Via Instapundit, hat tip: GP Reader Calarato…
The March To Mecca – Greg Gutfeld, HuffingtonPost
PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO DATE: December 15, 2006, 4 PM.IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE, AND IN HARMONY WITH OUR GAY MUSLIM BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE PROUDLY ANNOUNCE THE FIRST MARCH TO MECCA, FEBRUARY 14, 2007
Human Rights Watch, Moveon.org, ACT-UP, the Huffington Post and David Geffen are proud to present the March to Mecca, a celebration of peace that calls all gay brothers, sisters and people undergoing sex-reassignment to march to the holiest of holy cities, Mecca, the capital city of Saudi Arabia’s Makkah province on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2007.
The march, a brainchild of activists and celebrities who acknowledge that more gays are dying from Islamic fundamentalism than from the policies of George W. Bush, will begin 12 noon sharp in Jeddah, the stunning night-life friendly Saudi Arabian city located on the coast of the Red Sea.
“Not marching in these countries, in this era of terror, seems cowardly,” says event co-organizer Sharon Stone. “I’m embarrassed to say at social gatherings I even blamed the United States for everything. But I realized it’s the radical Muslims – not the US – who want gays dead, and for that I am truly sorry.”
Paris’ gay Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who was stabbed by an immigrant Muslim, is organizing the European contingency which features Limahl, Johnny Hallyday and Ciccolina. Whoopie Goldberg, along with Robin Williams will be hosting the kick off party at the Sheraton Riyadh. There will be refreshments and karaoke, hosted by David Hyde Pierce.
Beth Ditto, lead singer of the Gossip, who will perform with the newly reformed Yaz, thinks the march is overdue. “Forget right wing Christians. They don’t hang gays for being gay. Islamofascists do. That’s why were asking moderate, non-violent Muslims across the Western Province to join hands and embrace gay people everywhere.”
“Almost half of all Muslim countries outlaw gay relations,” says Huffington Post contributor Gene Stone, “and more than 70 countries ban all homosexuality, sometimes making it punishable by death. And here I am, blogging about how bad Renew America is. LOL.”
“Think about the two teenagers convicted of homosexuality who were hanged in Iran last year,” says Harry Shearer, “It makes all the hay we made over Mark Foley at the Huffington Post seem stupid. I, for one, am tired of being part of the problem.”
The March to Mecca will snake through the sandy, sunny valley of Abraham, and it is urged that you pack sunblock and plenty of bottled water. “Don’t forget to blog!” adds co-sponsor Arianna Huffington. After the march, Rep Barney Frank of the U.S. House of Representatives will host a special VIP rave on the Queen Boat, a floating disco on the Nile. Hugh Jackman will perform hits from “The Boy From Oz.”
If only this satire were half-true, I’d have a bit more confidence that Americans…. especially liberal ones who spout faux platitudes about human rights…. truly understood the threat we all face from America’s real enemy.
Bravo, Greg!!!
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
Beautiful!
As I said over on Ace of Spades, I nominate St. Sully to lead the march…
Well… We can dream.
For a brief moment, before I read a few paragraphs and was sure it was satire, I wondered if I’d be flying to Mecca in February.
Regrettably in this case, the best satire seems a tad too close to reality. Smart piece.
would that were it be true.
There already was a gay march in the Middle East. Unfortunately it was met by religious zealots who succeeded in using violence to intimidate others. And the year before several gay parade marchers were stabbed by a zealot. Location? Israel.
Mhm. And what happened to that zealot?
Even representatives of the gay community did not expect such a heavy punishment for the knifeman who stabbed marchers in the Gay Pride Parade, Yishai Schlissel, who received 12 years in prison.
Schlissel was convicted of attempting to murder three people during the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, which took place some six months ago……
The Jerusalem District Court also ordered that NIS 280 million (about USD 60 million) be paid as compensation to the victims.
And that’s the difference between Israel and the Democrat-supported Middle East; in Israel, those who harm gays are caught and punished.
But really, this is no different than the moral equivalence practiced by Gryph, Sullivan, keogh, and the other Democrats when it comes to torture; that is, only the fact that it happened matters. The US (or Israel) must be completely perfect; if it’s not, it’s no better than states like Iran or Ba’athist Iraq, in both of which being gay carried (or carries) the death penalty and murderers of gays are applauded as friends of Islam.
Nicely put, NDXXX.
Gryph needs to dust off the atlas and discover that Mecca is one of the holiest –no, the holiest city– of Islam and located in modern Saudi Arabia. It’s the site of Masjid al Haram and the Black Stone and the Well of Zamzam; it’s Islam’s most venerable parcel for pilgrims.
A March on Mecca is not equal to any other march in the “Middle East”… the gay Pride marches in Israel occured in a Jewish nation-state with a parlimentary system which supports the rule of law… and NDXXX nicely points that out.
I appreciate a religious bigot like the AngryGryph wouldn’t know a Mecca from a hole in the ground or Jew from Muslim or Arab… but there’s been no march on Mecca by gays. While it may be true that gays have been inside the holy site, if discovered the gays would have been ritually, gleefully, stoned to death.
Kind makes those mirage-like gay concentration camps of the GOP look like a ride on a dude ranch, eh AngryGryph? Folks, I keep telling him, he needs to stick to his 24×7 BushHatred and stay out of religion… but he just keeps proving that stupidity is a strong suit for some.
NDT says:
I see nothing wrong with pointing out that Islam is not the sole source of anti-gay militant bigotry in the Middle East. If you don’t get that, then you are not going to win the WoT. Case in point: one of the Conservative Rabbi’s responsible for the recent anti-gay activities in Israel actually showed up at Iran’s little “no such thing as the holocaust” get-together. And he showed up as a participant, not a protester this time.
And yup, you are right NDT. I think that torture is always wrong, whether in Iraq or the USA or wherever. I’m not going to apologize for having at least some sense of a moral compass that you apparently lack. And don’t give the that “but we are at war” crap. The decision by this President to torture prisoners handed Al-Quaeda a Propaganda win across the world that it never could have dreamed of.
You accuse me of thinking that Israel and the USA must be perfect, when that is obviously your own view, that they can do no wrong. You are the one that holds these absolutist beliefs, not I.
But you know what? Yeah, I think torture is even more wrong when committed by Americans than by Al Quaeda. Why? Because we are the ones blathering on about spreading democracy, liberty and respect for human rights. Al Quaeda just says slay the infidel.
And Michigan-Matt, I can tell by your writing that you have been using those barbed wire suppositories again. You should lay off.
I see nothing wrong with pointing out that Islam is not the sole source of anti-gay militant bigotry in the Middle East. If you don’t get that, then you are not going to win the WoT.
Mhm. And by that logic, you are convinced that the correct way to stop the city of Sacramento from flooding is to go after kids with squirt guns and ignore the American and Sacramento Rivers.
From what I already showed you, it seems that the Israelis are doing a very good job themselves of addressing violence against gays. Because Israel is a constitutional democracy with rights of freedom of speech and action, said rabbi may go where he pleases and say as he wishes, as long as his actions don’t incite violence — and if they do, he and the people who commit it will be caught, tried, and punished.
And yet, you and your fellow leftists obsess over that state, but seemingly have nothing to say about Iran, where the equivalent rabbi would have governmental power to not only have the crime ignored, but celebrated as maintaining the purity of Islam.
I think that torture is always wrong, whether in Iraq or the USA or wherever. I’m not going to apologize for having at least some sense of a moral compass that you apparently lack.
My moral compass, Gryph, is that there is nothing wrong with obtaining information from a killer that will save hundreds more lives from being taken by al-Qaeda.
Your moral compass is more correctly put as allowing hundreds of people to die by refusing to obtain information from a killer so that al-Qaeda doesn’t get good propaganda.
What I will enlighten you to is the fact that al-Qaeda will get good propaganda from either event, whether the suspect is tortured or when the refusal to torture allows the plot to go to completion; the only difference is that there won’t be hundreds of dead Americans in the one.
I have zero qualms saying that I will allow torture if doing so will save more lives. You say you will not allow torture regardless of how many people are killed because you won’t. Who do you think al-Qaeda is more afraid of, me or you?
AngryGryph, no need to apologize for the hatred. We’ve come to expect that visceral perspective from you to anyone who dare question the monopoly you hold on determining what is “gay”, what items are properly on the gay agenda, and who is gay friendly and who are our enemies in the struggle for unfettered self-expression and gay liberty.
Your opinions fail on any claim to moral legitimacy because you equate the “rights” of our terrorists to slaughter the innocent to be equal –hell, no you think the terrorists’ “rights” are superior to– the right of Americans to prosecute a just and appropriate War on Terror in the wake of 9-11.
And I know, you’ll quickly cower with your patriot poster boi LurchKerry when the heavy lifting begins or defense of the homeland req
requires you to make a sacrafice equal to those in harm’s way in order to make America safe. Moral relativism is an armchair comfort for those not pressed by battle.
But it’s always been so… we will always have a vocal community of weak, unwilling, pathetic sunshine patriots. You just need to come out of the shadows and get some more sunshine, AngryGryph.
NDT says:
NDT, Your “moral compass” is sick and twisted. Your logic states that if there is a terrorist in the midst of a group of innnocent people then its perfectly OK in your book to torture every single one of them in order to find your terrorist. Just so long as a greater number of people are saved by that actions. Tell me, at what point does that become wrong to you? Is it OK to torture a million people in order to save another million? By your logic, yes. And who makes the decision as to whom to torture? The State.
Your speeches are very familiar. They are the same ones used by every tyrant or authoritarian regime to justify the worst kind of treatment of human beings.
For all your vaunted talk of being a Patriot, your mindset is in fact actually much more in line with Communist or Stalinst reasoning than it is with traditional American ideals. In your book the State, as a representative of the people, always comes before respect for individuals or for humanity itself.
You are a Leftist of the worst kind, a petty tyrant that belives that the ends always justifies the means so long as its for the “greater good”. Any act, no matter how vile and cruel is acceptable to you so long as you think that you have noble goals to acomplish.
There is no respect for humanity in your words, you instead spew an ideaology of hatred. Your idea of winning against Al Quaeda is to become as much like them as possible just so long as you win in the end.
I think we should torture anyone who hurts a gay person. And anyone from the Middle East. And brown people. And liberals. We just have to torture them a little less than anyone else tortures so we can say that we are better. May the Birth of Christ bring salvation and the fullness of peace to each and everyone, except those we torture, this season!! And a happy, happy new year.
the very AngryGryph writes: “There is no respect for humanity in your (NDXXX’s) words, you (NDXXX) instead spew an ideaology (sic) of hatred.”
Gheez, Gryph… what is it? A few weeks on meds and coherent speech, then it’s jumpoff the wagon in a big way? It’s almost polar.
If there is any individual on this site more strongly evidenced in his comments (as well as on other notable sites) as having a solid, fundamental respect for humanity and decency for fellow men, they would have to push NDXXX off the top of that list. He’s been at the top for a while… and it’s proven in hundreds of posts.
Your characterization of NDXXX’s comments bear no resemblence to reality. Pull off the tin foil hat and let the top of your balding head gain some fresh air, AngryGryph. And learn to chill, a bit.
I hope your holidays prove to be as enriching and secular as your personal wants and needs warrant, btw.
Actually, the worst torture I could think of is listening to some liberal having a hysterical rant. (Hello, lower-casers up above?)
Regards,
Peter H.
#15 – Matt: remember that with Gryph it’s about projection, projection, projection. It explains the majority of cognitive disconnects we see with him. As we’ve seen time and time again for at least a year: there is no respect for humanity in the way he trivializes human torture and blames the U.S. for it; his own hatreds that he spews; the way he launches insults when cornered instead of (improved) arguments; etc.
(Sidebar for any newbies, or those not in the know: Claiming that U.S. terrorist detention and interrogation procedures would amount to “torture”, Gryph’s mantra on GP, does indeed trivialize real victims of real torture. Torture is indeed always wrong. I part with NDT or whoever, if they imply otherwise. But manipulative / coercive interrogation of genuine terrorists, done with as many limits and as much concern for safety as the U.S. does, isn’t torture. Just start looking into Saddam’s real victims of torture, sometime.)
(Final sidebar, to anticipate a logical question: So what is real torture? It would be when someone inflicts physical pain or injury for the sheer sake of power, humiliation or punishment. I can’t guarantee that no U.S. guard / interrogator has ever done it. I can guarantee that U.S. policies forbid it consistently, and that the U.S. is out to stop anyone who does it.)
The problems I have with torturing suspected terrorists, besides being repugnant, is that it is ineffective. These are the two reasons that U.S. military policy forbids it. There is written policy on how to interrogate suspects. But the U.S. failed in Gitmo for the following reasons. First, it had mostly inexperienced interrogators. Also, although most of the techniques employed by the interrogators were, by no means torture, the interrogators many times used humiliation, coersion, and other techniques that were against policy. They did end up with a lot of information. But almost all of it was useless, and did not help. Also, there is no evidence that some or any of the detainees were indeed terrorists.
As for the moral quandary discussed above…If a detainee was definitely a terrorist, and applying torture to him would lead to intelligence that would save hundreds or thousands of lives. I would be inclined to do this. The problem is that we could never be sure that torture would lead to anything helpful, and in fact, U.S. policy says that it wouldn’t work. And while it might saves lives now, it might be more harmful in the future.
As to whether our actions in Gitmo or Abu Ghraib has increased terrorists’ resolve against the U.S., I doubt it very much. Terrorists don’t like us if whether or not we follow OUR OWN rules.
Your logic states that if there is a terrorist in the midst of a group of innnocent people then its perfectly OK in your book to torture every single one of them in order to find your terrorist. Just so long as a greater number of people are saved by that actions.
Yup.
The reason is, Gryph, because I consider it worse for people to die than for people to be tortured. If faced with that Hobson’s choice — allow people to be killed, or to allow people to be tortured rather than more being killed, I will choose torture.
Furthermore, Gryph, your flailing return statement is one of cowardice. You are not willing to admit that you would rather people be killed than one person be tortured. Therefore, you attack me, using your leftist catch-phrases, just as you and your fellow leftists scream “racist” any time a conservative pushes back on issues related to race and exposes the hollowness of your ideology; this time, it’s “Stalinist”, “Communist”, and “no respect for humanity”.
I have clearly stated my position. Now, coward, state publicly that you would rather let thousands of people die than one al-Qaeda terrorist be tortured. You have clearly stated that you will never, ever, under any circumstances, torture people; therefore, if you state anything BUT that, your true motivation will be exposed.