Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Muslims we could use aren't being used

 If you don't want to get too upset, don't read the article below........Mr Z and I went to see Zuhdi Jasser speak(I covered that lecture HERE) and thought a lot of him and I'd have thought this kind of Muslim is just the type we need for the position the White House is trying to fill........That he's been taken off the short list stuns me.  Read at your own risk:
Zuhdi Jasser’s Counter-Jihad
The administration refuses to utilize a strong opponent of radical Islam.


Shortly after 9/11, many thought it was imperative to teach about and promote the heroes of that deadly day. One such hero whose life and example we can never learn enough about was Rick Rescorla. Originally from England, he came to America and distinguished himself as an Army infantry officer in Vietnam. Later he became head of security at Morgan Stanley, and, after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, he knew the terrorists would go after the Twin Towers again. He warned the authorities continually; moreover, he led regular evacuation drills between 1993 and 2001. On 9/11, he successfully led almost every Morgan Stanley employee out to safety. He himself did not make it. His last known words were, “As soon as I make sure everyone else is out.” He said those words to another Morgan Stanley employee who had yelled to him that he had to get out too. Rick Rescorla’s remains were never found.

Rick’s life was not wasted; he saved a lot of people. But if the government had listened to him before 9/11, he would have saved even more. Rick was somebody who should have been posted at the top of our intelligence community, but he wasn’t. Today, we are still not listening to the most creative and prophetic thinkers among us. One of them is Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum on Democracy. He is the intellectual Rick Rescorla of our day. Dr. Jasser, a practicing Muslim, is a physician and former lieutenant commander in the Navy — someone who, like Rick Rescorla, served his country with distinction, and continues to do so both in his medical practice and in his public warnings and teachings about the dangers from radical Islam. One of his efforts has been to confront members of Muslim Brotherhood organizations such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), who continually denigrate America. Jasser’s view is that we should promote the virtues of American freedom and tolerance, which American Muslims enjoy, and should also publicize the way our efforts abroad have given freedom to Muslims in other countries.
Indeed, while most so-called mainstream Muslim and Arab groups in America feed hysteria and spread conspiracy theories, Dr. Jasser despises the grievance narrative; he loves America. Now more than ever, he is the kind of man our government should listen to — and, more important, he is the kind of man our government should use.
But, although Dr. Jasser has offered to serve his country again, this administration has ignored this unique opportunity. Last year, recognizing the need for a shift in our thus-far-ineffective public-diplomacy program, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and others nominated Dr. Jasser to serve on the State Department’s U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (Z: I believe this was started by Karen Hughes, remember?). The commission is charged with “Appraising U.S. Government activities intended to understand, inform, and influence foreign publics.” There could be nobody better suited to serve in this role. Here is some of what Dr. Jasser said when testifying — extemporaneously — before the House Committee on Homeland Security earlier this year:
Until we have an ideological offense into the Muslim communities domestically and globally to teach liberty, to teach the separation of mosque and state, you are not going to solve this problem. . . .
. . . Our organization has . . . created a Muslim liberty project that looks at inoculating Muslims with the ideals of liberty, giving them the empowerment to counter imams, to feel that they can represent their own faith. . . .
This is our homeland. And we want to begin, if you will, a counter-jihad, an offense to counter these ideas. That, I think, is the best way to use our resources as a nation, and remember that the freedoms that we have don’t come with a cheap price, and we need to give back.
This is, simply, Dr. Jasser’s life’s work. This is the kind of thought and talk we need more of, not less. This is the intellectual Rescorlaesque effort we should be promoting and the government should be availing itself of.

Upon his nomination, Dr. Jasser submitted reams of information about himself to the State Department and the White House Office of Personnel Management. He spent hours upon hours in interviews. He passed every clearance with flying colors, including receiving confirmation of a top-secret clearance. This is a man, after all, who gave eleven years of service to the U.S. Navy, including some very sensitive assignments. And, now, after 15 months of vetting, he has learned that his nomination has been “removed from consideration,” with no explanation.What explanation could there be? Unlike some commission members, Dr. Jasser was not a donor to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. But something else must have been at work as well. That something might have ranged from a lack of understanding of the dangerousness of jihadism and Islamism to a lack of respect for the muscular advocacy of the ideas of freedom and liberty. And, probably, one other thing was at work too: a political decision based on Dr. Jasser’s open criticism of the administration for its lack of clarity in the war of ideas and its inability to identify the ideology we are fighting. It should be noted, however, that Dr. Jasser is an equal-opportunity critic: He has spoken out against both the Bush and the Obama administrations when he believes they have faltered. Clarity in the war of ideas, the ability to identify the ideology we are fighting, and expertise in the religion of Islam are precisely what we need. It’s ten years late, but not too late. It is a shame we will not soon be availing ourselves officially of Dr. Jasser’s work. It is work that we sorely need. Indeed, it is intellectual and rhetorical courage and heroism. We ignore and spurn it at our continued peril.
— R. James Woolsey is the chairman of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and was the director of central intelligence from 1993 to 1995. Seth Leibsohn is a radio host and co-author of Fight of our Lives.
Z: This man would have been on our side.........but he won't be.
z

35 comments:

Silverfiddle said...

If we get a republican in the white house he hopefully will be pressed into service.

I have heard him speak on TV and he is just what we need. There are millions more like him, but Muslims are generally a conservative people not prone to making big public displays (unless they are loony jihadis).

Jasser, with the right platform, could really start something positive in this country.

Maybe Herman Cain could make a point of singling him out as the kind of Muslim he would have in his cabinet?

Z said...

SF, that's a fabulous idea for Cain...to be talking about that NOW. This isn't like the Fed Reserve appointee whom he wouldn't (and shouldn't) commit to last night at the Bloomberg debate (whose format I liked for a change)....this is an appointment that could attract a LOT of votes.

When we heard him speak, we were really impressed with him. He is just the man to start something positive in this country.

Thersites said...

The private sector needs to do what government has become too inept to do. If the Right ever wants to see things get better, it cannot depend upon always having a majority in Congress to achieve it. There will always be gaps and a need to fill in between them. This is one of those times.

Ducky's here said...

Yeah, this the same outfit that Karen "Big Boy" Hughes was running under the Bush administration?

It was a hopeless failure then and it's going to be a hopeless failure now.

Speedy G said...

It's time to adapt and re-orient the Westboro Baptist Church "business model" towards destroying institutions on the Left and re-directing their funds towards achieving the Right's goals. All we need is a few harrasstivists and some greedy legal eagles to lead the counterattack.

Speedy G said...

We should target the Leftist "foundations" with the deepest pockets, first. In a few years', the "Tides Foundation" will be funding a right-wing think tank.

Speedy G said...

from Aristophane's "Knights"

Meanwhile - a conversation heard not far from Wall Street...

CLEON. Oh! veteran Heliasts, brotherhood of the three obols, whom I fostered by bawling at random, help me; I am being beaten to death by rebels.

CHORUS. And 'tis justice; you devour the public funds that all should share in; you treat the officers answerable for the revenue like the fruit of the fig tree, squeezing them to find which are still green or more or less ripe; and, when you find one simple and timid, you force him to come from the Chersonese, then you seize him by the middle, throttle him by the neck, while you twist his shoulder back; he falls and you devour him. Besides, you know very well how to select from among the citizens those who are as meek as lambs, rich, without guile and loathers of lawsuits.

CLEON. Eh! what! Knights, are you helping them? But, if I am beaten, 'tis in your cause, for I was going to propose to erect you a statue in the city in memory of your bravery.

CHORUS. Oh! the impostor! the dull varlet! See! he treats us like old dotards and crawls at our feet to deceive us; but the cunning wherein lies his power shall this time recoil on himself; he trips up himself by resorting to such artifices.

CLEON. Oh Citizens! oh people! see how these brutes are bursting my
belly.

CHORUS. What shouts! but 'tis this very bawling that incessantly upsets the city!

SAUSAGE-SELLER. I can shout too--and so loud that you will flee with fear.

CHORUS. If you shout louder than he does, I will strike up the triumphal hymn; if you surpass him in impudence, the cake is ours.

CLEON. I denounce this fellow; he has had tasty stews exported from Athens for the Spartan fleet.

SAUSAGE-SELLER. And I denounce him, who runs into the Prytaneum with empty belly and comes out with it full.

DEMOSTHENES. And by Zeus! he carries off bread, meat, and fish, which is forbidden. Pericles himself never had this right.

CLEON. You are travelling the right road to get killed.

SAUSAGE-SELLER. I'll bawl three times as loud as you.

CLEON. I will deafen you with my yells.

SAUSAGE-SELLER. And I you with my bellowing.

CLEON. I shall calumniate you, if you become a Strategus.

SAUSAGE-SELLER. Dog, I will lay your back open with the lash.

CLEON. I will make you drop your arrogance.

SAUSAGE-SELLER. I will baffle your machinations.

CLEON. Dare to look me in the face!

SAUSAGE-SELLER. I too was brought up in the market-place.

CLEON. I will cut you to shreds if you whisper a word.

SAUSAGE-SELLER. I will daub you with dung if you open your mouth.

CLEON. I own I am a thief; do you admit yourself another.

SAUSAGE-SELLER. By our Hermes of the market-place, if caught in the act, why, I perjure myself before those who saw me.

CLEON. These are my own special tricks. I will denounce you to the Prytanes as the owner of sacred tripe, that has not paid tithe.

CHORUS. Oh! you scoundrel! you impudent bawler! everything is filled with your daring, all Attica, the Assembly, the Treasury, the decrees, the tribunals. As a furious torrent you have overthrown our city; your outcries have deafened Athens and, posted upon a high rock, you have lain in wait for the tribute moneys as the fisherman does for the tunny-fish.

CLEON. I know your tricks; 'tis an old plot resoled.[


...an old plot, indeed.

Speedy G said...

Xenophon, "Oeconomicus"

Soc. It would seem, according to your argument, that the foes of a man's own household after all may be wealth to him, if he knows how to turn them to good account?

...and for over fifty years, the Left has been "turning them (their enemies) to good account"

Speedy G said...

How much money will the "Occupy Wall Street" movement shakedown of bankers earn them... especially when they begin showing up at the homes of "greedy bank executives"?

Your home?

Speedy G said...

How much Wall Street money will pour into Barack Obama's campaign coffers before he "calls off the dogs"?

Anonymous said...

This guy is terrific. I saw him a few times on CNN and FOX. Also on the radio.
But the media would rather have someone more controversial. It's better for ratings. They're not in the business of showing us there are good and politically conservative Muslims, especially this one who's a good friend of Mark Levine for example.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

How much Wall Street money will pour into Barack Obama's campaign coffers before he "calls off the dogs"?

How many Debbie Wasserman Schultzs will go on record in support of the Fleabaggers before they turn violent and the news itself becomes a infocommercial for electing Republicans?

Z said...

Speedy...'everything old is new again,' huh?

FB...Jasser didn't contribute to O's campaign, as many of the others had. He also isn't angry at America and demanding TOLERANCE :-)
The Obama folks like that type more.
No, the media doesn't want to show there are good Muslims any more than many bloggers like to admit it.

Even Ducky thinks this will be a 'hopeless failure' though he's so often here telling us so smugly that we don't have to worry about terrorists.

Z said...

Beamish, first, that's Debbie WasserPERSON Schultz, dontchaknow :-)...and yes, as I said above, a lot of people thinks that watching these nuts is creating a lot of Reagan Republicans.

Viva the Protesters

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

viva la protesters LOL

"Wasserperson" ROFLMAO

Anonymous said...

Z, I think I figured Ducky... Ducky is a contrarian so he'll say the opposite of whatever one says just to stand out. If we were saying this guy was terrible, he'd say this guy is great and we should listen to him.

How about this terror plot involving the drug cartels in Mexico? With Fast and Furious over there, Ducky would say there's nothing to worry about.

Z said...

I had Wiki'd Karen Hughes last night only to find another hatchet job. It's absolutely unbelievable the lengths people go to at Wiki with Conservatives........
ANYTHING BUSH is slammed....only quotes they don't like are highlighted.

She was slammed for suggesting Saddam had killed hundreds of thousands with poison gas when all reports over these years say he'd killed 300,000...Wikipedia suggests it was wrong and only in 'the thousands'......
how do you correct people like that? And others READ IT. sad.

Z said...

beamish, I wish I'd coined the WasserPERSON line...I forget which blogger did now but I laughed for days :-)

THat protester calling for bloody protests needs to be outed. They're not arresting people for threatening bloodbaths? OH, I forgot; they're lefties and that's free speech. geeez

Anonymous said...

I saw Wasserperson this morning around 5am and I think seeing her that early on TV is worse than morning sex with bad breath.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

I always expect Wasserperson's voice to be feminine, and it surprises me every time. It's like she's got a perpetual sore throat to go with her horseface.

Anonymous said...

"It was a hopeless failure then and it's going to be a hopeless failure now."

Wow...sure sounds like "Big Sis" and Homeland Insecurity / TSA to me.

Anonymous said...

" worse than morning sex with bad breath."

Gawd...please...no mention of wasserman and sex in the same sentence again...please?

Z said...

FB "worse than morning sex with bad breath." eeeooo!!

Beamish, it's the words she's trying to choke out. even SHE knows how ridiculous she sounds; after all, she WAS raised in American schools, I presume.......anybody who goes this far off from the founding fathers' principles of self-reliance, charity from the heart, and small government simply can't speak without force, right?


I think I just made myself the best scrambled eggs in the world...low heat's the key....mmm I wish you could all have had some!

I'm off for most of the day....talk amongst yourselves, thanks for coming by, and have a great afternoon!

Elbro; if you see this, you know what to do...in case!! Thanks, my friend :-)

Anonymous said...

low heat's the key

AMEN!!!!

Olive oil, low heat, delicate scrambling. You'll get velvety eggs.

Trekkie4Ever said...

Z, I have never heard of him, but it's good to know that there are people like him in the world.

Pris said...

This is the administration which refers to the Muslim Brotherhood as reformed and non violent.
They know better.

Mr. Jasser does not fit into their agenda. It's as simple as that.

Bd said...

It has been the right who has consistency advocated the ostracizing of Muslims in government service. To blame Obama is not only disingenuous, it's downright laughable.

Z said...

FrogBurger..OLIVE OIL?? I think I wouldn't want that taste in my eggs....
Also, I often put lemon on hot scrambled eggs, with salt....
I'll have to try your olive oil idea, but it must flavor it fairly heavily, non?

Pris, he sure does NOT fit in to their agenda.

Leticia, he's a very good guy.

Bd....THINK. Conservatives want PRO AMERICAN Muslims who can show Islam how our liberties work....I've said so many times READ THE POSTS AND THEN TALK. We like people who fight for US not for themselves.
MY gosh.....we're trying to get the bad guys, but you probably think there are no bad muslims, right?

Lisa said...

I have heard Zuhdi Jasser also on FOX,I am surprised CNN had him on.
Anyway he is a level headed common sense guy who could definitely cast a positive outlook on Muslims in this country.
The left is so obvious. They fly like buzzards around anyone who thinks freely out of the box they like to keep them in.

Oh yeah Z slow cooking eggs is key for sure. I used to be a short order cook back in My High School Days.

Always On Watch said...

Dr. Jasser may well be "the real deal."

Yes, I'm quite wary of Muslims, particularly because of taqiyya.

Another individual I'd like to hear more from: Dr. Tawfik Hamid. Google that name.

cube said...

Jasser is my kind of moslem. Of course he wouldn't appeal to the WON.

Anonymous said...

As opposed to the right who think all Muslims are terrorists? Lol!

Z said...

"As opposed to the right who think all Muslims are terrorists? Lol!"

"LOL" back.....we are on the Right and, as you can see, we're all for this MUSLIM to be nominated. It's OBAMA who didn't get enough change$$ for his campaign from him and might not want a Muslim who puts our country first.
GO figure..

MathewK said...

"Dr. Jasser despises the grievance narrative; he loves America."

And there you have the reason why democrats are instinctively suspicious of him.

If he was some sort of America-hating jihadist, they'd be falling over themselves to provide lawyers and state funds to ensure he thrives.

Like Silverfiddle said, if you get a republican in the white, things might change.

Z said...

MK, that's SO TRUE! The White House apparently DESPISES a Muslim who puts America first....
gad, you're Australian, but as I've told you before, YOU ROCK when it comes to grasp the MESS we have here these days!