Imus, Not Ali
National Association of Black Journalists and National Organization for Women are worked up because Imus, repentant idiot, may be allowed to work again.
I’m worked up about that because he’s unlistenable, but there are other stations and it isn’t my money, so I’m not going to worry about it. But that made me curious about how much NABJ and NOW care about matters of life and death involving black journalists who are interested in women’s issues.
Near as I can tell, not at all.
NABJ site search turns up zip re Ayaan Hirsi Ali, although I did see that something about a Kenyan journalist granted asylum.
Ditto NOW, although NOW does support legislation vs. honor killings and genital mutiliation.
Why the deathly silence? It’s not like it wasn’t in the news, with no less than Salman Rushdie making noise about it. Maybe it’s because of her unacceptable views about Islam. Apparently speaking out about women’s rights and near-universal Islamic denial of same, running for the Dutch parliament and being hunted by murderous Islamic extremists who wrote her name on a piece of paper pinned with the knife to the corpse of a dead filmmaker constitutes supercificial opportunism that is being exploited by anti-Muslim bigots.
As you know, the Dutch recent cut off her security. Hitchens seems to think the United States government should provide security, but may be unaware that there are literally thousands of women in this country whose lives are in mortal danger and who get no protection whatsoever. Check your newspaper. They get killed and/or beaten on a regular basis. Hitchens cites as an acceptable alternative a version of my bright idea, that Ali say goodbye to Europe and, if she can’t afford her own security, look for help here among well-meaning institutions who share interest in her cause. Seeing as she’s now working at the American Enterprise Institute and has Hitchens, Rushdie and Frum in her corner, how hard could that possibly be?
It would be nice to see organizations devoted to women’s rights and the struggles of black journalists at least pay some lip service to a case in point. A search of AEI’s site turns up plenty on her and her cause, nothing about her current woes, though as her employer AEI may have particular issues, policies at play.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 4:11 pm on Friday, October 12, 2007
5 Responses to “Imus, Not Ali”
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October 12th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
as an ex-feminist, I have noted that NOW and other ‘pro women’ organization have completely ignored honour killings, murders that not only are filling Saudi deserts with womens’ corpses, but are being perpetrated today in Toronto and Ottawa, and cities throughout Europe. I guess this indifference is due to the fact that such activity is just one other expression of colorful foreign cultures we have welcomed into our boring WASPy cities, along with (of course) exotic restaurants and fantastic celebrations like Ramadan…..
October 12th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
THE CRISIS IN FEMINISM
I used to be one of those ‘new age sensitive guys’ who was a staunch Feminist. I’ve given up on them because I see gaping differences between gender equality and feminism, and it’s getting worse because of the Socialist nature of Feminism. The Suffragettes were far better. Feminist Socialism was promulgated by Marx in 1848 (The Communist Manifesto). Their difficulty is integrating basic principles of Liberal Democracy with the principles of Feminist ideology.
Socialist Feminists do not want to interfere with other cultures or impose their values on those other cultures, because that would be intolerant, and may not be welcome by those other cultures. This requires moral relativism.
But what if a feminist observes Black American culture mistreating Black women, objectifying and abusing them in endless music and music videos? Classical Liberal philosophy, if it still existed, would have an easy answer, because it was morally absolutist. For example, it was Classical Liberals who abolished slavery. For them, it was immoral to victimize anyone because of race, ethnicity, religion or culture, no exceptions. No woman anywhere on the face of the earth should be treated as a second-class citizen or as someone who should be subjugated.
Feminists permit the abuse of Black women by Black men because moral relativism encourages ‘tolerance’. However, concealed inside Socialist tolerance is a moral absolutist core. It is that the white male bourgeoisie, no matter what they do or how they act, are fundamentally immoral.
THUS, Imus is guilty before he even opens his mouth.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is so eminently listenable.
In that calm and quiet way of hers, she delivers “truths” that should make your average newsperson blush in shame at their shallowness.
I humbly submit that she should give up on returning to Holland and stay in the US and continue to speak and write articles and books and, as she desires, participate in making another movie about Islam.
As for NOW…the final nail in THAT coffin of hypocrisy was failure to condemn one William Jefferson Clinton for his exploitation antics towards one hugely impressionable intern.
(ah, but Bill supported child care stuff, THAT forgives all…).
It boggled the mind, in the same way that so many self proclaimed “feminists” don’t speak out at all on the horror of what some women experience in the “Muslim world”. After all, it is part and parcel of the cult of “radical chic” to not condemn Islam in any manner, shape or form.
And racical chic (uh, radical chick ?) trumps all.
However, it means that “the NOW” gals, for the most part, amount to little more than shallow hypocrites.
October 12th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Imus, well, Imus doesn’t want to go out on a sour note.
Just like Dan Rather has tried to stir up the pot recently so as to not go out on a sour note.
Sometimes the fat lady has sung, but the actors on the stage don’t really get it.
October 13th, 2007 at 12:18 am
Miserable creatures, feminists. I never had much use for them. Listening to them howl over Iman offers a bit of entertainment if you like unintended satire.