COLLECTIVE MADNESS
“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
Congress ought to pass a special bill to fund protection for Hirsi Ali so she doesn't go down the tubes. She is of much more value--
ReplyDeleteHirsi Ali to EU lawmakers: 'I don't want to die'
I don't want to die," the Somali-born former Dutch deputy Ayaan Hirsi Ali told lawmakers at the European Parliament on Thursday in an appeal for EU funding to protect her from death threats.
"I don't want to die, I want to live and I love life," said Hirsi Ali, who faces death threats over her criticism of Islam. "I find myself in a very desperate position."
Hirsi Ali has been living under tight police protection since the murder of her associate, Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, by an Islamic extremist in 2004.
She is threatened with death for her role in writing the script of Van Gogh's film "Submission", about the treatment of women in Islam. A note targeting her by name was found on his body.
The former Dutch lawmaker left the Netherlands for the United States in May 2006 following a bitter row which broke out when she admitted lying about her age and name in her Dutch asylum request.
She is currently raising funds to pay for her own protection and works for a conservative think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
Hirsi Ali does not receive financial support for her protection from the Dutch government while she is out of the country, and for legal reasons the United States cannot cover her costs.
"Since October I have been fund-raising full-time," she said.
"It has become swiftly apparent that the best I can do is raise enough money to pay for the security detail that accompanies me to fund-raising meetings. When the money runs out I am confined in hiding."
Socialist members of the parliament have launched a petition to secure support for EU funding for her protection.
But with only 82 signatures so far, they are unlikely to receive backing from half of the assembly's 785 members, as is required for the initiative to become official.
French Socialist Benoit Hamon has called for another option that would see the creation of a "pilot programme that would protect other citizens like Ayaan Hirsi Ali who are also under attack for what they say."
It could be financed to the tune of 50 million euros by a fund that the parliament has at its disposal each year.
Truly inspirational video, Whit.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna write my representative and tell him to get off his ass and get some money for Hirsi Ali.