Oriana Fallaci and Liberal Hypocrisy

Cathy Seipp details why the new tune of the left should be "We support free speech as long as it's approved by us":

A FRIEND OF MINE took his young daughter to visit the famous City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, explaining to her that the place is important because years ago it sold books no other store would — even, perhaps especially, books whose ideas many people found offensive.

So, although my friend is no fan of Ward Churchill, the faux Indian and discredited professor who notoriously called 9/11 victims "little Eichmanns," he didn't really mind seeing piles of Churchill's books prominently displayed on a table as he walked in.

However, it did occur to him that perhaps the long-delayed English translation of Oriana Fallaci's new book, "The Force of Reason," (see here--ed.) might finally be available, and that because Fallaci's militant stance against Islamic militants offends so many people, a store committed to selling banned books would be the perfect place to buy it. So he asked a clerk if the new Fallaci book was in yet.

"No," snapped the clerk. "We don't carry books by fascists."

So, to sum up, a book store praised by those on the left for making freedom of speech history won't carry a book by an old Italian who has been proven prescient by recent events. For crying out loud, Oriana Fallaci fought the fascists during WWII. She is also a true paleoliberal.

Just another example of the neoliberal mindset in all its glory.

Just as I am appalled by an Austrian who is an avowed holocaust denier, I am much more appalled by an Austrian court sentencing him to prison because of his misguided view.

Cathy summizes:

"You're welcome to buy her book elsewhere, though," my friend was told helpfully when he visited. "Let's just say we don't have room for her here."

OK, let's just say that. But let's also say that one of the great paradoxes of our time is that two groups most endangered by political Islam, gays and women, somehow still find ways to defend it.

Cathy Seipp's blog can be found here.