Havel is wrong, McCain was right

By Jan McDaniel | 05/12/09

NYTimes.com  OPINION May 11, 2009 Op-Ed Contributor: A Table for Tyrants By VACLAV HAVEL   The absence of competition in the election for the United Nations Human Rights Council suggests that states that care about human rights simply don’t care enough.   In his NYTimes article, Vaclav Havel correctly identifies the problem in the Human Rights Council.  The fox is guarding the hen house.  The... read more »

Multiculturalism and Islam: A Dichotomy

By Jan McDaniel | 05/10/09

Every time I turn around, someone is telling me that George Orwell was right, words do matter, and we have to agree on what the important words mean. Right now there is a significant disagreement on what the word “multicultural” means. It is in a category of words that have been drained of meaning and turned into clubs. “Fascist” is another word in that category. Samuel Huntington, Ibn Warraq, Richard Rorty and John... read more »

Enemy Generator

By Jan McDaniel | 05/08/09

My reaction to 9/11 followed a path familiar to millions of Americans.  Grief, rage, frustration.  After Pearl Harbor, we spent a long time in Europe because it was circling the drain, but we always knew where we would wind up.  In Japan.  After 9/11 we had no return address for our response.    We killed a lot of enemies, unfortunately not bin Laden, in Afghanistan and Iraq.  We captured some more and sent... read more »

Reform Islamic law

By Jan McDaniel | 05/07/09

We are very late coming to the game that Islamists in America have been winning since 9/11.  They started their accusations of racism and bigotry early on and have not let up.  It is well past time for us to stop playing defense and start playing offense.  Full court press.   There certainly were inexcusable and criminal bigoted attacks on innocent Muslims after 9/11.  I hope the perpetrators of these attacks are still... read more »

Drawing the line, Part 2

By Jan McDaniel | 05/05/09

In American criminal law, the Smith Act of 1940, 18 U.S.C. paragraph 2385, says that it is a criminal offense for anyone to “knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State by force of violence, or for anyone to organize any association which teaches, advises or encourages such an overthrow, or for anyone to become... read more »

Drawing the Line

By Jan McDaniel | 05/03/09

Geert Wilders is having problems exercising his right to free speech when that speech is critical of Islam. His problems are part of a larger problem for all of us.    Commenting on Mr. Wilders, Gary Fouse wrote: […] In America, everyone can practice their religion freely, including Muslims. It is when it becomes a political ideology preaching hate that we draw the line. […] Mr. Fouse touches on the... read more »

Islam and Free Speech

By Jan McDaniel | 04/30/09

The Islamic assault on free speech has become considerably more sophisticated since the death sentence on Salman Rushdie.  A court in Jordan is seeking jurisdiction and an Interpol arrest warrant to try the creators of the Danish cartoons.  Geert Wilders, the creator of the film Fitna and member of the Dutch Parliament, is being prosecuted by Dutch authorities on hate speech charges.    The British House of Lords... read more »