The Dish

"I think they figure that pornography is an easy target. It’s what Congress asked for, and funded. Nobody wants to come out for porn. They’re all sucking up to the religious right. Plus they’re control freaks themselves. And this operation misdirects attention away from the results of their own insidiousness and incompetence. To tell you the truth, the guys I had worked with, they all thought it was just a big joke. This was in an FBI field office where there are really important projects – involving national security, high-technology crimes and public corruption – but I was feeling burnt out. I needed something less stressful. So I applied for the Hard-On Hunters, which is how my old buddies refer to it. They still razz the hell out of me. One guy says, "Hey, I thought there was supposed to be a war on terror going on." Then another guy says, "Yeah, and I thought it was supposed to be urgent that we develop better resources for espionage." And the first guy says, "I guess we must have been wrong." – an FBI agent recently recruited for the "war on porn."

Yep, I guess we were all wrong. When the religious right calls, this administration answers. If it means scanting the war on terror, so be it. They’ll fire gay Arab linguists in the military and divert precious FBI resources to monitoring porn. Whatever Mr Dobson wants …

We are at a critical moment. Dissident Muslim Ibn Warraq urges the West not to waver – for the sake of Islam.

Now: a defense. The original criticism I linked to can be found here.

"Look at the wives of the [Egyptian] generals. Many of them are wearing traditional head scarves. This was not so ten years ago. And this tells you where we are heading. When the women of Egypt’s pro-Western military √©lite are dressed like that, you know that the Hamas victory is not about Palestine. It’s about the entire Middle East," – Shalom Harari, a former Israeli Military Intelligence officer.

At last, some good news. Many moderate British Muslims are appalled at the violence and threats of violence being parlayed by some demonstrators. Money quote:

"In London, Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said the extremists should be prosecuted. ‘The Metropolitan police should now consider all the evidence they have gathered from the protests to see if they can prosecute the extremists,’ he said. ‘It is time the police acted, but in a way so as not to make them martyrs of the Prophet’s cause, which is what they want, but as criminals. Ordinary Muslims are fed up with them.’"

Here’s hoping he’s right. More on Brit Muslim reax here.

Here’s his spin. I’m looking forward to the exchange with Feingold.

A reminder of why Denmark has often, in the past, been at the forefront of resisting totalitarianism. And why we must stand by Denmark against the new totalitarianism today.

A well-deserved drubbing of the apologist for Islamist terror, Robert Fisk.

A Danish reader writes:

"You posted a mail today saying, "1. The State Department’s comment on the Danish cartoons was brilliant. This is a European problem and we owe Europe nothing," and "frankly, it was a nice ‘fuck you’ to Europe. I LOVED it."

As a Dane, I am very much apalled by the state of mind in much of the Muslim world. But I am frankly disgusted by such a comment as "frankly, it was a nice "fuck you" to Europe. I LOVED it". Denmark has been a steadfast NATO ally for half a century. My father sailed in the Danish navy, my uncles served in the Danish army, most of my friends were conscripted to serve in armed forces arrayed alongside America against Soviet despotism. I myself served as an artilleryman and was on watch on the eve when the Soviet Union finally fell.

Denmark was one of only four nations who answered the call, when the United States of America asked for the world to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s violent regime. This very day our troops serve alongside yours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Quite frankly I expected that a Danish prime minister, who has invested considerable political goodwill in standing by an old ally, should have received more support from the American government and the American people. Learn some geography, history and diplomacy before you insult a nation committed to the fight for liberty and justice alongside the United States of America. Europe is not a single entity and some of us should have earned more respect than this. Despite our small size we try to hold our head high in the face of this anti-democratic onslaught. Will you not stand by us, as we have stood by you?"

Well, count some of us in. Just not the administration, alas.

My take: The president’s new line on oil addiction is "like being warned by Kate Moss of the dangers of Red Bull." Full treatment here.