The FDP Convention: What the media won’t tell you

I don’t think I’ve ever done this before, but the following post is so masterfully written and so obviously based in reality, unlike the MSM recitations of right-wing talking points, that it needs no further embellishment. So:

What Kenny said.

Pipes speech generates more controversy

Yesterday I told you that right-wing extremist Daniel Pipes (right) would be speaking at FAU tonight, and I lamented the fact that the appearance of this frothing lunatic wasn’t raising the hackles of the reality-based community in south Florida.

Well, I may have spoken too soon. At least I hope so.

Pipes has faced sharp criticism from some Muslims and their supporters. The FAU chapter of A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Florida is organizing a protest and expects other groups to join. [Emmanuel Lopez, a member of the FAU chapter of A.N.S.W.E.R. Florida and one of the protest organizers,] wouldn’t say how many protesters he expected.

Critics say Pipes, considered an ally to Israel, has demonized Muslims.

“He uses the word ‘terrorist’ for anyone who disagrees with his position on Israel,” said [Lopez]. “He’s the Joseph McCarthy of Muslims.”

Omer Subhani, a spokesman for the South Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called Pipes “one of the leading Islamophobes out there.”

Those charges are untrue, said Pipes, who is also a foreign policy adviser for Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign. He said many Islamic and liberal groups frequently mischaracterize his views.

“Radical Islam is the problem, and moderate Islam is the solution,” he said. “I see Islam as both the problem and solution, so therefore I’m not anti-Islamic.”

See, it’s so much better if you only demonize part of an ethnic group rather than the entire thing. That makes it okay, right?

Wrong.

This guy’s rhetoric is dangerous, as I pointed out yesterday. He’s a bigot and an advocate of criminal behavior, and his presence at FAU is a black mark on that university’s reputation.

I do think the Sun-Sentinel erred in its headline, however. The headline reads “Middle East expert or Islamophobe? FAU speaker generates protests,” but the lede clarifies, “A controversial Middle East historian is expected to generate protests today when he speaks at Florida Atlantic University about vanquishing ‘the Islamist enemy.’ ” Yeah, there’ll probably be protests, but wait until they actually happen to put it in the present tense.

Natural born killers

I’m referring, of course, to Republicans. Whether it’s an immoral and illegal war in Iraq or killing folks right here at home, the GOP is all about the bloodlust.

So that’s why it’s not altogether surprising to see a Florida Republican criticize an American Bar Association report that describes Florida’s death penalty as “fall[ing] short” in providing “fair and accurate” treatment for those convicted of capital crimes.

Sen. Victor Crist, a Tampa Republican, said Florida has done what it can to eliminate problems.

“The criticisms are unwarranted and nothing more than an attempt to end the death penalty,” said Crist, who chairs the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee and has made death penalty revisions his chief policy area. “No matter what we do, as long as we have a death penalty, they’ll try to find fault with it.”

[...]

The report also found that there is “inadequate compensation” for attorneys in the state-run offices that handle death penalty appeals.

But Crist said Florida is one of the few states that provide such attorneys.

“Every recommendation they’ve had, we’ve followed suit,” Crist said. “It’s just never enough. They’re never satisfied and we never reach a resolution.”

Sen. Crist, who is not related to Gov. Charlie Crist, is engaging in what psychologists call “projection.” Here, we see Sen. Crist “projecting” his failure to compromise and to accept unfriendly facts onto the ABA, claiming that they are actually at fault for the death penalty problems in Florida. In short, he’s not sorry about the death penalty problems; he’s sorry that they were discovered in the first place.

And what’s wrong with ending the death penalty? It’s not like our record is scintillating here in America’s Wang™. According to the article, Florida leads the nation in death row exonerations, with 22 since 1973. And remember that Gov. Bush even had to suspend executions for a time last year because of problems in administering the punishment.

Clearly, there’s something wrong with the system — that is, unless you’re a Republican.