On the Friday edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity invited Pamela Geller, head of the anti-Muslim group Stop the Islamization of America, to discuss events in Libya and the Middle East. The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies Geller’s organization as an anti-Muslim “hate group,” and Geller herself has an extensive history of hate speech and extremist rhetoric – both of which she brought to her Hannity appearance.
Geller engaged in her usual anti-Muslim ranting, declaring that Sharia law “discriminates against women and non-Muslims, it restricts the freedom of speech and freedom of conscience.” After being asked by Hannity how many Muslims are radicalized, Geller replied, “I don’t think they’re radical, I think they’re devout.” She seemed to think Moammar Gadhafi had been doing just fine as Libya’s leader: “I think we have to question why we went into Libya. Libya had, after the Bush doctrine, abandoned their unconventional weapons, abandoned their WMD, was selling oil to us, less than the Saudi Arabians. I mean, why did we go into Libya then? Why didn’t we go after the real devil?”
A Ravenwood High School freshman said her Muslim beliefs were put to the test when commanding officers in her Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program told her she couldn’t both wear a headscarf and march in the September homecoming parade.
At her mildest, Ann Barnhardt appears on a poster, dressed in pink high-heeled shoes, toting a pink AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, standing side-by-side with a heroic portrait of Joan of Arc. At her most extreme, the slim, dark-haired woman with wide, bright eyes appears before an American flag, holding a copy of the Quran bookmarked with raw bacon, reading pages aloud, tearing them out and setting them ablaze in a large vase.