Islam vs. Islamists

Islam’s Media Apologists Keep Excusing, Ignoring Violence
By Lauren Thompson | September 14, 2012 | 11:46 AM EDT

On Sept. 11, 2012, riots erupted in Egypt, Libya and now Yemen, ostensibly over what the media call an anti-Muslim Youtube video made in America. In Benghazi, militants murdered the United States ambassador to Libya and three U.S. diplomats.

American blood was shed and mobs of Muslims continue to burn American flags and chant “Death to America!” around multiple U.S. consulates. It’s a scene that’s played out on almost a regular basis. A media story (about flushing Korans or other slights to Islam real or imagined) provides some pretext and the “Arab Street” explodes with raging mobs. The ambassador’s death is what sets the current situation apart.

CIA Expert Who Criticized Bush, Clinton Critiques Obama - Ignored By Media
By Mike Sargent | April 28, 2009 | 1:03 PM EDT

Nothing in American politics is quite so intriguing as the Central Intelligence Agency. There is a certain mystique surrounding this agency, almost wholly because it has proven to be quite good at keeping secrets. Thus, whenever the actions of the CIA are widely reported in the media, the story typically becomes a fixation for many news outlets - and any former agent who is able to shed light on these actions are usually well-received. But even here, the media has limits. Take Michael Scheuer, for example. He began as an outspoken critic of President Clinton’s leadership during the CIA’s hunt for Osama bin Laden. Later, Scheuer became a very vocal critic of the Iraq war, and of President Bush’s foreign policy also broadcast throughout the mainstream media. For a media that claim to love bipartisanship, one might think that Scheuer would be on the verge of permanent punditry. But while Scheuer is an equal-opportunity critic of missteps by Democratic and Republican administrations, the broadcast news media seem to draw the line at allowing him on air to find fault with President Obama. Scheuer wrote a column in Sunday’s Washington Post, daring to claim that the president’s actions in publishing the so-called CIA torture memos were morally reprehensible:

Muslim With Ties to Hamas to Address Inaugural Prayer Service
By Noel Sheppard | January 18, 2009 | 1:14 PM EST

A Muslim religious leader with alleged ties to the terrorist group Hamas is scheduled to address President Barack Obama's inaugural prayer service on Wednesday.

Given the recent hostilities in Israel surrounding Hamas, irrespective of a just-announced ceasefire, one has to wonder how much attention this matter will get from Obama-loving media which are also largely pro-Palestinian.

Although Politico is getting credit for breaking this story, the American Thinker appears to have been the first to unveil the truth behind Ingrid Mattson Saturday (photo courtesy AP via Politico):

PBS Ombudsman Raps Anti-Palin Wisecrack
By Mike Bates | September 19, 2008 | 9:33 PM EDT

On PBS's Web site today, ombudsman Michael Getler writes of complaints over an incident during last Sunday's pledge drive.  He describes the cheap shot taken by actor Mike Farrell against vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin:

According to Joseph Campbell, vice president of fundraising programs, here's what happened:

CNN's Chetry: 'Please Tell Me It's Not Lipstick Again'
By Mike Bates | September 10, 2008 | 11:40 PM EDT

 On CNN's American Morning today, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux reported on Barack Obama's campaigning in Virginia.  Afterwards, anchor Kiran Chetry had a question:

CHETRY: All right. And Suzanne, what's on tap for the campaign today? And please tell me it's not lipstick again.

MALVEAUX: Let's hope not. He's going to be in Norfolk, Virginia. That is in southeast Virginia, and it's home to the world's largest Naval base. It's one of the most competitive areas that the Democrats and Republicans are fighting over. It's a critical piece of property, piece of land there with folks in Virginia, and they want those voters.
Documentary on 'Anti-Islamist Muslims' Aired Nationwide as PBS Practices Called Into Question
By Kevin Mooney | August 30, 2007 | 2:15 PM EDT

Where are the moderate Muslims who willingly speak out against the Islamist agenda, and why are their voices not heard in the mainstream media?

These questions are explored in a documentary that is receiving national exposure over the next several weeks via an Oregon affiliate of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Producers and advisors with WETA, the Washington D.C. affiliate of PBS, had previously denied airing the film as part of the "America at a Crossroads Series."

PBS Demotes 'Islam vs. Islamists' Film To The Wee-Hours Circuit
By Tim Graham | May 26, 2007 | 1:54 PM EDT

Frank Gaffney's film "Islam vs. Islamists" -- ripped out of PBS's post-9/11 film series "America At The Crossroads" like unsightly hair off PBS's back -- has now found a distributor in Oregon Public Broadcasting. Is that good news? It might be good that more of the public might have a chance to see it. But its new distribution deal with OPB means it's completely optional for PBS stations to air it, and whenever they want -- like 3 AM on a Monday morning.

The Islam Documentary You Didn't See
By Matthew Sheffield | May 12, 2007 | 5:13 PM EDT

PBS won't let the general public watch "Islam vs. Islamists," however blogger Roger Simon has seen it and was quite impressed:

On Hannity & Colmes, MRC/NB's Bozell Targets Bill Moyers and PBS Hypocrisy
By NB Staff | April 24, 2007 | 10:04 PM EDT

Brent Bozell, President of the Media Research Center, which publishes NewsBusters, appeared Tuesday night on FNC's "Hannity & Colmes" to criticize PBS for returning left-winger Bill Moyers to the taxpayer-funded network just weeks after PBS spiked Frank Gaffney's documentary, "Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center," which was intended to be part of last week's 11-part America at a Crossroads series. Wednesday night, most PBS stations will run Moyers's left-wing screed, "Buying the War," about how the news media was supposedly complicit in the Bush administration's false contentions that got the U.S. into the Iraq war. (More below on the segment and topic)

Video clip (5:58): Real (10.2 MB at higher-quality 225 kbps) or Windows Media (3.8 MB at lower-quality 81 kbps), plus MP3 audio (2.1 MB)

PBS Drops Documentary Against Radical Islam for 'Political Reasons'
By Warner Todd Huston | April 11, 2007 | 3:00 AM EDT

An American tax-funded documentary, titled Islam vs. Islamists, a film on how moderate Muslims feel about the corruption of their religion by Wahhabi extremists and their experiences in facing those extremists, was axed by PBS for the very reason that it puts some Muslims in a bad light, says the film's producer in Tuesday's edition of the Arizona Republic. Rampant PCism is the charge, and it is hard to deny the claim once the whole story is put out there.

The producer of a tax-financed documentary on Islamic extremism claims his film has been dropped for political reasons from a television series that airs next week on more than 300 PBS stations nationwide.
Producer Martyn Burke claims that PBS, in order to be allowed to continue with the project, tried to make him fire some of his associates on the film because they belong to a Conservative Think Tank and that they still axed his film anyway when all was said and done.

So, what is all the fuss over with this film?