Pim's Lessons. Here's an
excellent piece by columnist Dave Kopel, in the Rocky Mountain
News, about the media's bias in reporting about Pim Fortuyn. In
taking to task an AP story about Fortuyn which painted him as an
extremist, Kopel writes:
"the gay Dutch sociology professor offered complaints about Islam which are quite similar to complaints that some gay American sociology professors (and other American gays) offer about Christianity: anti-gay, sexist, morally imperialist, and premised on the belief that one religion is superior to all others. Now, when American gay activists make such remarks, the AP doesn't work itself into a lather and claim that the remarks reveal "demons" in the American character""
Coverage in the conservative Washington Times notes that last year Fortuyn was thrown out of a left-wing party for condemning a Rotterdam Muslim cleric who had called homosexuals "worse than pigs." Again, criticizing Islamic fundamentalism -- even for its virulent homophobia -- is deemed out of bounds, even after Sept. 11. Clearly, the liberal-left demonization of this man stemmed from his insisting that a point is reached when multiculturalism threatens the basic values of liberal Western culture. If it's true that a leftist environmentalist shot him, then at least it may reveal the extent to which the radical left has truly become a totalitarian anti-Western cult that can't countenance any deviation from its politically correct party line, and the extent to which elite liberalism backs up the leftist worldview (i.e., its willingness to sacrifice gay equality on the alter of anti-Western multiculturalism). That "queer" left groups are clamoring aboard this bandwagon is the ultimate irony -- or revelation of self-loathing.