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Dumb Things Americans Do At Home, Drives Recruitment Of Extremists Abroad

Dumb Things Americans Do At Home, Drives Recruitment Of Extremists Abroad

Last updated on: January 24, 2017 at 6:54 pm by Frank Weathers

Dumb Things Americans Do At Home, Drives Recruitment Of Extremists Abroad 2017-01-24T18:54:47-05:00 Frank Weathers

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Here is an excerpt of the dumb thing I’m referring to in particular,

A United States federal judge has ordered New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to display on its buses a controversial ad that refers to Muslims killing Jews, rejecting the argument that the ad could incite “terrorism” or imminent violence.

In his ruling, published on Tuesday, US District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan said the ad from the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), which had previously run in Chicago and San Francisco, was protected speech under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Similar AFDI campaigns have also run elsewhere, including in Washington DC.

The ad portrays a menacing man wearing a scarf around his head and face, includes a quotation “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah” attributed to “Hamas MTV”, and then states, “That’s His Jihad. What’s yours?”

Read the rest.

Did I see something called Hamas MTV?

You know what, Judge Koeltl? Why not just start burning Korans? Sure, it’s protected speech (as is the burning of the Holy Bible, or the American flag, etc.), but why must the MTA be forced to run ads from folks at all? Why can’t the MTA decide what business they are going to take from potential advertisers, and what business they are going to decline?

You may have noticed that I have chosen to share the version of this story that was published by Al-Jezeera. Guess why that is? Because the fact that they have picked up the story is making my point exactly. These incendiary bus ads are the kind of thing that needlessly puts American lives at risk. It leads to good natured folks in the Middle East (of which there are plenty) to wonder what kind of understanding we Americans really have of their culture. Because if folks are propagandized by crap from purveyors of lies like this, folks are bound to think that Americans are idiots.

You want to see the kind of sign that AFDI never wants to see? Looky here.

Image belongs to yours truly.

Hmmm. Seems like the sign above helps build goodwill. But what do I know? I’ve only lived in Muslim countries for a couple of years, and visited a handfull more. Know what else? The images and stories fomented by the scare mongers of AFDI never quite matched my experience on the ground. My experience of people with hearts of flesh, and not of stone.

Are there Islamist extremists prowling about the world, killing the innocent, and terrorizing their neighbors? You know there are. Are they the norm, though? Or are we holding them up on a very convenient pedestal, playing on the fears of American citizens in hope of…in hope of what, exactly?

Let me summarize this for you. These ads from AFDI are jingoistic nonsense. Nothing good will come of them. Ordering them to be posted isn’t freedom. It’s FREEDUMB.

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