe faces -- which is why, as they respond, as they work with us to respond to these circumstances, it’s important for Europe not to simply respond with a hammer and law enforcement and military approaches to these problems, but there also has to be a recognition that the stronger the ties of a North African -- or a Frenchman of North African descent to French values, French Republic, a sense of opportunity -- that’s going to be as important, if not more important, in over time solving this problem. And I think there’s a recognition of that across Europe, and it’s important that we don’t lose that.
The last point I’ll make, and then I’ll turn it over to David, is with respect to the issue of intelligence-gathering, signal intelligence, encryptions, this is a challenge that we have been working on since I’ve been President. Obviously, it was amplified when Mr. Snowden did what he did. It’s gone off the pages of -- the front pages of the news, but we haven’t stopped working on it. And we’ve been in dialogue with companies and have systematically worked through ways in which we can meet legitimate privacy concerns, but also meet the very real concerns that David has identified and my FBI Director, Jim Comey, identified.
Social media and the Internet is the primary way in which these terrorism organizations are communicating. Now, that’s no different than anybody else, but they’re good at it. And when we have the ability to track that in a way that is legal, conforms with due process, rule of law, and presents oversight, then that’s the capability that we have to preserve.
And the biggest damage that was done as a consequence of the Snowden disclosures was I think, in some cases, a complete undermining of trust. Some would say that was justified. I would argue that although there are some legitimate concerns there, overall, the United States government and, from what I’ve seen, the British government, have operated in a scrupulous and lawful way to try to balance these security and privacy concerns. And we can do better, and that’s what we’re doing.
But we’re still going to have to find ways to make sure that if an al Qaeda affiliate is operating in Great Britain or in the United States, that we can try to prevent real tragedy. And I think the companies want to see that as well. They’re patriots. They have families that they want to see protected. We just have to work through in many cases what are technical issues. So it’s not so much that there’s a difference in intent, but how to square the circle on these issues is difficult. And we’re working with partners like Great Britain and the United Kingdom, but we’re also going to be in dialogue with the companies to try to make that work.
PRIME MINISTER CAMERON: On the Iranian issue, I won’t add much to what the President said. I’d just make this point, that I don’t think you can characterize it as, if there's a deal then the pressure is off Iran, and if there isn’t a deal, new pressure has to be applied to Iran. I mean, even if there is a deal, the key to that deal will be transparency and verification and making sure that this country isn’t developing a nuclear weapon. And that will mean repeated pressure, even after a deal is done. I think that’s very important.
And I would absolutely back up what Barack says about recognizing that in so many other ways, we have some major disagreements with what the Iranians have been doing. I mean, Britain has suffered particularly from the appalling way that our embassy and our staff were treated in that country. So we approach this with a huge amount of skepticism and concern. But the goal of an Iran without a nuclear weapon makes these talks worthwhile.
On the issue -- your question, has -- is this a turning point for Europe in terms of terrorism, I would argue that we turned some time ago. Maybe Britain in particular because of the appalling attacks that took place in 2005, but there have been attacks elsewhere in Europe. I mean, since I’ve been Prime Minister, there’s probably been at least one major plot every year of quite a significant nature that we have managed to intercept, stop and prevent. So the awareness of the scale of the challenge we face is absolutely there across government, across parliament, across the different political parties in the police and intelligence services.
I think there is an opportunity for countries in Europe, who perhaps up to now have been less affected, to work with them and make sure that we share knowledge and skills. Because when you say, have you -- the turning point is making sure your legislation is up to date, making sure your police and security services have the capabilities they need, making sure you've got programs that can channel extremists away and de-radicalize them, making sure that you're better integrating your communities. It means doing all of those things.
I very much agree with what Barack says about the importance of building strong and integrated societies. I made a speech about this at Munich a couple of years ago, saying that it had been a mistake in the past when some countries had treated different groups and different religious groups as sort of separate blocks rather than trying to build a strong, common home together. That is what we should be doing, and that is what our policy is directed to.
And, of course, you need to have -- as I believe we are -- a multiracial, multiethnic society of huge opportunity where in one generation or two generations you can come to our country and you can be in the Cabinet; you can serve at the highest level in the armed forces; you can sit on the bench as a judge. I’ve got in my Cabinet someone just like that, who in two generations his family has gone from arriving in Britain to sitting -- that's vitally important, as is combatting unemployment, combatting poverty.
But here’s I think the really determining point: You can have, tragically, people who have had all the advantages of integration, who have had all the economic opportunities that our countries can offer, who still get seduced by this poisonous, radical death cult of a narrative. We’ve seen in recent weeks people who have gone to fight in Syria and who may threaten us here back at home who have had every opportunity and every advantage in life in terms of integration. So let’s never lose sight of the real enemy here, which is the poisonous narrative that's perverting Islam. That is what we have to focus on, recognizing that of course we help ourselves in this struggle if we create societies of genuine opportunity, if we create genuine integration between our communities. But let’s never lose sight of the real -- the heart of the matter.
As for the issue on the techniques necessary for our intelligence services to help keep us safe, all I would say -- and the President and I had a good discussion about this earlier -- I don't think either of us are trying to annunciate some new doctrine. The doctrine that I approach this -- what?
Q (Off-mic.)
PRIME MINISTER CAMERON: Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I take a very simple approach to this, which is ever since we’ve been sending letters to each other or making telephone calls to each other, or mobile phone calls to each other, or indeed contacting each other on the Internet, it has been possible in both our countries, in extremis -- in my country by a signed warrant by the Home Secretary -- to potentially listen to a call between two terrorists to stop them in their activity. In your country, a judicial process. We’ve had our own -- we're not asking for backdoors. We believe in very clear front doors through legal processes that should help to keep our countries safe.
And my only argument is that as technology develops, as the world moves on, we should try to avoid the safe havens that can otherwise be created for terrorists to talk to each other. That's the goal that I think is so important, because I’m in no doubt, as having been Prime Minister for four and a half years, having seen how our intelligence services work, I know that some of these plots that get prevented, the lives that get saved, there is a very real connection between that and the capabilities that our intelligence services within the law use to defend our people.
I think the final question is from Robert Moore from ITN.
Q Thank you. Yes, Robert Moore with the British network, ITV News. Prime Minister, it’s clear there is a sort of security alert underway at the moment around the Jewish community in Britain. Can I just be clear, is that based on specific intelligence? Should people be concerned about doing their daily activities this weekend? And do you regard a terrorist attack on British soil as almost inevitable?
And, Mr. President, you say there is a dialogue underway with the big American tech companies, but do you share the Prime Minister’s view that the current threat environment is so severe that there does need to be a swing of the pendulum a little bit, maybe from privacy towards counterterrorism, and that this area of private encrypted communications is a very dangerous one, potentially in terms of facilitating dialogue between terrorist groups?
PRIME MINISTER CAMERON: On the issue of the threat that we face, as I said, the level has been set at severe. That is set by an independent expert organization, so people can have full confidence that these things aren’t ever done for any other motives than literally to look at the evidence that is there about terrorist threats and to set the level accordingly. When the level, as it is as the moment, is set at severe, that means that the authorities believe an attack is highly likely. If we believed it was imminent, then you would move to the next level, which is critical.
And we clearly do face a very real threat in our country. I mean, in recent months, as I was discussing with the President, we’ve had a number of potential attacks averted, for instance, on British police officers. So that is the threat picture. It's regularly reviewed, regularly updated, but it shouldn’t be moved unless there is real evidence to do so.
In terms of the protection to the Jewish community and indeed other communities, and indeed to police officers themselves, this is based on what has happened in France, on the whole picture that we see. And it is sensible, precautionary measures to make sure we do what we can to reassure those communities -- communities who are all too aware of the threat that they face. And this is a bigger challenge for us.
I think one of the most moving sights in Paris was to see so many people holding up signs saying “Je suis flic,” I'm a cop; “Je suis juif,” I’m a Jew. And I thought that was incredibly moving, that people wanted to stand together with one community that had been singled out, and singled out not because of anything other than the fact they were Jewish. So I think it's very important that we speak up and stand up for those communities and give them the protection that they deserve.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Obviously, in the wake of Paris, our attention is heightened. But I have to tell you, over the last six years threat streams are fairly constant. David deals with them every day, I deal with them every day. Our CT, our counterterrorism professionals deal with them every day. So I don’t think there’s a situation in which because things are so much more dangerous, the pendulum needs to swing. I think what we have to find is a consistent framework whereby our publics have confidence that their government can both protect them, but not abuse our capacity to operate in cyberspace. And because this is a whole new world, as David said, the laws that might have been designed for the traditional wiretap have to be updated.
How we do that needs to be debated, both here in the United States and in the U.K. I think we’re getting better at it. I think we’re striking the balance better. I think the companies here in the United States at least recognize that they have a responsibility to the public, but also want to make sure that they’re meeting their responsibilities to their customers that are using their products. And so the dialogue that we’re engaged in is designed to make sure that all of us feel confident that if there is an actual threat out there, our law enforcement and our intelligence officers can identify that threat and track that threat at the same time that our governments are not going around phishing into whatever text you might be sending on your smartphone. And I think that’s something that can be achieved.
There are going to be situations where there are hard cases. But for the most part, those who are worried about Big Brother sometimes obscure or deliberately ignore all the legal safeguards that have been put in place to assure people’s privacy and to make sure that government is not abusing these powers. And on the other hand, there are times where law enforcement and those of us whose job it is to protect the public aren’t thinking about those problems because we’re trying to track and prevent a particular terrorist event from happening. And it’s useful to have civil libertarians and others tapping us on the shoulder in the midst of this process and reminding us that there are values at stake as well. And I think that David and I welcome that kind of debate.
The technologies are evolving in ways that potentially make this trickier. If we get into a situation in which the technologies do not allow us at all to track somebody that we’re confident is a terrorist; if we find evidence of a terrorist plot somewhere in the Middle East that traces directly back to London or New York, we have specific information and we are confident that this individual or this network is about to activate a plot, and despite knowing that information, despite having a phone number, or despite having a social media address or email address -- that we can’t penetrate that, that’s a problem.
And so that’s the kind of dialogue that we’re having to have with these companies. Part of it is a legal issue, part of it is a technical question. But overall, I’m actually confident that we can balance these imperatives, and we shouldn’t feel as if because we’ve just seen such a horrific attack in Paris, that suddenly everything should be going by the wayside. Unfortunately, this has been a constant backdrop and I think will continue to be for any Prime Minister or President for some time to come, and we’ve got to make sure that we don’t overreact but that we remain vigilant and are serious about our responsibilities there.
Thank you very much, everybody. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Bryan Fischer accuses Obama of being a Muslim for supporting gay marriage
"Nobody can support and promote and celebrate homosexual behaviour who is a sincerely devoted follower of Christ," AFA Bryan Fischer has said. YouTube
Carey Lodge Published 22 January 2015
The head of conservative group American Family Association (AFA) has said that President Obama can't be a Christian because he supports gay marriage.
Speaking on his radio show last Friday, Bryan Fischer said: "I do not know what goes on inside Barack Obama's heart, but I do know that he is not a sincerely devoted follower of Jesus Christ. So, in my mind, that means he's not a Christian.
"Nobody can support and promote and celebrate homosexual behaviour who is a sincerely devoted follower of Christ. It's impossible, because Christ and his apostles made it very clear that's a sin."
Fischer went further still; suggesting that Obama is actually a follower of Islam."He walks like a Muslim. He talks like a Muslim. He sounds like a Muslim. He acts like a Muslim," he said.
"Jesus said 'by your fruits, you shall know them' and at some point people are going to start connecting those dots."
Fischer has condemned Obama's stance on gay rights in the past. Following the President's second inaugural address, in which he said that gay people should be "treated like anyone else under the law", Fischer responded: "Homosexuals do not have a constitutional right to engage in sodomy".
"It's absurd in the extreme, it's ridiculous, it's ludicrous for homosexuals to claim that they have some kind of constitutional right to engage in sexually deviant behaviour," the now 63-year-old added.
"All men are created equal, but nobody, nobody, nobody is born gay".
The AFA is often described as a hate group, and has campaigned extensively against gay marriage. An LGBT rights campaign in Mississippi last year prompted the organisation to release a statement condemning what they called "a war against the Bible in America".
Though his personal faith has been the subject of much scrutiny, Obama has expressly aligned himself with Christianity. In an interview with Christianity Today [ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html ] before his Presidential win in 2008, he said: "I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life," he continued. "But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful.
"I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals."
Fischer: You Can't Support Gay Rights 'And Call Yourself A Follower Of Christ'
Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 1/20/2015 12:59 pm
On Friday's radio broadcast [ http://vimeo.com/116999194 ], Bryan Fischer took a call from a listener who demanded to know why nobody on the American Family Radio network will declare that President Obama is not a Christian. We have no idea what programs this caller is listening to if he thinks that nobody on AFR is willing to say that Obama is not a Christian, because we hear the various hosts saying this exact thing all the time.
Fischer, of course, was more than happy to acquiesce to the caller's demand and declare that Obama "is not a sincerely devoted follower of Jesus Christ so, in my mind, that means he's not a Christian."
And Fischer knows this, he said, because "nobody can support and promote and celebrate homosexual behavior who is a sincerely devoted follower of Christ. It's impossible, because Christ and his apostles made it very clear that that's a sin. You can't celebrate that, can't promote that and call yourself a follower of Christ."
While Fischer was, for some reason, unwilling to declare that Obama is actually a Muslim, he nonetheless insisted that everyone in Washington, D.C. knows that he is.
"He walks like a Muslim. He talks like a Muslim. He sounds like a Muslim. He acts like a Muslim," Fischer said [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkNxixPHQc (below, as embedded; with comments)]. "Jesus said 'by your fruits, you shall know them' and at some point people are going to start connecting those dots":
Fischer, whose opposition to the LGBT community is well-established [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/16/bryan-fischer-gay-population-_n_5592036.html ], told listeners in a Jan. 16 edition of his "Focal Point" radio show, "I do not know what goes on inside Barack Obama's heart, but I do know that he is not a sincerely devoted follower of Jesus Christ. So, in my mind, that means he's not a Christian."
He went on to note, "Nobody can support and promote and celebrate homosexual behavior who is a sincerely devoted follower of Christ. It's impossible."
"If there is any lesson about homosexuality to be taken from this tragedy, it is this. Homosexual behavior kills, and the sooner we alert young men to this the more compassionate we will be and they longer they will live," he added.
"It’s absurd in the extreme, it’s ridiculous, it’s ludicrous for homosexuals to claim that they have some kind of constitutional right to engage in sexually deviant behavior," he said at the time.
WATCH: Protesters surround conference put on by Texas Muslims: ‘You are not Americans’
Protester at "Stand With the Prophet Against Terror and Hate" conference in Garland, Texas. (NBC-DFW)
Tom Boggioni 18 Jan 2015 at 16:41 ET
Protesters, upset that a Muslim group was holding a conference at a Texas conference center owned by the local school district, showed up last night waving flags and signs telling attendees, “Go home and take Obama with you.”
Holding signs saying “You are not Americans. Don’t fly our flag,” protesters complained about the Garland Independent School District allowing the group to use the facility.
“We pay our taxes to that school, and I don’t want them here,” one woman, Lavona Martindale said.
Another protester, identified as Greg McKinley, said, “We’re here to stand up for the American way of life from a faction of people who are trying to destroy us.”
McKinley added, “If they want to live their life like the middle east, they can go back to the middle east.”
“I want for people to see that we are kind peaceful people,” explained conference attendee Page Spence. “We’re not here to fight, we’re not here to argue. We’re just here to show that we’re Americans too.”
A young woman, part of a group of counter-protesters, explained, “People are here to stand up with the Prophet against hate and intolerance.”
Media denied access to attend 'Stand with the Prophet' conference
John Griffing Published: 01/18/2015 at 9:56 AM
GARLAND, Texas – Hundreds of protesters were out in force Saturday at a Muslim gathering blacked out to the media called “Stand with the Prophet” whose keynote speaker, an imam from Brooklyn, has been linked as an unindicted co-conspirator with the deadly 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The imam, Siraj Wahhaj, once remarked, “It is my duty and our duty as Muslims to replace the U.S. Constitution with the Quran.”
President Obama formally invited Wahhaj to give a “juma,” or invocation, at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, but his invitation was withdrawn after public criticism of the decision became widespread.
Hundreds or more protesters attended the rally and members of the media were denied open access to event attendees, including WND and the Blaze.
Among the protesters was commentator and activist Pamela Geller, author of “The Islamization of America [ http://superstore.wnd.com/books/Pamela-Geller ],” who said she was there to expose “supremacist” control of the event, attacking what she believes was a concerted effort to keep not just press from the event but ticketed non-Muslims as well.
“A number of people who were going were refunded their money late last night and told they were sold out,” she said. “The people that were going had English-sounding names. So, did they purge people they didn’t think were Muslims? Isn’t that supremacist?”
Attendees were brought in through a barricade in cars, and only two attendees were escorted out of the Culwell Center (where the rally was being held) to talk with available press. These two persons were accompanied by an event cameraman, who followed them through crowds of protesters. One of them compared the peaceful protesters outside the event to ISIS.
“The event today is to honor our prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and also to speak out today about the fact that Muslims are not violent people,” said spokeswoman Page Spence. “We are peaceful people. We want nothing more than to be part of this culture and community. We are level-headed peaceable people who are not trying to convert every single person to our religion.”
Spence closed her remarks by comparing protestors to ISIS: “The same people who are protesting are misrepresenting the Quran the way ISIS does.”
Police instructed WND and other press representatives that they were not able to interview event attendees except behind the barricade, which actually encircled the parking area, so as to prevent any real interaction with attendees. Press requests to interview attendees with police escorts were denied.
Randy Dunning, a former Garland City Council member, told WND: “People were brought in cars, but they were cordoned off so that the media could not actually get at or talk to the attendees of the conference. In city government, we have to be totally accessible to members of the media, the public is allowed into our meetings, and everything is done in a very transparent fashion.”
When asked about the speaker, Siraj Wihhaj, and his reputation as advocating the subjection of American freedoms and government to Islamic religious codes, Dunning remarked, “Our freedom is not a suicide pact. We can’t create a situation where we have one last opportunity to use our freedom and then use that to invoke some tyranny. … But unfortunately, there are movements in the world, and I believe radical Islam is one of them, that believe in one man, one vote, one time.”
On the idea that Islam doesn’t have a “violence problem” but rather a “messaging problem,” Dunning said he was “mystified by that idea.” Dunning explained that he would want to know “why are the kidnappings and the killings happening in the first place and then we can open up and start having dialogue.”
Protesters included Jeff Higgins, who said he was concerned “Islam was gaining a foothold in Garland.”
“This is my backyard,” he explained. “We live under the American law, not Shariah law and I know that ultimately, that’s their goal, is to bring Shariah law to America. This is the first kind of, in-your-face attempt to do that. I know they’ll say this is about peace, but peace means submission to them.”
Vietnam veteran Tim Lee said he is worried about his children and the future of America.
“America was built upon God and the word of God, not Allah, not Muhammad.” He said. “The Muslim religion is a religion of death. They kill people, innocent people, little children, chop heads off, and we are going to bring this to Garland, Texas?”
WATCH: Patriots Stand For America and INVADE Texas Muslim Rally For Islam
by Amanda Shea / on January 18, 2015 at 6:06 pm
Protesters showed up in droves Saturday in Texas to the poorly timed “Stand with the Prophet” [ http://madworldnews.com/stand-prophet-rally/ ] rally, organized to eradicate “Islamophobes in America” and support Muhammad to defend his person and his message. However, the majority of the attendees were not who conference organizers had hoped for. Instead, large numbers of patriot protesters in support of free speech turned out to take a stand for America and our First Amendment.
The counter-effort to kick Islam out of America was organized by author and activist Pamela Geller, who has dedicated her career to informing Americans about the atrocities of the religion and does her part to stop the Islamazation of our country. Geller encouraged followers of her popular Facebook page [ https://www.facebook.com/pamelageller ] to show up with signs and their voices for what she dubbed the #FreeSpeechRally. Her request was reportedly heard and followed by nearly one thousand followers who joined Geller this weekend at the Garland Independent School District convention center.
Pamela Geller at the rally, Saturday
Leading up to the Saturday rally, Geller announced her intent of the demonstration was to “stand for the freedom of speech against all attempts, violent and stealthy, to impose Islamic blasphemy laws on Americans and stifle criticism of Muhammad and Islam,” especially in light of the recent terrorist attack by Muslim extremists in Paris just 10 days ago, that left 16 dead, for having mocked Muhammad in cartoons.
In an interesting twist to the story, Geller’s website was mysterious hacked and taken offline the night before her counter protest took place. Thankfully, Geller’s Facebook page seems to still be in operation and her message can still be published there.
Bravo to the efforts of these concerned citizens who showed up to fight back for our country against the infiltration of Islam that’s trying its best to snake its way into American life and disassemble the rights that make our nation great.
Dateline: Garland/TEXAS…prolific writer, cogent speaker, tireless and brave Totalitarian-fighter, Robert Spencer was in Garland, Texas on January 17th, 2015 to stand against the Big Lie of “Islamophobia.” Film & sound quality leave a lot to be desired, but I believe you’ll get the drift. Check out his website and any of his books for an in-depth study of the world’s most dangerous ideology, the so-called “religion” of Islam.
So of course they received a warm and grateful reception from the locals, who were OUTRAGED! that actual Muslims were in their U.S. American town, holding an event in their U.S. American public school, getting their Muslim all over the seats.
One charming fellow explained that he was protesting outside the school for, that’s right, America!
“We’re here to stand up for the American way of life,” he said, “from a faction of people that are trying to destroy it.” Sure, those people he’s protesting are there for pretty much the same reason — to condemn that faction trying to destroy the American way of life. So you’d think maybe he’d be grateful for the group’s presence. Or not. “If they want to live their life like the Middle East,” he continued, “they can go back to the Middle East.” Guess Texas doesn’t abide by the Southern Hospitality rule.
This one real nice lady holding a “God Bless America” sign doesn’t either. “We pay our taxes to that school,” she said, “and I don’t want them here.” That’s nice. Godly too. Probably what Jesus would say.
Damn Muslims, never condemning acts of violence, except when they’re condemning acts of violence, and then they should just shut up and go back to somewhere that isn’t America. Because that’s the American way.
Fox News Becomes the Unwilling Star of a French TV Satire
Yann Barthès, the host of “Le Petit Journal,” a mock news show that satirized Fox News for its reporting on “no-go zones” for non-Muslims. Credit Capucine Granier-Deferre for The New York Times
One episode of “Le Petit Journal” featured fake Fox News correspondents screaming about the dangers to be found on the streets and in the kebab shops of Paris. Credit Canal+
The show, “Le Petit Journal,” is a French version of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” — irreverent and reliant on mock correspondents who showcase the foibles of the high and mighty.
Usually “Le Petit Journal” reserves its venom for French politicians and the local news media. But in the days after the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 17 dead, including 12 people at the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, it set its sights on a trans-Atlantic target, America’s Fox News, after the channel claimed that swaths of England and France were ruled according to Shariah [ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sharia_islamic_law/index.html ].
“They did this on a weekend when all France and Paris was in a state of shock,” said Yann Barthès, 40, who has hosted the show since it began in 2004. “I cried.” But, he said, it was also “irritating, so we chose humor to campaign against Fox News.”
“It’s more effective than being upset,” Mr. Barthès said.
It is hard to say whether the apologies were the result of “Le Petit Journal’s” mockery; a campaign instigated by the program to inundate Fox News with emails; or Fox News’s realization that its reporting, which reinforced a popular conservative warning about a purported spread of Shariah in the Western world, was wrong.
In a statement Monday, Michael Clemente, an executive vice president at the network, said: “We issued a correction and apology across several platforms, so that any viewers who may have tuned in to the earlier programming would have a chance to hear our corrected reporting.”
Before the apologies, Mr. Barthès and his “correspondents” hounded Fox News, which is not widely available on French television. Mr. Barthès’s show, which has about 3 million viewers and follows in the satirical tradition of Charlie Hebdo, but in a much gentler style, showed generous portions of the Fox clips where the no-go zones were discussed, providing French translations.
two of the show’s correspondents pretended to be American journalists venturing into supposedly forbidden areas and, in slapstick fashion, cowering by a Turkish kebab shop and a couscous restaurant and falling to the ground at the sound of a jackhammer.
Representatives of “Le Petit Journal” also showed up at the New York offices of Fox News on Thursday to seek comment, Mr. Barthès said, until security turned them away.
Mr. Barthès said that his show was unable to obtain any response from Fox News, so he turned to his viewers for help, giving the email addresses of Fox executives. When the show posted the information on Twitter, he said, they had 7,000 retweets in five minutes.
The theme was picked up by others on social media who expressed mock horror at the “danger” in Paris. A food guide site mapped the best places to dine in the so-called lawless zones, including a bakery where the owner had won awards for baguettes.
The commotion began this month when Steve Emerson, identified as a terrorism expert, told the host Sean Hannity, “there are no-go zones” throughout Europe ruled by Muslims. He then elaborated in an interview with another Fox host, Jeanine Pirro, claiming that the entire city of Birmingham, England, was a place where “non-Muslims simply don’t go in.”
On the day the Charlie Hebdo attackers were killed, Nolan Peterson, who on his website describes himself as a freelance writer and a combat veteran, went on Fox News on and identified what he called 741 Muslim-dominated “no-go zones” around France and said the areas reminded him of his time in Afghanistan and Iraq. Even the British prime minister, David Cameron, reacted to the Birmingham claim, saying, “When I heard this, frankly, I choked on my porridge.” He called Mr. Emerson “an idiot.”
Muslim leaders say that Muslims are often the victims of attacks, especially since the Paris killings, which were carried out by Islamic militants. The head of a French organization known as the National Observatory Against Islamophobia called for protection by the state, saying there had been “116 anti-Muslim acts, including 28 incidents at mosques and 88 threats,” in the two days after the Jan. 7 shooting.
Fox was abject in its apologies, as was Mr. Emerson. Julie Banderas, a Fox anchor, said that “over the course of this last week, we have made some regrettable errors on air regarding the Muslim population in Europe, particularly with regard to England and France.”
“Now this applies especially to discussions of so-called no-go zones, areas where non-Muslims allegedly are not allowed in and police supposedly won’t go,” Ms. Banderas continued. “To be clear, there is no formal designation of these zones in either country and no credible information to support the assertion that there are specific areas in these countries that exclude individuals based solely on their religion.”
Apologies were issued on-air three other times.
Carly Shanahan, a spokeswoman for Fox News in New York, said the communications office never received a query by telephone or email from “Le Petit Journal.” Mr. Barthès said the show had made repeated attempts, including his own emails.
Mr. Barthès said he was not sure whether his show could take credit for the apologies. “The important thing is that we really had fun,” Mr. Barthès said. “It’s important for the French audience to know about this. They don’t really know Fox News, and they think it’s an enormous channel, very American, with announcers with big voices and blonde women who look like Barbies.”
Robert Mackey contributed reporting from New York.
CNN correspondent Max Foster presses Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to explain his comment about 'no-go zones' in London neighborhoods where non-Muslims do not feel welcome.
Jindal: Muslims Form 'No-Go Zones' Outside Civic Control Jan 19, 2015 [...] Jindal's parents immigrated to the United States from India. As a young man, Jindal converted from Hinduism to Catholicism. [...] "The bigger point is that radical Islam is a threat to our way of life," Jindal said. Asked if he regretted talking about "no-go zones," Jindal replied: "Not at all." Jindal's advisers see his comments on his trip abroad as much-needed truth-telling about the radical corners of Islam. Such rhetoric may help his standing among evangelical pastors, who have sway over many voters in early nominating states in the presidential race such as Iowa and South Carolina. Jindal is set to join pastors and their faithful from across the nation at Louisiana State University this weekend in a day of prayer. [...] http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/jindal-muslim-establish-zones-civic-control-28331597 [with comments]
Bobby Jindal Invites You To 'Turn Back To God' And Attend His Prayer Rally 'The Response' Dec 8, 2014
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal decries so-called "no-go zones" in Europe and says immigrants need to assimilate into their new country.
Bobby Jindal slams 'no-go zones,' pushes 'assimilation' January 21, 2015 (CNN)—Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday stood by his criticism of so-called "no-go" zones in Europe, where sovereign nations allegedly cede authority to Muslim immigrants, a controversial idea that many critics say is overblown. And the potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate decried what he called immigrants' insistence on "non-assimilation, the fact that "you've got people who want to come to our country but not adopt our values," which he called "dangerous." Jindal has the reputation of policy wonk among Republicans and boldly told GOP officials during a 2013 address to the Republican National Committee that they "must stop being the stupid party" and needed to "stop insulting the intelligence of voters." [...] http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/politics/jindal-no-go-zones-london/ [with embedded video reports]
Alex Wagner is joined by Arsalan Iftikhar to discuss the backlash against Fox News for perpetuating claims that Muslim "no-go zones" exist in European countries - and although Fox has since apologized, GOP presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal [has now jumped on the bandwagon.]
MSNBC shuns guest who made racially charged remark about Jindal January 20, 2015 MSNBC is distancing itself from a guest who asserted on Monday that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal "might be trying to scrub some of the brown off his skin." Arsalan Iftikhar, a human rights attorney and commentator, made the racially-tinged remark on MSNBC's "Now with Alex Wagner." It immediately prompted criticism. An MSNBC spokeswoman told CNN on Tuesday morning that Iftikhar won't be appearing on the channel again. "We found this guest's comments offensive and unacceptable, and we don't plan on inviting him back," the spokeswoman said. Iftikhar didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. But on Monday night, he told CNN, "I will apologize to Bobby Jindal when he apologizes to seven million American Muslims for advancing the debunked 'Muslim no-go zones' myth." Jindal did no such thing on Tuesday. Instead, he faulted MSNBC for giving Iftikhar a platform in the first place. The governor compared Iftikhar's criticism to liberal filmmaker Michael Moore's recent assertion that "snipers aren't heroes." "It's embarrassing for MSNBC to give voice to such shallow foolishness," Jindal told CNN in a statement. "Much like Michael Moore denigrating our military servicemen, these comments deserve no comment." He continued: "I will not be silenced. Radical Islam must be stopped and we must stop pretending. It is time for the Western world to face reality. These are not cultural differences, this is the difference between right and wrong. It is wrong to treat women as second class citizens and it is wrong to shoot civilian teenagers in the head for watching soccer on TV. Period." [...] http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/20/media/msnbc-arsalan-iftikhar-bobby-jindal/index.html [with comments]
When a “Washington Watch” caller on Friday told Perkins about no-go zones where Muslims are “doing military-type training in Virginia and New York,” which he “heard on Bryan Fischer[’s]” radio show, Perkins said that he had also heard rumors corroborating such allegations.
In France, Perkins said, “they have like 700 no-go zones where authorities have allowed Sharia law to be imposed. There are some areas in this country that in effect that has occurred. Dearborn, Michigan, is one of the places, there are some places in Minneapolis, I don’t think it’s as clear cut as what we’ve seen in Europe, it’s been more by the effect that that’s occurred.”
By Jay Parini Updated 12:48 PM ET, Tue January 20, 2015
Editor's Note: Jay Parini [ http://jayparini.com/ ], a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College in Vermont. He has just published "Jesus: The Human Face of God [ http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-The-Human-Face-Icons/dp/054402589X ]," a biography of Jesus. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN)—Gov. Bobby Jindal has been speaking in London recently, and he startled quite a number of people in the House of Commons when he talked about "no-go zones" in Britain, places where Sharia law trumps British law.
He announced confidently [ http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/politics/jindal-no-go-zones-london/ ] to a group that included a number of British parliamentarians that the police in the United Kingdom don't dare to tread in these zones, where Sharia law is widely used. "Nonassimilationist Muslims establish enclaves and carry out as much of Sharia law as they can without regard for the laws of the democratic countries which provided them a new home," he said.
This is the sort of ill-informed fantasy that plays well in certain right-wing circles. This probably works for Jindal back home in Louisiana.
Oddly enough, Fox News got into trouble recently [ http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/18/media/fox-apologizes-for-anti-islam-comments/index.html ] on the "no-go zone" nonsense, too, as when Steve Emerson, a so-called terrorism expert, explained to the American masses that Birmingham, a major British urban center, was populated entirely by Muslims and that "non-Muslims just simply don't go in."
Needless to say, there are places where a lot of Muslim immigrants live in close proximity, and outsiders might feel uncomfortable walking around. The same would be true for parts of America where you might feel uncomfortable walking around if you were, say, black or white -- it would depend on the neighborhood. (An African American colleague of mine recently told me that her sons, in their 20s, often feel threatened in white neighborhoods, and I don't doubt the truth of this.)
It's not unusual for socio-economic, even racial or ethnic, groups to cluster. My own grandparents came to the United States as immigrants in 1912, and they lived for some years in Italian ghettos in New York. Most immigrant groups start in ghettos somewhere, and many of them never get out.
But the question of Sharia law is interesting. Unofficial Sharia courts will be found in Europe, here and there. But these arbitration bodies don't trump the legal system of the country where they occur. An article in The Economist noted, in fact, that there have long been rabbinical courts in Jewish neighborhoods in Britain -- not a dissimilar sort of thing.
There are even places in the United States where Christians can work out their disputes in a kind of extrajudicial manner. Family law, for instance, is often the issue here, and there are cultural values that play into [ http://www.economist.com/node/17249634 ] the need for this kind of culturally inflected arbitration. That in some Muslim neighborhoods there might be an accommodation to Sharia law seems not surprising, and this doesn't mean that sooner or later we can expect adulterous women to be stoned to death in Birmingham or thieves to have their hands lopped off in East London.
Blasphemy will not soon lead to the gas chamber in Europe -- indeed, capital punishment is not legal in any European country (or any civilized country, for that matter, except for the USA).
Getting back to Gov. Jindal, one has to wonder what prompted his ignorant outburst. Was this a lame attempt to play into the broad public fears of radical Islam that have arisen in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings? If so, that's not good enough for a politician with any shred of integrity.
In my view, Jindal immediately disqualified himself from ever holding a national political office by making such a bizarre statement, though it hasn't stopped any number of American politicians with bizarre notions from winning major national offices in the past. Such behavior does, however, embarrass this country in the court of world opinion.
The British, and most European countries, have struggled to accommodate Muslim immigrants, but they have nevertheless welcomed them in large numbers. For the most part, these immigrants have behaved well, despite the fear of their traditions and beliefs that leads to crazy exaggerations by politicians such as Jindal.
There have been isolated and gruesome incidents of terrorism -- the murder of a British soldier, Lee Rigby, in the spring of 2013 comes to mind, or the vicious attacks in London of July 7, 2005, which left 52 dead and over 700 injured. The British have had to confront terror, and they've done so without vilifying large parts of their own population. Indeed, they've been forced to come to terms with what I would call British Exceptionalism -- the old imperial feeling that nobody who is not British can possibly lead a civilized way of life. (As Americans, of course, we struggle with our own feelings of exceptionalism, preferring to think that our ways are always the best and truest ways.)
Jindal was apparently on a 10-day "fact finding" mission [ http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/19/politics/jindal-no-go-zones-london/ ] designed to bolster his credentials for a possible run at the White House in 2016. He's not as stupid as he sounds, in fact. (Indeed, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, where he must have learned something.)
Let's hope that he is a quick study, and that he learns how not to say idiotic things in public that cause a good deal of offense, if not harm, to unsuspecting people, fueling hatred rather than coming to terms.
Geller, who has been warning of European “no-go zones” for years [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/how-no-go-zones-myth-traveled-anti-muslim-fringe-mouths-gop-politicians ], acknowledged that Emerson’s statement about Birmingham was wrong but was outraged that Fox had taken its retractions even further, agreeing with Kaufman that their opponents are winning “the propaganda war” and that Fox’s apologies were “egregious,” the result of a liberal ideology in which "Islam trumps gay."
“Look, any time anybody approaches this subject — you know and I know because we have suffered it for a decade — we are demonized, smeared and libeled,” she said.
“To be clear, there are absolutely no-go zones,” she said. “In parts of London, there are absolutely religious police that beat and wound and seriously attack anyone that doesn’t dress according to Islam.”
But Geller smelled a double-standard in the media: “Here we have the media, which is so pro-gay-issue it’s blinding, that you can’t turn on a television show or series or movie where there’s not some advancement of the gay agenda…and yet, Islam trumps gay.”
Kaufman, for her part, cited the killing of 13 people by ISIS in Syria [ http://nypost.com/2015/01/19/isis-executes-13-teens-for-watching-soccer/ ] as evidence of the existence of these no-go zones in Europe: “They killed 13 teenagers for watching a soccer match in Syria, obviously that’s a no-go zone.”
Invitation to tour non-existent Sharia Law 'no go zones' in Minneapolis
Rep. Keith Ellison @keithellison @tperkins: While there aren't any "Sharia no-go zones" in Minneapolis, I invite you to come and see for yourself. 1:43 PM - 21 Jan 2015 [ https://twitter.com/keithellison/status/558017030423449602 [with comments]
Posted: Jan 22, 2015 2:39 PM CST Updated: Jan 22, 2015 2:42 PM CST
MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison has sent an invitation to ultraconservative lobbyist Tony Perkins to visit Minneapolis, to debunk his claims the city is one of a few places in America with “no-go zones” where Sharia Law trumps state and federal laws.
Perkins is president of the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group Family Research Council -- a “Christian public policy ministry” with a pro-life and anti same-sex marriage agenda.
“There are some areas in this country that, in effect, that has occurred,” Perkins said, referring to the concept of "no-go zones," in an interview with [sic - as (first) reported by] watchdog website Right Wing Watch [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/tony-perkins-dearborn-and-neighborhoods-minneapolis-are-muslim-no-go-zones (above)]. “Dearborn, Michigan is one of the places. There are some places in Minneapolis. I don't think it's as clear cut as what we've seen in Europe."
Rep. Ellison, whose 5th District covers Minneapolis, responded with an assurance that “this is not true,” and invited Perkins to visit the city and see that Minneapolis is “an inclusive and thriving city completely under the jurisdiction of local, state and federal laws.” Ellison offered to arrange meetings with local and federal law enforcement and community leaders to help Perkins take “an important step toward interfaith understanding.”
Bobby Jindal Warns of U.S. ‘No-Go Zones’ if We Don’t Force Muslims to Assimilate
by Matt Wilstein | 5:46 pm, January 21st, 2015
Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) doubled down on his controversial comments about so-called “no-go zones [ http://www.mediaite.com/print/gov-jindal-still-pushing-discredited-claim-of-no-go-zones/ ]” for non-Muslims in a big way during a Fox News interview Wednesday afternoon. He even suggested that if the U.S. doesn’t take the threat of radical Islam seriously, we could have our own “no-go zones” in the near future.
“Did you know the term ‘no-go zones’ was wrong?” Fox’s Neil Cavuto [ http://www.mediaite.com/power-grid/person/?q=Neil+Cavuto ] asked. “We reported the same and we were wrong. We botched it. We apologized for it,” he said of Fox’s series of apologies for similar statements [ ]. “You are not, I take it?”
Jindal said that while Fox apologized for calling “an entire city” a “no-go zone,” that he was merely referring to certain neighborhoods in those cities. “You can call them whatever term you want, but absolutely there are neighborhoods, we have communities of people that don’t want to integrate or assimilate,” he said.
As an Indian-American, Jindal argued that we have to start removing the hyphens from our identities here in the United States. “If people don’t want to come here to integrate and assimilate, what they’re really trying to do is set up their own culture, their own communities,” he said. “What they’re really trying to do is overturn our culture. We need to recognize that threat.”
“If we don’t, we’re going see a replica of what’s happening in Europe in America,” the governor continued. “We’re going to see our own no-go zones if we’re not serious about insisting on assimilation and integration.”
Asked once more if he wanted to take any comments back, Jindal replied, “Absolutely not.”
Nonetheless, Jindal made clear that as president, he plans to “hunt down, exterminate and kill” Islamists, which he, unlike President Obama, will apparently do by ignoring political correctness.
“He can’t seem to find the words ‘terrorism’ or ‘radical Islam’ in his vocabulary; he continues to think of this as a criminal act, that is not what this is,” Jindal said. “Other people want to tiptoe around the truth, they can do that if they want but I’m not going to do it anymore. We cannot be intimidated by the left or all of these liberals who don’t want us to speak about this. The reality is, we can pretend like it’s not happening, we can pretend that it’s a good thing to kill journalists, to kill teenagers for watching soccer, to kill over 150 schoolchildren, to treat women as second class citizens, but it’s not.”
Jindal said extreme Islam “sees weakness in the West and is trying to attack that weakness. According to Jindal, the radicals “use our freedoms to undermine our freedoms,” and liberals are letting them do it with political correctness and multiculturalism: “that’s not immigration, that’s invasion.”
Profiles the Louisiana governor and his wife, Supriya. Looks at Jindahl’s faith, rise to political fame, and more.
The Most and Least Bible-Minded Cities in America [...] The rankings are calculated using data collected by Barna Group. Each city’s Bible mindedness is determined by analyzing survey respondents’ Bible reading habits and beliefs about the Bible. The most Bible-minded respondents said they had read the Bible in the past seven days and believe strongly in the accuracy of the Bible. Nationally, only 27 percent of the population was considered Bible minded. [...] http://www.americanbible.org/features/americas-most-bible-minded-cities
Priced out of New York, American Bible Society decamps to Philadelphia Roy Peterson, president and CEO of American Bible Society. January 28, 2015 (RNS) After almost two centuries in New York City, the nonprofit American Bible Society [ http://www.americanbible.org/ ] is moving its headquarters to Philadelphia. “New York has become so extraordinarily expensive that nonprofit staff cannot afford to live in proximity to headquarters,” said Roy Peterson, the society’s president and CEO. “We don’t have a cohesive, synergistic global headquarters staff right now. And that’s why we wanted to find a city that was diverse, rich with culture and churches and language, but yet affordable.” Some staffers have long commutes to the current headquarters on prime real estate near Lincoln Center. Others work from a rental location in Valley Forge, Pa., that will be closed when the new headquarters a block from the Liberty Bell opens around June. Peterson said a small staff will remain in New York. The Museum of Biblical Art [ http://www.mobia.org/ ], which is independent but affiliated with the ABS, will also remain in New York. The new headquarters, 401 Market St., will be housed on the eighth and ninth floors of a building shared with Wells Fargo & Co. under a 25-year leasing agreement that can be renewed for another 25. The Bible society also has proposed a ground-level “Bible Discovery Center.” ABS leaders realized they were sitting on a valuable asset in midtown Manhattan; the current location, a 12-story building at 1865 Broadway, is for sale [ http://www.religionnews.com/2014/03/25/american-bible-society-sell-12-story-nyc-building/ ] and is estimated to be worth about $300 million [ http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/03/25/bible-publisher-aims-for-300m-pay-day-with-sale-of-columbus-circle-hq/ ]. Peterson, whose society supports Bible reading and seeks to have the sacred text translated into all the world’s languages, said he expects a staff of more than 200 will occupy the Philadelphia building within two years. [...] http://www.religionnews.com/2015/01/28/priced-new-york-american-bible-society-decamps-philadelphia/ [emphasis added; with comments, including "Next up, the American Flat Earth Society is moving it’s headquarters to a place more centrally located on the flat plane of the earth........"]
Bobby Jindal's Extremist Prayer Rally Brings Together Prophets, Bigots And Far-Right Activists
Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 1/22/2015 1:00 pm
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/bobby-jindal ], who only a few years ago was lamenting the GOP’s decline into “the stupid party [ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83743.html ],” is now staking out a position on the party’s far-right fringe in preparation for an expected run for the presidency [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/topics/election-2016 ]. Jindal has reached out to the party’s increasingly extreme base by undermining the teaching of evolution in public schools; promoting wild conspiracy theories about Common Core, an effort to adjust school standards that he supported before it became the target of the Tea Party’s fury; and hyping the purported persecution of Christians in America, specifically citing the plight of Christians with reality television shows.
The group’s chief spokesman, Bryan Fischer [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/bryan-fischer ], has won nationwide notoriety for his remarks about homosexuality and religious and ethnic minorities, which he shares on his daily program on the AFA’s radio network. Fischer has:
He warned that America may be next, unless his upcoming prayer rally [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindals-extremist-prayer-rally-brings-together-prophets-bigots-and-far-right-activists (above)] ushers in a spiritual revival: “Folks, if we don’t get serious, that’s what is going to be in our future. One of the reasons we’re doing something called The Response this Saturday at LSU where we are calling Christians together in prayer, just to pray to turn back to God for a spiritual revival in our country. When you talk in those terms, the media, the academic left, they go apoplectic. Just like they will call you a racist for calling out radical Islam, they will attack you for talking about a spiritual revival. That is what our country needs.”
BOBBY JINDAL, governor of the Great State of Louisiana, on his life, conversion to the Catholic faith and the important issues he faces in Louisiana including school choice, the regulation of the abortion industry and health care...and whether or not he has aspirations to run for president in 2016.
Perkins asked Gaffney if President Obama is aiding terrorists because he won’t blame terrorist attacks on Islam, prompting Gaffney to say that Obama is a Sharia law proponent who sounds just like Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the leaders of Boko Haram.
“When the president says at the United Nations, ‘The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam,’ we could’ve found those words coming out of the mouths of Osama bin Laden, or Mullah Omar of the Taliban, or the leaders of Boko Haram or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of Islamic State,” Gaffney said. “This is the doctrine of Sharia and its blasphemy codes. So it not only gives people latitude to say, ‘The president is saying we mustn’t exercise our freedom of speech or maybe we should give it up altogether lest it offend these folks.’ It is also, and this is really in a way much worse, emboldening our enemies, who when they see this behavior, they think we’re submitting to them.”
Here in the United States, countless publications provoke offense. Like me, the majority of Americans are Christian, and yet we do not ban blasphemy against our most sacred beliefs. As President of our country and Commander-in-Chief of our military, I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day and I will always defend their right to do so.
Americans have fought and died around the globe to protect the right of all people to express their views, even views that we profoundly disagree with. We do not do so because we support hateful speech, but because our founders understood that without such protections, the capacity of each individual to express their own views and practice their own faith may be threatened. We do so because in a diverse society, efforts to restrict speech can quickly become a tool to silence critics and oppress minorities.
We do so because given the power of faith in our lives, and the passion that religious differences can inflame, the strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression; it is more speech -- the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect.
Gaffney also conveniently left out the sentence immediately following the president’s remark on “those who slander the prophet of Islam”: “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. But to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see in the images of Jesus Christ that are desecrated, or churches that are destroyed, or the Holocaust that is denied.”
Gaffney also said that criticizing Jindal’s remarks amounts to enforcing Sharia blasphemy laws, decrying the “people who are trying to silence him, effectively to try to put Sharia blasphemy restrictions on his speech and his political prospects.”
Questionable characters to join Jindal for prayer rally
The Rachel Maddow Show 01/23/15
Rachel Maddow reports on some of the questionable characters associated with a Louisiana prayer rally headlined by Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, including televangelist Cindy Jacobs and the anti-gay American Family Association.
Rachel Maddow relays a last-minute statement from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal regarding the weekend prayer rally he is headlining with religious extremists this weekend.
Christians have been tasked to take control of "the sphere of influence around civil government," Mills said, because all areas of culture "belong to God." Jindal's prayer rally, Mill's declared, was a key component of their effort "to reclaim territory that rightfully belongs to God" because "these seven spheres of influence are under enemy occupation right now."
After revealing that last month, he and other prayer rally organizers knelt in prayer with Jindal "asking God to break unholy alliances" over these areas of society, Mills led the gathering in a similar prayer.
"Father, we cry out for the seven mountains of influence today," Mills said [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbofEu2lFrg (below, as embedded; with comments)]. "We pray that you will give us government, arts and entertainment, education, the church, and the family. That our ambassadors would occupy the high places. That you would bring us into a place of understanding that they need to be occupied by the body of Christ because it's rightfully His":
After recounting his journey to faith in Jesus, Jindal closed out his remarks by declaring that no amount of laws or elections of godly politicians can save America because only wholesale spiritual revival can restore this nation.
"We can't just elect a candidate to fix what ails our country," he said [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EciYeZt6Xg (below, as embedded; with comments)]. "He can't just pass a law and fix what ails our country. We need a spiritual revival to fix what ails our country ... We are a united people. We are God's children. We are precious because we are made in His image. God has created us with a God-shaped void in our hearts and we frustrate Him by filling it with things and material goods and substances. Now it is time for us on bended knee to turn back to God in humble prayer. To repent and ask for His blessing because He is a faithful God. He desires our prayers. I believe in the power of prayer and I pray that we will see a spark lighted here, we will see fifty responses in every state in these United States and we will see a spiritual revival ignite across these United States of America":
Fischer: You'll Never 'Find A More Directly Demonic Energy Than When You Deal With The Homosexual Agenda'
Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 1/26/2015 4:12 pm
As Peter noted in the analysis piece [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/real-problems-bobby-jindal-and-his-prayer-rally ] he wrote this morning about Gov. Bobby Jindal's recent prayer rally, "one of the biggest problems with treating politics as spiritual warfare is that you turn your political opponents into spiritual enemies. People who disagree with you on public policy issues are not just wrong, but evil, or even satanic."
Fischer — whose employer, the American Family Association [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/organizations/american-family-association ], sponsored Jindal’s rally — took a call from a listener who attended the prayer rally and who asserted that "the Devil is mad [about Jindal's rally] and that's why he sent those protesters there" and Fischer, of course, agreed.
"I don't think you will ever find a more directly demonic energy than when you deal with the homosexual agenda," he said [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GWfDdctyOo (next below, as embedded; with comments)]. "They're vicious. They are mean. You literally are staring into virtually the unvarnished energy of Satan himself when you come up against the forces that are pushing the homosexual agenda forward":
Stephanopoulos Presses Jindal on ‘Our God Wins’ Comment
by Evan McMurry | 11:52 am, January 25th, 2015
Louisiana Governor and potential 2016 candidate Bobby Jindal spoke to George Stephanopoulos one day after holding a prayer rally instead of attending the Iowa Freedom Summit with his Republican comrades.
Strangely Stephanopoulos did not follow up on that, instead focusing on Jindal’s line at the rally in which he stated that “our god wins.”
“I was struck by the final line, ‘our god wins,’” Stephanopoulos said. “How do you think that lands in a country of 320 million people, of many different spiritualities, many different kinds of faith, many who believe in no god at all.”
“It is a time-honored tradition, going back to our nation’s founding, for our leaders to turn to god for guidance, for wisdom,” Jindal said. “We are a diverse country, obviously a majority of people are Christians, but we don’t discriminate against anybody. That’s one of the great things about America. We believe in religious liberty.”
Watch the clip below, via ABC News [non-YouTube version embedded; a YouTube of the same, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEJBnh8JUJE {with comments}, in its place next below)]:
Jindal repeated his comments about “no-go zones” in which Muslims are trying to impose Sharia law during the Monday interview, telling those who would do the same here, “If you don’t want to be an American, don’t come to America… If we’re not careful the same no-go zones you’re seeing now in Europe will come to America.”
“They want to use our freedoms to undermine that freedom in the first place,” Jindal said later of Muslim immigrants. “This is a place where you have freedom of self-determination, freedom of religious liberty, freedom of speech. This is an amazing place and we’re a majority Christian country. We’re a Judeo-Christian heritage, but we don’t discriminate against those that have no beliefs and or have different beliefs.”
Jindal said it’s “wonderful” that people “want to be Americans, they join our military, they start companies, they work to create a better community.” But what he said is unacceptable are those who want to “conquer” us. “If they want to come here and they want to set up their own culture and values that’s not immigration, that’s really invasion if you’re honest about it,” he said, saying we can expect more “lone wolf attacks” if that happens.
The potential 2016 presidential candidate predicted that the “politically correct crowd” would call him “racist” for those comments.
By Qasim Rashid Lawyer, Speaker, Best-Selling Author of "EXTREMIST" Posted: 01/28/2015 3:53 pm EST Updated: 01/28/2015 3:59 pm EST
One of history's most deceptive, barbaric, and inhumane dictators once said, "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."
While Fox News has apologized for their "no-go zones" claim, the after-effects of their repeated lie are far from over. Lies have consequences that aren't remedied by a simple apology.
Fox anchors and all media who perpetuate the "no-go zone" myth, among the greater myth that Islam is an extremist faith, only add to the increasing anti-Muslim violence witnessed in the Western world. When it comes to Islam, media is all too often intoxicated by its own ignorance and propagation of falsehood. Too many in media refuse to engage in honest dialogue about the root causes of extremism and instead write ignorant narratives blaming all Islam and Muslims. Such falsehood has deep ramifications that a simple apology cannot resolve.
83 percent of Americans say people who commit violence and claim to be Christians are not really Christian, while less than half of Americans - 48 percent - think that self-proclaimed Muslims who commit violence in the name of Islam aren't truly Muslims.
But when was the last time you heard media blame all Christians or Christianity in general for such violent and intolerant positions? Nor should they, but they should drop the double standard with Muslims.
This doesn't absolve extremist clerics in the Muslim world, nor does it mean only western imperialism is the issue. Substantive issues exist in Muslim majority countries like death for blasphemy laws, oppression of women, and despots and dictators. The point is, however, that such issues cannot and will not be resolved when media perpetuates incomprehensible myths such as "no-go zones."
Maybe it's to win votes, maybe to win funding, maybe it's to win power -- or maybe it is to inadvertently follow Hitler's barbarism to, "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."
No, an apology alone simply won't do. When reporting on Islam, it is high time media stopped treating education, compassion, integrity, and truth as "no-go zones."
American Family Association fires Bryan Fischer ahead of RNC trip to Israel
The Rachel Maddow Show 01/28/15
Debra Nussbaum Cohen, reporter for Haaretz, talks with Rachel Maddow about the American Family Association firing Bryan Fisher over remarks about Hitler and homosexuality, ahead of paying to fly 60 members of the Republican National Committee to Israel.
Texas Muslim Capitol Day Tainted By Anti-Islam Protesters, Lawmaker
Alena Yakusheva via Getty Images
By Paige Lavender Posted: 01/29/2015 12:42 pm EST Updated: 01/29/2015 12:59 pm EST
At least one state lawmaker and a slew of protesters made their opposition to Texas Muslim Capitol Day known on Thursday.
The event, organized by the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, "is an opportunity for community members to learn about the democratic political process and how to be an advocate for important issues," according to CAIR's website.
Freshman state Rep. Molly White (R), who wasn't at the statehouse for the event, left a message [ https://www.facebook.com/TexansforMolly/posts/1610704432493165 ] for those who attended Texas Muslim Capitol Day asking them "to renounce Islamic terrorist groups and publicly announce allegiance to America and our laws":
"Remember, in the Koran, it is ok to lie for the purpose of advancing Islam," she wrote. "Texans must never allow fringe groups of people to come here so that they can advance their own culture instead of becoming an American and assimilating into the American way of life."
Anti-Islam protesters took to the Texas statehouse on Thursday to express their opposition to Texas Muslim Capitol Day:
According to Texas Tribune reporter Alexa Ura [ https://twitter.com/alexazura/status/560851987676143616 ], one of the leaders of Texas Muslim Capitol Day said this is the first year protestors have shown up since the event began in 2003.
“Fischer has been their director of issue analysis, the director of issue analysis for the American Family Association forever. He’s basically quoted everywhere for years now as the organization’s spokesman. […]
“The president of the American Family Association telling us tonight, that as of today, Bryan Fischer should no longer be described as the director of issue analysis for that group, he should not be quoted as a spokesman for the group. As of today, the American Family Association tells us that Bryan Fischer is, and I quote, ‘just a talk show host.’”
When “The Rachel Maddow Show” asked AFA President Don Wildmon what prompted Fischer’s ouster, Wildmon specifically referenced Fischer’s bizarre assertions connecting Nazis and homosexuality. Fischer, of course, originally made these remarks years ago, and has repeated related comments in the years since, but talking to us last night, Wildmon now says, “We reject that.”
The timing of this unexpected shakeup is probably not a coincidence: the American Family Association, despite years of right-wing extremism, is partnering with Reince Priebus and members of the Republican National Committee on a trip to Israel [ http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/.premium-1.639330 ], which created an awkward dynamic. Why would the RNC team up with a group whose spokesperson says things like, “Counterfeit religions, alternative religions of Christianity have no right to the free exercise of religion”?
Nearly 100 RNC members are scheduled to participate in the AFA-sponsored Israel trip, which begins this weekend. It’s against this backdrop that, all of a sudden, Fischer is no longer the religious right group’s spokesperson.
We’ll have more on this as the story unfolds, but it seems at this point that the American Family Association has indeed fired Fischer as a spokesperson for the organization, but will keep him on as the host of an AFA-backed radio program. When AFA President Don Wildmon described Fisher as “just a talk show host,” the unstated subtext may have been “just our talk show host.”
The AFA Cannot Wash Its Hands Of Bryan Fischer's Bigotry That Easily
Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 1/29/2015 11:48 am
Last night it was reported that the American Family Association [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/organizations/american-family-association ] had finally fired the Religious Right's most notorious bigot, Bryan Fischer [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/bryan-fischer ]. While that would be welcome news, if true, the AFA has a long history of trying to salvage its own reputation by distancing itself from Fischer's unrelenting bigotry and this latest effort appears to be simply yet another attempt to whitewash the AFA's façade without making any genuine changes.
Fischer's radicalism and bigotry were obvious even back then, but that didn't stop the American Family Association from wooing Fischer away [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/ivas-bryan-fischer-gets-afa-promotion ] from Idaho with an offer to serve as the organization's "director of issues analysis" and host a daily radio program down in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Within months of his arrival at AFA, Fischer was already using his national platform to spread his unmitigated bigotry, starting with his demand [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/afa-time-has-come-purge-military-all-muslims ] that all Muslims be banned from serving in the U.S. military, a position that he continues to steadfastly promote to this day.
Finally, in 2010, the AFA made a half-hearted attempt to wash its hands of Fischer's vile views ... not by firing him, mind you, but simply by adding a disclaimer [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bryan-fischer-becoming-liability ] at the end of Fischer's blog posts and radio program insisting that the things Fischer was saying on the AFA's website and radio network should not be taken to reflect the views of the organization:
Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.
If this is indeed the case, then the AFA has literally accomplished nothing with this stunt and has completely failed to distance itself from Fischer's utterly despicable views. The primary venues though which Fischer has managed to spread his bigotry for the last six years have always been owned, operated, and funded by the American Family Association and that relationship appears to remain intact.
Stripping Fischer of his title as AFA spokesman in no way alleviates the AFA of its responsibility for Fischer's toxic views given that the only reason Fischer even has a platform from which to spread those views is because AFA is providing it to him and paying him to spread them!
From the very start of Fischer's time at AFA, the organization has pathetically attempted to have it both ways: providing the very microphone from which Fischer speaks while simultaneously claiming that it bears no responsibility for the message that he sends.
The AFA's latest effort to rid itself of Fischer's rancid reputation is little more than a rhetorical accounting trick aimed at creating the false impression that the organization has wiped Fischer's bigotry off of its books.
• Favorably quoted a Christian author who said [ http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/indecency-sin-and-todays-whig-party/ ] that “same-sex marriage practiced universally is suicide. To survive gays and lesbians are parasites, depending for their cultural survival on couples that birth the next generation.”
• Predicted that homosexuality will lead to the destruction of America [id.]: “Homosexual desire and marriage is unnatural and — more so — is a symptom of advanced cultural decay and precursor to the collapse of the Republican Party and the nation.... The mark of a decadent society is the exaltation and normalization of sin — which leads to the death.”
• Lamented that the “‘religion of secularism [ http://www.westernjournalism.com/a-call-to-all-pastors/ ]’ has produced red ink as far as the eye can see, homosexuals praying at the Inauguration, tax-funded abortion, homosexual marriage in several States, Evangelicals held in contempt, and God expelled from the classrooms of America — and the public square.”
“In terms of our teachings and our biblical understanding there could not be any more strong support for Israel than you find among people who understand and believe in the Bible and believe that God’s hand is on Israel, in spite of what’s happening there, in spite of its government,” she said. She mocked the notion “that God is in favor of a secular government or that God is fond of atheist Jews who occupy the land in Israel.”
“It is His land and I believe He will reclaim it in time,” Rios said.
Mike Huckabee: Obama Giving Muslims 'Special Rights' While 'Stomping All Over Christians'
Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 1/29/2015 3:25 pm
Mike Huckabee [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/mike-huckabee ] stopped by the American Family Association’s radio network today to denounce the Obama administration as “incapable of knowing the difference between good and evil” in the fight against extremist groups.
The former governor and likely presidential candidate told [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsIUd-VYQ1U (below, as embedded; with comments)] Kevin McCullough [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/kevin-mccullough ] of “AFA Today” that the Obama administration is “bending over backwards to do everything possible to accommodate Muslims but they don’t mind stomping all over Christians and they do it regularly. This is just the most astonishing reversal of true American tradition that I’ve ever seen.”
Mike Huckabee Creeps On Beyonce & Has A History With Explicit Lyrics
Published on Jan 15, 2015 by The Young Turks
"Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee seems as preoccupied with Beyoncé as any card-carrying member of the Beyhive.
In a new interview with People magazine, the potential 2016 Republican presidential aspirant invoked the singer by way of questioning the parenting skills of President and Michelle Obama. Why, he wondered, do they let their daughters listen to (and watch!) some of Beyoncé’s edgier performances?
“I don’t understand how on one hand they can be such doting parents and so careful about the intake of everything – how much broccoli they eat and where they go to school and making sure they’re kind of sheltered and shielded from so many things – and yet they don’t see anything that might not be suitable for either a preteen or a teen in some of the lyrical content and choreography of Beyoncé, who has sort of a regular key to the door” of the White House, he tells People. "* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
Fischer said that his designation as an AFA spokesman while he also served as a radio host was creating confusion and resulting in the personal opinions he expressed on the radio being unfairly attributed to the AFA. As such, Fischer will no longer serve as an official voice for AFA but will continue to spew his bigotry from the AFA's radio stations:
AFA nonetheless did explicitly repudiate an array of bigoted claims Fischer that has made over the years, thereby insisting that no longer can Fischer's views be attributed to the organization:
AFA rejects the idea expressed by Bryan Fischer that "Free exercise of religion" only applies to Christians. Consequently, AFA rejects Bryan's assertions that Muslims should not be granted permits to build mosques in the United States;
AFA rejects the ideas expressed by Bryan Fischer that the violent expulsion of Native Americans was divinely ordained and that, "Superstition, savagery and sexual immorality" morally disqualified Native Americans from "sovereign control of American soil."
AFA rejects the ideas expressed by Bryan Fischer that "we" need to clamp down on immigration because Hispanics are socialist by nature and vote Democratic because it allows them to "benefit from the plunder of the wealth of the United States."
AFA rejects Bryan Fischer's characterization of minorities as "people who rut like rabbits."
AFA rejects the statement by Bryan Fischer that, "Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews."
AFA rejects the policy advocated by Bryan Fischer that homosexual conduct should be illegal
AFA rejects the notion advocated by Bryan Fischer that, "We need an underground railroad to protect innocent children from same-sex households."
AFA rejects Bryan Fischer's statement that, "If Hillary Clinton becomes president In 2016, she will not only be our first female president, she could be our first lesbian president."
...
In light of this notice, do not continue to charge AFA with the statements by Bryan Fischer that we have repudiated. When identifying "hate groups" in the context of training military or law enforcement personnel, do not put AFA in a false light by quoting Mr. Fischer's statements that we have repudiated.
The AFA will continue to provide Fischer with the staff, resources, and national outlet through which to share the views that AFA reportedly finds abhorrent ... but wants to do so without having to answer for all of the hatred that it is responsible for producing and promoting.
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center, talks with Rachel Maddow about the American Family Association's record of religious bigotry and intolerance that calls to question the RNC's judgment in accepting a trip to Israel with them.
Cops Shoot Unarmed Caregiver With His Hands Up While He Helps Man
by Erik Ortiz Jul 21 2016, 12:34 pm ET
Cops Shoot Unarmed Man Lying on the Ground with Hands in the Air VIDEO: 0:39
A North Miami behavior therapist trying to help a patient with autism says he was shot in the leg by cops responding to the scene — even after he laid down on the pavement and put his hands in the air.
Part of Monday's incident was caught on a witness' cellphone camera, and shows caregiver Charles Kinsey trying to explain to police that weapons were not necessary as they aimed their rifles in his direction.
Even still must always stress the great majority of police do a good and courageous job, while the gun culture fostered by the fraudulent NRA and it's puppets make their job a much more dangerous one.
4 Shot, 1 Fatally, in ‘Active Shooter Situation’ in Azusa; Polling Places Impacted
Posted 2:48 PM, November 8, 2016, by Tracy Bloom, CNN Wire and Erika Martin, Updated at 04:43pm, November 8, 2016
Two polling places have been impacted and a middle school is on lockdown in Azusa after a shooting in a residential area left one person dead and three others injured on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
The incident occurred around 2 p.m. in the area of Memorial Park on West Fourth Street and Orange Avenue, the Azusa Police Department said. Officials originally described the incident as an “active shooter situation,” but by 4:40 p.m. law enforcement had contained the suspect — although anyone near the area was still urged to shelter in place.
Four people were hit by the gunfire, and one person later died of his or her injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
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