"The Hollywood Ten in reverse"

"It seems to me in retrospect, that this strange childhood was a good preparation for adherence to Islam," wrote Hassan Abdul Hakeem, AKA Charles Le Gai Eaton, who happens to be the father of one Leo Eaton, who -- allegedly under said father's influence -- blackballed as "too alarmist" the documentary "Islam and Islamism" that had been commissioned by CPB as part of its "America at a Crossroads" series. Roger L Simon is not amused (see below). Meanwhile, Eaton père's words may shed some light on the question of "why they hate us," or more likely, why they just don't give a damn about us: "Wherever he may have been born and whatever his race, the Muslim's homeland is the Dar-ul-islam, the House of Islam. His passport, here and in the Hereafter, is the simple confession of Faith, La ilaha illa 'Llah. He does not expect -- or should not expect -- security or stability in this world and must always keep in mind the fact that death may take him tomorrow. He has no firm roots here in this fragile earth. His roots are above in That which alone endures." ("Islamic style" photoshop image by Makki Style)

"I hereby call on my fellow Motion Picture Academy members, whatever their political leanings, to protest this cowardly and un-American act of censorship," writes Roger L. Simon, who gives a thumbs up to the documentary that PBS doesn't want you to see. Produced as part of the network's "America at a Crossroads" series that aired in April, Martyn Burke's "Islam vs. Islamism" was pulled from the schedule at the last minute and replaced by "The Muslim Americans," a Robin McNeil production that co-executive producer of the spiked documentary Alex Alexiev calls "a propaganda film for Islamism":

For example, "The Muslim Americans" refused to acknowledge even the potential for home-grown Islamic extremism in the US. Nor did the documentary exhibit any interest in finding out about Islamic radicalism and its implications for America and its Muslim community.

The blogosphere was all over the story a couple of weeks back. Now our own fearless Pajamas Media leader -- himself a screenwriter and voting member of the Academy -- has tasted the forbidden fruit at one of only three public screenings to date. Roger's take (be sure to read it all):

Burke’s doc is a riveting and creatively made film about the most important subject of our time: what to do about radical Islam? It confronts this dilemma in a sly, novelistic manner, inter-weaving the stories of good, moderate Muslims with the Imams and supposedly “true Muslims” who, not surprisingly, accuse the moderate Muslims of not being Muslims at all. Soon enough we learn these Imams are apologists for terrorism and for the worst kind of medieval religious sadism . . .

But it does have a strong point of view -- and therein lies the rub. PBS, clearly, does not like what this movie says. And I suspect it likes it less because the film is well made (the reverse of what the network originally claimed).

PBS’ views seem particularly troglodytic today in light of recent events at Fort Dix. But that is the least of it. What is far more important to our country is that our Public Broadcasting network, an organization supported by taxpayer money, is practicing the most obvious censorship. PBS is operating here in the manner of similar institutions in the former Soviet Union and in modern day Iran -- financing artists and then withholding distribution of their work when it is not deemed ideologically “correct”. It’s a form of thought-control, and it’s unconscionable.

Fear societies, heavy and lite, seem to be our species' default mode. Even within a free society like ours, freedom isn't free. It's sad and frightening to see the Robert McNeils of this world bowing down in dhimmitude to the forces of darkness. If you want to help root out this noxious weed, head on over to "Free the Film" and sign the petition protesting PBS’s censorship here. Roger has the last word:

As Burke told me about his whole experience, “I’m living the Hollywood Ten in reverse.”

Who's Un-American now?

Comments

[goomp]

Ignorance!!! The liberal establishment is ignorant of human nature and the real world. They have a vision of what they think the world ought to be and think that if they deny the real nature of man it will change and become nice. Ignorance!!!

[Teresa]

I'm not the least surprised. PBS has been more or less doing this very thing for years and years. This one is just a bit more obvious than most.

As for the Robert McNeils of this world... they aren't bowing down, they are standing up foursquare for radical Islam. After all, as long as those guys are killing people in the world, and the "McNeils" can blame it on America... they've got a pretty cushy job. The hell with keeping America a safe and free country.

[Gayle Miller]

Given the quantity of nonsense thrown at us on a daily basis, it's a miracle any of us are sane!

[erglerg]

Is it possible they the documentary just got cut? I read there were several documentaries made for this and they had to narrow them down due to limited time. I watched this series on PBS and thought the documentaries were great and didn't see any bias in them.

[newkillerstar]

Gaffney is, certainly, also not without his own personal agendas - I'm not surprised if the people determining what aired did make the judgement call that his film was alarmist - any look at one of his editorials would give you the gist of it, I'm sure, and he's not exactly about objectivity.

Honestly, it bugs me a little bit to see that people are still screaming that PBS did something awful by not airing the Gaffney documentary, and that it must therefore have some ridiculous bias. I don't think that this assumption could be further from the truth. I watched all of America at a Crossroads, and I thought the series did a good job at presenting a variety of opinions and perspectives. They had a film by Richard Perle of all people, so I hardly think you can call them liberals.

[Sissy Willis]

erglerg: You did better than I . . . I didn't watch any but read the transcripts of a couple, and for the most part they sounded excellent. It was Roger's take plus background news items that reported the bland McNeil episode -- panned even by the New York Times! -- that got me to thinking something was rotten in the state of Denmark.

[Sissy Willis]

newkillerstar: Thanks for your excellent comments . . . But may I remind you that every thinking person has an agenda . . . The "objectivity" self-delusion of our so-called MSM is a sad tale told by an idiot and signifying nothing.