Alea iacta est

Whistlin' at Dogs

John Howard makes a sensible comment:

JOHN Howard has strongly criticised aspects of Muslim culture, warning they pose an unprecedented challenge for Australia's immigration program.

While he remained confident that the overwhelming majority of Muslims would be successfully integrated, the Prime Minister said there were two unique problems that previous intakes of migrants from Europe and Asia did not have.

"I do think there is this particular complication because there is a fragment which is utterly antagonistic to our kind of society, and that is a difficulty," Mr Howard told The Australian.

"You can't find any equivalent in Italian, or Greek, or Lebanese, or Chinese or Baltic immigration to Australia. There is no equivalent of raving on about jihad, but that is the major problem."

The Prime Minister also expressed concern about Muslim attitudes to women. "I think some of the associated attitudes towards women (are) a problem," he said.

"For all the conservatism towards women and so forth within some of the Mediterranean cultures, it's as nothing compared with some of the more extreme attitudes.

"The second one of those things is a broader problem, but to be fair to them, it's an attitude that is changing with the younger ones."

Sounds fair and balanced to me. There are problems in the Australian Muslim community, and the youth of said community are even aware of them.

Note how the PM repeatedly stresses that it's only a minority in the Muslim community? (And repeats the point here.) Remember that.

But then, as is par for the course in the PC society we inhabit everyone turns on their "outrage" switch and we enter bizarro world where Spock has a beard and nothing is what it seems.

Suddenly some people start pretending the PM is talking about every Muslim in the entire country, merely so they can take out the "RACIST!!!!" placard.

The boys at Fairfax are leading the charge - I notice the term "dogwhistle" is being thrown around....

(For those not in the know, the term "dogwhistle" is beloved of lefties. What it supposedly means is some ultra-super-dooper coded message that centre-right politicans send out that, while not racist in itself, sends a secret message to voters saying, "I hate darkies". In other words, it's a way for a lefty to smear someone as a racist without offering any proof.)

Anyhow, as predicted, some community leaders have risen to the bait, offering some truly inane arguments which you can see in this article.

"Within Australia we have seen Captain Francis De Groot and the New Guard, then the League of Rights and the Australian Nationalists Party and more recently the rise and fall of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party.

The HELL? Pauline Hanson mainly stood on a platform of agro-socialist economics, neglible immigration and no benefits to Aborigines. On matters such as gender equality, religious freedom and democracy I'd say she'd be far, far to the left of most fundamentalists.

And gee...Francis de Groot is the best example of an Australian fascist you can come up with? The guy whose sole claim to fame is cutting a ribbon on the harbour bridge? Seventy-five years ago?

This is the kind of extremism Howard is talking about, not some red-haired fish and chips owner espousing agrarian socialism or some looney ribbon cutting gimboid.

It's the fact they wish to harm the country's interests and her citizens that alarms people.

Do you think Mr Bakr is about to retire and take up a dancing career like Ms Hanson?

Lebanese Muslims Association spokesman Keysar Trad said Mr Howard was "unfortunately just pandering to the Islamaphobia out there by making these comments".

Oh, goody! Let's wheel out the tired "Islamophobia" strawman again, shall we? It hasn't reared it's ugly heard for at least...oh...three weeks?

Remember, if you don't have much of an argument, just accuse your opponents of "racism"! Works every time.

"I'm extremely disappointed that the PM would again single out the Muslim community still reeling from the spin out of the Cronulla riots," Mr Trad said.

Notice Mr Trad doesn't explain that the Muslim community largely built the conditions for the Cronulla riots... might hurt his "oh, I'm a victim!" meme....

"I'm a bit struck by his comments about jihad. The greatest form of jihad is freedom of conscience - to speak your mind in the face of wrongdoing.

"Another great form of jihad is to be a good citizen.

"To someone like me when the PM criticises something like jihad he is criticising freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and efforts to be a good citizen.

"Jihad is a personal struggle to be the best that I can be."

Fap, fap, fap, fap, fap.....Sweet zombie Jesus mate, I know you like to think that "Oh, Jihad means non-violent struggle!" and the rest of such diplomatic doublespeak...

But I think we're past the stage anyone believes that, since the most common use seems to be angry young men detonating themselves in the middle of busy streets

.... regardless, aren't you the same guy who complained about the use of the word Crusade? Do you know what that word means? Heck, do you know what irony means?

Mr Trad also said Mr Howard had been wrong to criticise Islamic attitudes towards women, saying Mohammed had had given women equal rights long before they became acceptable in 20th century western society.

Ahahahaahahaahahaha........

Oh, mercy.

I guess that's why men and women are allowed to pray together in mosques everywhere in the Muslim world, is it?

Oh, they're not?

Ok, so there's that.....oh, and women have to cover themselves in bits of cloth because...well, fuck knows, but I think it's because their hair has evil cosmic rays coming out of it.

Ok, two things.

Oh and women in Saudi Arabia aren't allowed to vote....or drive....or be out in public with a male who isn't a relative....

And a Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim, but a Muslim woman can't...

....and the Qu'ran says a woman is worth half a man, men are a degree above women, males get to inherit twice as much as females, Allah made men in charge of women and much more misogyny!

But yeah. Equal Rights. Woo. Totally invented by Islam.

Totally!

UPDATE: www.news.com.au's poll on "Whether immigrants should be made to adopt Australian values and behaviour once they arrive here" stands at 80% yes.

Even the usually notoriously leftist Fairfax poll reports 65% in favour of "The PM's comments needed to be made".

Gosh darn, I hate it when the public doesn't follow the script....Maybe they're all islamophobic?

My main advice to the Australian Islamic community? Dump your community leaders. They're shit, don't know what they're talking about and they only embarrass you all further.

Luckily, you're already moving in that direction, so, God speed!

More from House of Wheels (who noticed the same Abu Bakr point I did).

UPDATE II: I'm glad we aren't at the stage that they're at in Britain.

Four out of 10 British Muslims want sharia law introduced into parts of the country, a survey reveals today.

Oh, that sounds delightful.

Posted by Quentin George at February 20, 2006 08:04 PM