Wednesday, February 17, 2010

CAIR Takes Aim at CPAC!

Midnight Blue's attending, and there's some generic background at The Guardian, "CPAC 2010: Fired Up and Feisty."

But this is totally predictable, from Fox News, "
CPAC Session on Jihad, Free Speech Attracts Complaints":

A panel discussion on the threat posed by "Islamic supremacism," Shariah and political correctness has been scheduled for this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, stirring complaints from some American Muslims that the exercise amounts to Muslim-bashing.

The two-hour session, titled "Jihad: The Political Third Rail," is set for Friday morning, right in the middle of the three-day annual summit of conservative icons and activists in Washington, D.C.

Scheduled to speak are Steve Coughlin, a former Pentagon specialist on Islamic law who was fired two years ago, allegedly under pressure from pro-Muslim officials, and Wafa Sultan, an author and prominent critic of Islam. The discussion is billed as a window into Islam's "war on free speech," the "encroachment" of Shariah -- or Islamic law -- in the West and efforts by the Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate American society.

Overall, CPAC is attuned more to political strategy and domestic issues, but organizers of the "Jihad" session have been trying to stir the pot with what they call a blunt and objective discussion of Muslims' attempts to harm the West while silencing criticism.

Mission accomplished. The pot has been stirred.

"It's unfortunate that a conservative conference would be in any way associated with Muslim bashers and Islamophobes," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It's a free country. They're free to be anti-Muslim bigots if they like, but it's really up to the organizers of CPAC to determine if they're going to allow their conference to be associated with the hate-filled views of those who will be speaking."

The session appears to be attracting attention on both sides of the issue. While CAIR and a few blogs have blasted CPAC for putting on the event, co-host Pamela Geller said she's already gotten hundreds of RSVPs.

"It really will be enormously informative," she said. "Conservatives want to know."
And just as I write this, Pamela posts on the same piece, "FOX News: Hate Sponsors CAIR Smear, Want CPAC to Cancel our FDI Event Jihad, The Political Third Rail":
Here is more proof of why this conference is so very necessary. All you have to do is utter jihad and the smear merchants and their handmaidens come out shooting.
Image Credit: Midnight Blue, "CPAC 2010 – There is an iPhone App For That!"

RELATED: At FrontPage Magazine, "CAIR’s Hamas Co-Conspirator Associates."