Tuesday 15 February 2011

Debbie Schlussel on Lara Logan

This post is going to be very difficult to write. Before I begin to explain why, I need to introduce our two main players.

Lara Logan is a war correspondent for CBS News. On Friday, 11th February, she was covering the celebrations in Tahir Square, Egypt. She got caught up in a foul element among the celebrations, and suffered a "brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating". Eventually, she was rescued by a group of women and soldiers. It goes without saying that the people who rescued her represent the fundamental goodness of the majority of those present in Tahir Square that day, and that we must all remember their bravery.

Debbie Schlussel is an extremely right-wing American political commentator and blogger, who is viruently and unapologetically anti-Muslim. She is a religious zealot. She is also one of the charming and intelligent people who believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. She has devoted her career to exposing the 'threat' of "radical Islam".

When I first read about the attack on Lara Logan, I was stunned. That even in the midst of the celebrations following Mubarak's resignation, some evil, evil people would take it upon themselves to attack and sexually assault another person disgusted me. Later though, I came across what that foul excuse for a human being Schlussel had written about the attack.

I read that nearly an hour ago, and I'm still in shock. I've sat in silence and read it over and over again, trying to find some small shred of humanity, or decency, but I can't. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I feel sick to my very core with the knowledge that out there, someone thinks things like that. I'm not ashamed to say I've spent the best part of the past hour in tears.

I'm going to take it line by line. My comments, as usual, in red.


How Muslims Celebrate Victory: Egypt’s “Peaceful, Moderate, Democratic” Protesters

As I’ve noted before, it bothers me not a lick when mainstream media reporters who keep telling us Muslims and Islam are peaceful get a taste of just how “peaceful” Muslims and Islam really are. Schlussel starts as she means to go on, by tarring a group of people with the same brush as the most disgusting of them. The fact is, she doesn't know that the attackers were even Muslim. Egypt's Christian population were just as much a part of the protests and eventual celebrations (as were other faith groups and atheists). This was not a religious uprising, it was an uprising of the people against an oppressive regime.
 In fact, it kinda warms my heart. It is at this point where you start to realise what a foul person she is. She is happy when acts of violence occur to those who disagree with her rabid proclamations of evil.
 Still, it’s also a great reminder of just how “civilized” these “people” (or, as I like to call them in Arabic, “Bahai’im” [Animals]) are: Schlussel at this point demonstrates her view that Muslims are inhuman. By dehumanising them, it makes it easier for her to spout her poisonous bile without a jot of guilt. Having read some of her other articles (don't do it to yourselves), it is clear that not only is this a continuing theme of hers, but that she is on a mission to indoctrinate others to think of Muslims this way. Without meaning to sound crass, I find it strange that a person who identifies themselves as a 'proud Jew' would resort to depersonalising the entire people of a faith for the purpose of being able to abuse them easier.
 There follows two pictures - one of the Islamic star and crescent, and one of Lara Logan in Tahir Square. The caption reads "Alhamdillullah [Praise allah], Islam Fan Lara Logan Gets a Taste of Islam". I'm not sure if I'm even able to begin to talk about just how wretched that caption is.
 On Friday February 11, the day Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a “60 Minutes” story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.

 In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering. Those two paragraphs contain the only truths in Schlussel's article, and given that they read almost identically to the BBC report linked above, I suspect she is just quoting the press release.
 Hey, sounds like the threats I get from American Muslims on a regular basis. Now you know what it’s like, Lara. I don't know whether it is true that Schlussel has ever had any threats of beatings and rape made against her, let alone regularly, and I wouldn't care to speculate. The Muslim population in America is estimated at between 1.3 - 7+ million people (demographics section). The likelihood of there being at least one bastard who thinks it's OK to make rape threats to people they don't like is fairly high. That does not mean that anyone else of the faith would condone it. That argument is like me saying "I have 100 cats. One of them is a tabby, therefore they all are".

 There will be no further comment from CBS News and Correspondent Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time.

I just love it when the people of the profession of “the public’s right to know” suddenly want “privacy.” Tell it to your next interview subject, Lara. Of course CBS has no further comment. Wouldn’t wanna impugn the “peacefulness” of “Religion of Peace” animals, would we? Now, if they were Christians or Jews, well, then there would be comments galore. Here Schlussel comes into her own. Logan was subjected to a serious and sustained sexual assault, as a private individual, but Schlussel wants her to leave convalescance and talk about how she was attacked by Muslims. I will point out again that no one has any idea that these awful, evil men were Muslim, and it wouldn't matter if they were - it proves nothing about Islam. Schlussel makes no comment or speculation on the religion of Logan's rescuers. They do not even warrant a mention beyond the fact that she was rescued. In this paragraph, Schlussel takes another opportunity to dehumanise Muslims to serve her purposes, and proves her religious zealotry with her finishing sentence. Once more, we don't know what religion the attackers were.
 WARNING: What follows is possibly the most disgusting few sentences I have ever read in my life. I am not going to analyse them, I am going to let them speak for themselves.

So sad, too bad, Lara. No one told her to go there. She knew the risks. And she should have known what Islam is all about. Now she knows. Or so we’d hope. But in the case of the media vis-a-vis Islam, that’s a hope that’s generally unanswered.

This never happened to her or any other mainstream media reporter when Mubarak was allowed to treat his country of savages in the only way they can be controlled.

Now that’s all gone. How fitting that Lara Logan was “liberated” by Muslims in Liberation Square while she was gushing over the other part of the “liberation.”

Hope you’re enjoying the revolution, Lara! Alhamdilllullah [praise allah].





 

13 comments:

  1. Ugh. Why can't these people who are constantly attacking an entire religion for supposedly being 'immoral and fundamentalist' realise that they themselves are exactly that?

    I certainly didn't expect something like this to come from a supposedly educated woman...

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  2. Normally I'd say something along the lines of 'ignore her, she's so inflammatory, so narrow in her views, so smug that it's not worth engaging, best left well alone', but that piece is... beyond sick.

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  3. Hey, I can also take a random incident and blame it on religion. This catholic priest sexually assulted a boy. CATHOLICS ARE ALL CHILD RAPISTS! Let's write an article: How Christians Celebrate Godliness

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  4. Debbie Schlussel sounds like the kind of person Melanie Phillips wishes she could be.

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  5. " Hey, sounds like the threats I get from American Muslims on a regular basis. Now you know what it’s like, Lara"

    Here she appears to be claiming that her receiving threats of violence and sexual assault is the equivalent of Lara Logan actually experiencing it.

    That article is vile.

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  6. Oh My God. That is disgusting. I have not clicked the link to the actual article, because I do not wish to give this the oxygen of increased traffic. However, I sincerely hope that you have trackedback with this link, and that she reads your excellent debunking of these words.

    How disgraceful that this person should call herself female and think like this about the serious sexual assault of another woman. This is not the topic to cover for a snide point scoring exercise such as this is.

    Well done on your rebuttal, try and spread it as wide as you can where discussion of this vile point of view occurs.

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  7. To see how dumb this schlussel women is, do the following:

    1. Visit: http://www.oakgov.com/clerkrod/courtexplorer/

    2. Open Court Explorer and do a search for schlussel

    3. Laugh at how many times Debbie has been sued for failure to pay bills or for stalking (the actual documents are hilarious).

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  8. This person, Debbie Schlussel, is clueless. Yet another ignorant person who holds an entire people, based on their region, responsible for the act of a few. And as you stated, they may have not even been Muslim at all. She forgets that this type of horrible behavior is not confined to Muslims or just the Middle East/Africa, it happens right here in the US by so called Christians.

    Debbie Schlussel must really hate herself to speak so ill of other people. "In fact, it kinda warms my heart." This is not ambiguous. It only means exactly what it reads. So stating that the left has misconstrued her disgusting blog is ludicrous.

    Debbie Schlussel, it sounds like you have no heart, so how can it be warmed?

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  9. Correction to my above post: ...based on their religion...

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  10. This is a necessary post.It is difficult for us to read, and it was clearly hell for you to research, and write, but I, for one, am so grateful you did.

    Lara Logan's ongoing ordeal is unimaginable, but to have her world of pain invaded by (and I choose my words very carefully here) the Nazi ravings of this unhinged bigot...well,it plumbs the lowest depths of evil intent.

    It sickens us yes, but, thanks to your efforts,
    it also reminds us how the sleep of Reason brings forth such monsters.Sweet Reason awake!

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  11. Our judgement of her (Schlussel), is human response to the foul, desrespectiful, and ignorant statements she has made. Forget about the media, forget about the infamy, or the coverage she recieves.

    Imagine, what she will think of herself 40 or 50 years from now when she is old and frail and reflecting upon her life. Her political and religious points of view may be the same, however she will always carry with her the statements she just made.

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  12. Schlussel's words are ignorant and cruel. Such open hatred is disturbing to read. Thank you for providing a counterpoint to her asinine article

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  13. Like you, when I originally read of the attack, I was stunned. I sat and cried. I cancelled my plans and went home and prayed. Reading your story about the awful comments made about Ms. Logan is also stunning, in a sad, shameful way. Thank you for bringing this to light and for your critical analysis, which I think is actually very fair.

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