Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
I have been a Fellow of the American Freedom Alliance for nearly a year. Their events are always top notch, and I felt fortunate to be able to attend the "Islam and Western Civilization: Can They CoExist?" conference on Saturday. The question is a rhetorical one. Of course Islam cannot co-exist with Western Civilization. Sharia and the U.S. Constitution are not compatible.
I rode in with my friend Dennis, who is involved with Trevor Loudon's upcoming film, "The Enemies Within." Two-thirds of the funding for the film has been obtained as a result of Dennis' hard work. After the conference, I had the opportunity to participate in a special VIP pre-screening of the film, but I will write about that in an article later today.
Dennis and I arrived at the AFA Conference, yesterday, about an hour early, and it turned out to be fortunate. We barely beat the crowds. We got great seats, and I had plenty of time to talk to friends, and new acquaintances.
The first panel was moderated by Barak Lurie.
Barack Lurie is an attorney, radio talk show host, as well as an American Freedom Alliance Fellow. He was one of the speakers at the "Heroes of Conscience" dinner the AFA held earlier in the year.
Bosch Fawstin, pictured in the two images above, is an American cartoonist who won Pamela Geller's "Draw Muhammad" event in Garland, Texas May 3, 2015 that experienced a Muslim terror attack that resulted in local police killing the two attackers. A self-proclaimed "recovered Muslim", he was born into a Muslim family and raised in the faith before leaving it in his teens, becoming an atheist. He discussed during his presentation his life as a Muslim growing up, and the dangers of Islam as a political ideology.
Lt. Col. Roy White was wearing the same tie as I. His speech was good, but I hadn't decided if I was taking notes, yet, and really didn't on the first panel except for Trevor Loudon. I do remember that one of the things Roy White discussed was the problem with how history has been changed. The Truth In Textbooks program is geared towards changing that.
Nonie Darwish was born in Egypt, moving to the United States in 1978. She is now a human rights activist, writer, public speaker and founder of Arabs For Israel. She is the author of the book Now they Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror. Her second book is Cruel And Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law. She discussed in her speech the horrifying realities of Islam, calling it "cruel."
Trevor Loudon has become a friend. He spoke at the "Heroes of Conscience" dinner earlier in the year, and this time he really knocked it out of the ballpark. Funny story, I had his suit jacket from the last event he did, and brought it to give to him. Once again, he left it behind, so this time my friend Dennis is going to ship it to him.
As for Loudon's speech, he explained that when he applied to immigrate to the United States, they asked him if he had any connections to communist, or fascist, groups. "The U.S.," he said, "knows there are those who wish to overthrow the U.S. Constitution... What is sharia but a system designed to overthrow the law of the land of the host country? Support of sharia should not be allowed in this country."
Trevor Loudon's book, The Enemies Within, is now a movie. We got to pre-screen the film later in the evening. I will post separately on that later today. You can pre-order the film in DVD in bulk Now!
Morton A. Klein is a German-born American economist, statistician, and pro-Israeli activist. He is the president of the Zionist Organization of America. Klein's rousing speech had people on their feet. He pulled no punches, telling it like it is about Islam.
When Pamela Geller arrived, I greeted her near the coffee area. She recognized me, but couldn't remember my name. I said, "Douglas V. Gibbs, Political Pistachio," and she responded "Pistachio! Yeah, of course I remember you!" Online, I've known her since 2007. It was she, as a matter of fact, when my house was vandalized back in 2009, that got me back on the radio again. We talked for a moment. She said to me she was glad to be at the event, and that AFA was brave to invite her. She wasn't getting invited much since Garland, she told me. Everyone's too afraid. Then people noticed she was there and she got mobbed. You know, it's funny. This is the third time I've gotten to meet her, and I keep forgetting to get a picture with her.
Her speech was typical Pamela. No fear. No pulled punches. The New York accent just made it all the much greater.
She opened with commenting about AFA's bravery having her there, and then explained, "The key to this fight is education."
Pamela then decided to address Trump, who once criticized her for being "provocative." She said about the Republican Presidential Candidate, "Only a guy like that is going to beat a criminal like her. We need a brass knuckles fighter. . . he doesn't apologize, and I like it (and she referred to the fact that he never apologized to her, yet she kind of likes that, too). Islam always tries to make you apologize."
She said that the problem is that we deal with Islam all wrong. It's a "denial of reality." She also went into how the attack at her event in Garland, Texas last year was "the first ISIS plot in the United States." She proudly proclaimed, "we exposed a terror network. Nobody talks about it." She also discussed how the FBI was telling the attackers things like "how many people were there," and so forth, as the event in Garland was getting underway.
She explained that we know who the enemy is. "I don't worry about the fanaticism of the enemy. I worry about the confusion on our side."
Pamela's discussion about personal responsibility ran along the lines of the kinds of things I talk about. "You are responsible for your freedom. You are responsible for your security. . . there are no casual observers in this fight. . . It's a war, and if you don't show up to the war, it doesn't mean the war doesn't exist. . . you cannot avoid the consequences of reality."
The opening of Robert Spencer's speech was "This is the age of absurdity."
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and the author of fifteen books.
He told us, "Every terrorist attack, and we are told this as the attackers scream Allahu Akbar, has nothing to do with Islam." He explained that the whole thing is a racket, where the money talks, and the recipients of the money obey. "People are being paid to do this. The media has been paid, the politicians are being paid. It's starting to come out, now. It's being exposed."
Because it is being exposed, things are happening, he explained. Next, Spencer referred to what's going on in Europe. "The Brexit Vote was against all expectations. . . nobody expected that Britain would vote to get out. But, people are fed up."
Education is the key, he stated. "The power of the elites is cracking. That is what that vote told us. . . as well as the candidacy of Trump. Trump threatens them like nobody since Reagan. . . He has said more about Islam than any candidate since John Quincy Adams."
Larry Greenfield moderated the next panel. He is a Fellow at the Claremont Institute, and a Senior Fellow at the American Freedom Alliance. He writes for various outlets including FrontPageMag. He began his introduction by explaining that the enemy knows what they are up against. "The enemy picks up on our irresolve in confronting the enemy."
Greenfield introduced the first speaker of his panel, Philippe Karsenty.
Philippe Karsenty is a French Media Analyst, and opened with explaining that he had to be careful. The press in Europe would be picking apart his speech, seeking ways to misrepresent it. "My message will immediately be maligned and distorted. In Europe, telling the truth about Islam brings two fatwas. One from the Imams, and the other from the mainstream media."
He called it "Intellectual terrorism."
According to Karsenty, there are two jihads. The "violent jihad," and the "civilizational jihad." The latter, he said, "is creeping Islamization of the whole world. . . imposing its way of life by intimidating the non-Muslim population. . . the kind of society they want to impose on us" (at which point he showed an image of a Muslim woman in a muzzle.
He explained that the political leanings towards appeasing Islam is all about money. "Many politicians depend on Muslim money."
Guy Milliere is the author of "Twilight Over Europe" (his first book in English) and a writer at the Gatestone Institute. He told us it is "too late for Europe, but it is not too late for the United States." He discussed his decision to move to America, and his disdain for the French Press. "The French Press has something in common with Hillary. They lie all the time."
Milliere strongly submitted that "Islam is a totalitarian political movement waging war with the freedom of the West." He commented a couple times, "These people love to die, and they love to kill."
Elisabeth Wolff is from Austria, and has been facing legal attacks for telling the truth about Islam. She opened her speech with, "I love being here in the U.S., where I can speak my mind."
She spoke favorably of our Constitution, and our right to free speech. "Europeans do not have the right of free speech," she told us. "The government giveth, and the government taketh away. What are people saying to get them in trouble with their state? They are criticizing multiculturalism."
Wolff explained to us a little about Islam, and what has been going on in Germany, and Austria. "Rape has become commonplace in Europe. Our political leaders have become traitors to their own people. . . the truth can be considered hate speech. . . your First Amendment sets the gold standard for free speech for the world to follow. In Europe, truth is not a political statement. It is a crime."
After the screening of Trevor Loudon's film later in the evening, I got a fantastic chance to discuss a few things with James Simpson, who is an investigative journalist, businessman, and former economist and budget examiner for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He is an expert on immigration and refugee resettlement. His most recent book is The Red Green Axis: Refugees, Immigration and the Agenda to Erase America.
Simpson told us that the Left and Islam are working together to "erase free speech. This is not an innocent agenda. The goal is to erase Western Civilization and Western Culture."
Pete Hoekstra is a former member of the House of Representatives, and is originally from the Netherlands - a land, he explained, that was held the longest by the Nazis. His parents lived through that.
Hoekstra explained that "the threat has moved into Asia, Europe, and the U.S. as a result of conscious decisions by politicians."
Libya's Qaddafi, according to Hoekstra, was an enemy for 30 years, but after 30 years of pressure, he finally decided to change sides, and become an ally of the United States against radical Islam. "Obama, in 2009, partnered with the Muslim Brotherhood to overthrow an ally. Now, it is a failed state. This administration has opened its doors to CAIR and Muslim affiliated groups so that they may espouse their ideology in our government."
He explained how the Middle East dictators may have been dictators, but they were working with us. They were allies. Egypt, Libya, and so on, has been all turned on its head and handed to the Muslim Brotherhood because of the Obama administration.
"We need to act," Hoekstra urged. We need to win the battle of public opinion."
He then went over three steps he believes we need to follow.
1. Establish that America matters, and American values matter. . . to us, and the rest of the world.
2. Establish that we will not turn our back on the Christians of the Middle East, on the women in the Middle East, on the gays of the Middle East, and the other victims of Islam.
3. We must make a commitment that America is worth fighting for.
"The threat is real," he continued. "If we don't stand up for our values, and for America, who will? America needs us more now than it ever has in history."
The final panel was moderated by Stephen Coughlin. We'll get to him in a moment. . .
Dr. Wafa Sultan was born in Syria in 1957. She practiced medicine in Syria until she came to the United States in 1989. She has published various essays, and has been on various television networks, regarding her mission of exposing and fighting radical Islam and defending human rights in the Islamic world.
She said that, "No place is immune to the destruction and cruelty Islam brings." She told us that this was her first public speech in five years. "I have had to fight on two fronts. First, to fight this vicious ideology through writings and speaking. Second, to educate minds that all Islam is radical. People have been brainwashed to believe all revolutions have good intentions. Islam is not good."
When telling us about how the world is dealing with Islam, she said, "The world is in denial. Islam as a religion of peace is a false belief. This is believed in the face of undeniable cruelty."
As a call to action at the end of her speech, Dr. Sultan said, "We must unite and protect this great land from evil."
I had Andrew Bostom on my Political Pistachio Radio Program way back in 2008. After the event I asked him if he remembered me. Usually, folks remember the "political pistachio" part of what I do. In this case, that didn't ring a bell, but my name did.
During Bostom's speech at the American Freedom Alliance event here in 2016, he told us that "Honesty about Islam is the solution."
His speech was filled with fascinating facts, and a reality that most Americans are just not willing to accept.
Bostom is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University, and the author of a number of books about Islam, as well as having published a large number of articles online and with various print publications.
Frank Gaffney is the Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C. The Center is a not-for-profit, non-partisan educational corporation established in 1988. Under Mr. Gaffney’s leadership, the Center has been nationally and internationally recognized as a resource for timely, informed and penetrating analyses of foreign and defense policy matters.
Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country.
Gaffney's presentation said it clearly. "There is a war for the free world." He discussed the use of language in politics regarding Islam. "Obama calls it violent extremism. What do all of the violent extremists have in common? Sharia. It is a totalitarian ideology with a petina of religiosity."
He repeated again in the speech, "It is a totalitarian ideology." Adding, "a seditious ideology."
Gaffney urged that we move away from calling Islam a religion. "If we keep calling it a religion, we are doomed."
He also spoke of jihad. "Jihad is a manifestation of what they believe. Hijrah, colonization. . . jihad is destroying us with drugs. That's a kind of jihad, too. Jihad is holy war. And Sharia finance raises money for jihad."
Gaffney told us to go to www.securefreedom.org to obtain an explanatory memorandum from the archives of the Muslim Brotherhood. Their words. Their plan.
Here's the game plan by the enemy:
"The process of settlement is. . . to destroy western civilization from within."
"The true nature is not violent extremism. They consider us the true violent extremists."
He listed Christians, Jews, conservatives, constitutionalists, etc.
"Muslims who adhere to sharia are our enemies."
He showed us slides revealing where the Muslim Brotherhood really stands.
When introduced, the following speaker was teased about being willing to say whatever was on his mind.
Admiral James Lyons did not disappoint.
Admiral Lyons served as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, has served as Senior U.S. Military Representative to the United Nations, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Commander of the U.S. Second Fleet, and Commander of the NATO Striking Fleet. He is currently President and CEO of LION Associates LLC.
When Admiral Lyons approached the microphone, he looked around and congratulated the AFA for "getting California's entire Republican Party into one room." The audience laughed.
I used to joke with Avi Davis about how I was amazed, when I was getting to know the AFA, that we had that many conservatives anywhere near Los Angeles.
Then, in a loud voice, Admiral Lyons offered, "Are you ready to take back America?"
The room full of people cheered (over 250 I heard later).
Lyons told us that our conservative leadership has failed us. He discussed how the Tea Party orchestrated two landslide mid-term election victories (2010 and 2014) where we gave the Republicans the House, and the Senate. . . but "They have facilitated all of Obama's illegal policies to fundamentally transform America. They have ignored his fourteen impeachable offenses."
Taking aim at President Obama, the admiral said, "Obama's agenda is pro-Muslim. Why would he do that? Why would he replace our Constitution with sharia?"
"Because he's a Muslim," shouted the crowd.
Lyons nodded. "You already know."
"The greatest threat to our national security resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
The crowd burst into applause.
"Turkey's President Erdogan said it plainly. There is no moderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it. Islam is a totalitarian political ideology masquerading as a religion."
The room burst into applause, again.
"Islam as a religion of peace is nonsense."
Then, Lyons turned to what the Obama administration has been doing to gut our military.
"When you wanna take a civilization down, you weaken the military. Sequestration was the perfect storm for Obama. It's been devastating. We have the smallest army since prior to World War II. The Navy is the smallest it's been since before World War I. We can't meet our worldwide commitments. Our Air Force is in the same condition. The United States Marine Corps is suffering the same problems. Marine air readiness is at 30%. Compounding this is the social engineering imposed on our forces by people who have never served, would never serve, and we don't want them to serve."
Cheers erupted.
They are "killing cohesiveness, integrity, and the will to win." He used the example of the Navy Sailors captured by the Iranians as evidence of our loss of a will to win: "Without firing even one shot."
Lyons went over the various social engineering schemes going on with the military, saying that "transgender is a mental disorder. It needs understanding and treatment, not favorability by politicians. If any of you see Bruce Jenner, tell him he needs a new psychiatrist."
The sound of laughter followed his statement.
He then shifted gears to Hillary, explaining we don't need a president like her.
"At Benghazi we switched sides on the global war on terror. They knew we were funding the Syrian rebels, who morphed into ISIS. Here's a president who got the Nobel Peace Prize for a speech. Benghazi did not have to happen. There were ten militias running wild, and requests for additional security was denied."
He talked about how a lot of the security was gone by August, approaching the anniversary of 9/11, that year. Reports were being sent that Benghazi was unpredictable, and that the compound could not withstand a coordinated attack. Lyons also told us that there was "ten to twelve days warning. They knew it was coming. So, why weren't forces pre-positioned? And we had forces available."
He went through the list, explaining that one of the forces was only an hour and forty-five minutes away.
"Now, we have a pathological liar who couldn't handle a compound in Benghazi and she wants to be president. Mind boggling."
Daniel Greenfield took an interesting tact in his explanation about Islam, and that we are "winning."
Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
He began by talking about how silly it is that the politicians tell us that even as the terrorists scream "Allahu Akbar," it's not about Islam. It must be that the Muslim attacker is suffering from psychiatric problems. Terrorism doesn't exist. This is a global war that stretches across every continent, but if you don't recognize that the war exists, you won't win the war."
He asked if we are losing or winning. He concluded, "We are winning this war."
He admitted that his assertion might seem far-fetched to some. It's all a "big lie." That is their weakness, and our strength.
He reminded us that prior to World War II, as with Islam today, the media and politicians considered Hitler to be a moderate Nazi. I recalled, as he said that, that Time Magazine (I wanna say 1936) made Adolf Hitler their "Man of the Year."
When the lie was revealed, and we could not deny Hitler's worldwide aspirations, we got it together, and fought a war against the Axis Powers, and won. The same is true with Islam. "As counter-jihadists we fight the big lie. We try to beat it down. The lie is dying with each terrorist attack. They are running out of lies. They are buying time, and they know they will be found out. Islam is the problem, and it is inevitable that a conflict is coming. We will have to fight them. The question is, how long until we fight back? How many countries must they have before we fight back? They know they are losing, that's why they are getting desperate. We are not weak, we are indecisive. They will become vulnerable once we realize they are oppressors. The stronger they become, the excuses run out. They can no longer pretend to be a weak, victimized minority. It is all coming apart. They lose when they must come out into the open. They are not victims. They are supremacists. Violence is the proof of their supremacism. When they win they are at their most vulnerable. There is no more secrecy when they begin to reveal themselves as an army. Their weakness is they wanna be the tough guys, but they don't have the ability to support that. They will lose. We are going to win, because reality always wins. No matter how dark the reality seems, we are going to win."
The next and final speaker before our keynote address was Stephen Coughlin. For whatever reason, I didn't get a picture at the event of him. We talked briefly later on at the screening of Trevor Loudon's film.
Stephen C. Coughlin, Esq. is an attorney, decorated intelligence officer and specialist on Islamic law, ideology and associated issues as they relate to terrorism and subversion. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy and a Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute. He is the author of Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the Face of Jihad.
His opening slide read, "The Red Pill - We are at War."
"Islamophobia has no definition. It gives the authorities the power to prosecute for no reason whatsoever."
After that sunk in, he continued, discussing the United Nations' plan to "criminalize defamation of Islam." In other words, "Telling the truth can be considered hate speech."
Hillary told the U.N. that pressuring Americans into the same mold would be easy. "We'll use plain old peer pressure and shaming."
The fix is already in. "Among the first responders in Orlando was an imam to help set the narrative before the FBI arrived. Well, that's just crazy."
"Crazy" distracts us from the actual. . . Islam. "Hate speech came out of the Maoist Insurgency Model. Counter-state sets itself up as counter-government to be an insurgency to overthrow the government." They got us denying who we are. It's all a denial of identity, be it our gender, if we should be able to call ourselves "American", and so forth.
He then quoted Sun Tzu from the Art of War. "Tactics without Strategy is the noise before defeat."
I might add, "strategy without being informed is no strategy."
Today's narrative is to not define, and to not be informed.
The keynote speaker was John Bolton.
A diplomat and a lawyer, Ambassador Bolton has spend many years in public service. He was a U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Aug. 2005 - Dec. 2006), Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security from 2001 - 2005, and is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His area of research is U.S. Foreign and National Security Policy. He has a J.D. from Yale University Law School, and a B.A. from Yale College.
Ambassador Bolton's wry sense of humor did not escape the laughter it deserved. The seriousness of his tone was not missed, either.
"This is about politics and ideology, not religion," opened Ambassador Bolton. "To say otherwise is propaganda."
He also explained how other "powers are fishing in these troubled waters," making reference to Russia, for one. "Russia is taking full advantage of Middle East trouble."
Bolton told us that in Turkey, Erdogan is "clearing the boards of political opposition, and openly negotiating with Moscow."
There is no time. "We must defeat ISIS as soon as possible."
Bolton told us that Obama's appointees admit that the terror threat is as great, or greater than it was on 9/11. Bolton added, "So, if his own appointees say this, you can only wonder what the truth really is."
"America's policies have left the world vulnerable," he said. Then, Ambassador Bolton assured us, "America will still prevail as America always has."
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Somewhere in the middle of all that we had lunch. I had a chicken breast, fish, mashed potatoes, a spinach salad, and tea. I skipped dessert.
After the event, I spoke to a number of people, mostly those involved with organizing the event, and a person who has been wanting to meet me, and I've been wanting to meet him.
Find out who in the next article, today.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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