Here is Robert Spencer:
These reminiscences of Rush Limbaugh resonated with me, because I had the same experience. He says: “My entire life I had never been known for hating anybody. I had never been known for bigotry, racism, sexism, any of the phobias. But within a month of starting my radio program, I was all of those.”
Likewise, in my entire life I had never been known for hating anybody, but as soon as I published my first book, Islam Unveiled, back in 2002, I was taken aback by the accusations. I had naively assumed that Muslims of good will would respond thoughtfully to the points I had made in the book, and a fruitful public discussion would ensue — it is embarrassing to think back on just how naive I was.
What really happened was that Hamas-linked CAIR’s Ibrahim Hooper, with Keith Olbermann guest-hosting on an MSNBC show, called me a “hatemonger,” and it was only then that the Islamic supremacist strategy dawned on me: they would smear and defame every foe of jihad terror, until there were no foes left, and everyone else was afraid to speak out for fear of committing professional suicide. No opponent of jihad terror is acceptable to them: each and every one of us, and everyone who dares utter a critical word about Islamic terror, is smeared and vilified as a “bigot,” and “Islamophobe,” etc.
The agenda is clear: sweep away all the foes of jihad terror, so that the jihad can advance unopposed and unimpeded.
Read more: Jihad Watch
Here’s a little from Rush’s show that Spencer quoted:
…And just as Donald Trump has been in the public eye for 30 years and it is only recently he became a racist after he decided that he was going to run for president, it was the same with me.
My entire life I had never been known for hating anybody. I had never been known for bigotry, racism, sexism, any of the phobias. But within a month of starting my radio program, I was all of those. And I didn’t understand it at first. I didn’t understand any of it at first. You know, in a sense — and this just occurred to me. In a sense, 28 years ago I was kind of like Trump is now, in the sense that there was nobody to tell me anything. There was nobody to really advise me.
I had a couple of people who correctly identified what was going on. I mean, a lot of people said, “You need to hire a PR firm, Rush. You need to answer some of this stuff.” So we interviewed a couple PR people, and I learned very simply, PR people, you pay them to tell you what kind of work you have to do. I said, “I don’t need that. I already know what I need to do!” But one of them, a guy name [sic] Bob Dilenschneider, said, “You know, you’re worried about this way too much. That only means one thing, and that is: You’re too effective.
“And as long as you remain effective, you’re gonna be a target for destruction to these people. So you may as well get used to it, and there’s no PR campaign you can mount to do away with it. They’re always gonna be coming for you.” Because I had transcended the realm of radio and broadcasting and entertainment, and I found myself front and center in American politics, which was not the objective. But the people that constantly criticized the program claim that was the whole purpose….
Read more: Rush Limbaugh
Image credit: Rush Limbaugh and Robert Spencer.
