The Evil Petting Zoo

So, the usual fear merchants of right wing punditry have decided they need to take it to the kids, and are planning on launching an "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" across college campuses in the US. Now, obviously staged photos aside, I'd like to take a look at the fact that, for an event dedicated to highlighting Islamic extremist terror, this conservative event actually ostensibly reaches out to Muslims:

In recognition of the Fiqh Council of North America’s condemnation of terrorism and other statements by Muslim leaders dissociating themselves from the jihad of Osama bin Laden and others who share his ideology around the world;

and in view of our own solidarity with all the victims and potential victims of the violent ideology of jihad and Islamic supremacism that bin Laden represents, including the Muslims whom he and his ideological kin have branded as insufficiently Islamic;

we invite the Muslim Students Association to endorse this petition, thereby standing with us in affirming the human rights and fundamental dignity of all peoples everywhere.

Well, it's got the typical undertone of, "You need to do more to distance yourself from the extremists!", but it seems downright friendly compared to most bloviations about the evil Mohammedans. Hey, let's see who stands with these Muslim students:

The Week’s events will include speeches about Islamo-Fascism by prominent figures, including former Senator Rick Santorum (Penn State, Temple and UPenn), Sean Hannity (Columbia), Ann Coulter (Tulane and USC), Dennis Prager (UC Santa Barbara), Robert Spencer (Brown, Dartmouth, University of Rhode Island, and DePaul), Daniel Pipes (Northeastern and UPenn), David Horowitz (Columbia, Emory, Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin), Michael Ledeen (Maryland), Nonie Darwish (UCLA and Berkeley), Wafa Sultan (Stanford) and radio talk show hosts Melanie Morgan (San Francisco State), Michael Medved (University of Washington), Martha Zoeller (Georgia Tech), Alan Nathan (George Mason), Mark Larson (to be named) and many others.

...so, let me get this straight. In return for proving to people who find you suspect just because of your faith that you don't want to kill people and reduce America to ruins, you get to hang with a woman who shows no shame in using words like "raghead" in political speeches, a man who thinks a Muslim Congressman swearing on the Qu'ran is a great insult to America, and a woman who shares a radio program with a guy who tries to get callers to say Allah is a whore. And if that weren't enough, check out what's on the list of featured films:

Islam: What the West Needs to Know

Description: Virtually every major Western leader has over the past several years expressed the view that Islam is a peaceful religion and that those who commit violence in its name are fanatics who misinterpret its tenets. This claim, while widely circulated, rarely attracts serious public examination.

Using original interviews, citations from Islamic texts, Islamic artwork, computer-animated maps, footage of Western leaders, and Islamic television broadcasts, Islam: What the West Needs to Know reveals the violent, expansionary ideology of the so called “religion of peace” that seeks the destruction or subjugation of other faiths, cultures, and systems of government.

"But we don't mean you, of course! We mean those evil freedom-hating Commu-Nazi-Islamofascists!"

I'd go into further detail, but seriously, this is the perfect insight into the mindset of how the far right operates. If you belong to a "questionable" group, then you are garbage, point blank. You can capitulate all you want, try to prove yourselves to them-- hell, they may even extend a hand to you. But when you take that hand, you've got to watch for the joy buzzer, because as much as they love you as a person, you still belong to a group that needs to be treated like total scum at every turn. Yay for inclusiveness.