“The Egyptian president demands the arrest of an obscure American who made an unseen film. And whaddayaknow? Next thing that happens, back in the land of the free, a large posse of heavily armed officers descends on his apartment at midnight so that he can be ‘voluntarily’ taken into custody for alleged ‘probation violations’ — because, as everyone knows, in civilized societies breach-of-probation orders are always served at midnight on a weekend when the dark is so much more conducive to persuading householders to ‘volunteer.’” –Mark Steyn
Although the theory that the current mayhem in the Arab world was caused by the embarrassingly amateurish film “Innocence of Muslims” has been debunked, that hasn’t stopped leftists in this country from calling for the lynching of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the filmmaker responsible for it.
Here is the now-famous photograph of the poor schmuck being taken in for questioning last Saturday, shortly after midnight:
If only we had a Bill of Rights or something like that to prevent stuff like this from happening…
When taking office, the President does not swear to create jobs. He does not swear to “grow the economy.” He does not swear to institute “fairness.” The only oath the President takes is this one:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
By sending — literally — brownshirted enforcers to engage in — literally — a midnight knock at the door of a man for the non-crime of embarrassing the President of the United States and his administration, President Obama violated that oath…. It is a betrayal of his duties as President, and a disgrace.
I remember a line from the philosopher David Hume that Hayek used as an epigraph to The Road to Serfdom. “It is seldom,” said Hume, “that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” There’s the innocent seeming accommodation here, the turning a blind eye to official violations of the law there, and, bang, before you can say Saul Alinsky, people are being rounded up at midnight by brownshirted men for making a movie that embarrasses El Presidente.
The president, the secretary of state and their auditioning second-term press secretaries in the media burnt more calories this week attacking an American in California for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech than they did condemning the murderous mobs or their enablers in their respective governments. Whatever outrage they had left over was reserved for Mitt Romney for committing the unforgivable sin of standing up for American values in the face of terrorism and speaking out against it hours before the president did.
What is “disgusting and reprehensible” is that there are people in the world who think they are justified in attacking and killing people because someone hurt their feelings or offended their sensibilities. The US government should not act as a validator or enabler of this upside down worldview, which is exactly what the Obama administration has done repeatedly as they have responded to these abhorrent attacks against the United States…. Our leaders shouldn’t let our enemies know that when they kill our people and attack our embassies that the US Government will act like a battered wife making excuses for her psychotic husband. Wake up: we weren’t attacked because of a movie made by an American. We were attacked because there are crazy religious fanatics who hate the United States.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
For further enlightenment:
The Sleeping Laughingstock, by Mark Steyn
Why Punishing Speech That Triggers Murderous Reactions Would Lead to More Deaths, by Eugene Volokh
The Consequences of Obama’s Bungled Mideast Policy, by Michael Barone
A Time for Pretending, by Angela Nelson
Frequently Asked Questions: Murders in Libya
Arab World Descends into Further Chaos, as Obama Apologizes for First Amendment
The End of America As We Know It: Why Barack Obama Should Resign Immediately
Remember the outrage from the left about the denial of civil liberties to enemies — enemies, mind you — during the Iraq War? Where’s the outrage now?
Extremely well-done, Bob. We can’t emphasize all of this enough. Would you consider reposting elsewhere? Hint?
It would be most appreciated!
Done. You’re welcome.