Saturday, April 24, 2010

South Park bravery and O'Reilly cowardice

The South Park cartoon show on Comedy Central was brave enough to poke fun at the Islamic extremists. Those are the ones who if you say they are violent will say you are wrong and threaten to kill you. But the program was watered down. And who stood with the creators? Which bold protector of free speech in the entertainment industry? None. In the news media? How about brave Bill O'Reilly? Wash Examiner
... For rejecting both the threat of violence and the emotional blackmail emanating from Islam over critiquing Islam's prophet, the two "South Park" creators deserve a medal. "They're courageous -- no doubt that they are," said Bill O'Reilly of Fox's "O'Reilly Factor" this week. He was discussing the Islamic death threats against Parker and Stone that, naturally, followed the recent "South Park" Muhammad episode. The threats came in a jihadist video (caption: "Help Us Remove the Filth") portraying the writer-producers as likely victims of Islamic violence along with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Salman Rushdie, Geert Wilders, Kurt Westergaard and Lars Vilks. A photo of the slain body of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, his head nearly cut off on an Amsterdam, Netherlands, street in 2004 by a jihadist assassin, served as an example. Rather than praise Parker's and Stone's courage, however, O'Reilly went on to disparage their judgment. "Was it the smart thing to do in light of the Danish cartoonist and van Gogh?" he asked. "It's harmless to me," he continued about the episode in question. "But if you are a hard-core jihadist, any mention of Muhammad in any kind of way, particularly if you're poking fun at him, is a capital offense." According to whose law, Bill -- Islam's or ours? Or is our law now Islamic? Those are the question citizens of the Western world need to hear discussed. But not on The O'Reilly Factor. "See, I would have advised them not to do it," O'Reilly continued, "because the risk is higher than the reward." One reason there is such a high "risk" is because media people such as O'Reilly left Westergaard and now the "South Park" creators, as Parker put it, "out to dry." All media in America should have reproduced Westergaard's cartoon, just as all media in American should now applaud Parker and Stone for their defense of free speech against Sharia.
No free speech for Big Bill unless there is a "reward." He conveniently hides behind "is it safe?" Bill, you don't favor censorship, do you?

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