Hmmm... 1998, place marker!
A very long read, but good, indeed.
Whoever wrote this is totally full of s#!t.
I think it is clear WHY publicly Islam is called a religion of peace and why NO TV or radio hosts (with the exception of Michael Grahm, who was fired), will speak or write openly against islam!
Blackmail, intimidation, whatever you want to call it, it is there.
"The attacks on today's hearing and on me by various Islamic and Arab advocacy groups illustrates the growing danger of allowing militant groups to masquerade uncritically under the banner of self- anointed "civil rights" and "human rights" status. These groups are no more deserving of civil rights status than the Ku Klux Klan's patently transparent efforts to masquerade under civil rights monikers advocating "human rights" for whites.
In particular, the Council on American Islamic Relations and American Muslim Council, as well as others, have sent out emails and internet alerts "warning" their supporters about these hearings this morning. In effect, the message disseminated by these groups was that merely discussing the presence of Islamic radicals on American soil is to be construed as an attack on Islam.
The Threat to Free Speech and Thought: If not confronted, the efforts by radical Islamic groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Muslim Council (AMC) to intimidate those who speak out on the threat of militant Islamic fundamentalism poses one of the greatest dangers to the freedoms in American society. In point of fact--elucidated later in this testimony--these groups are actual political wings of radical Islamic fundamentalist organizations.[...]and consistently attacked American writers for exposing the threat of militant Islamic extremism. These groups pose a clear and present danger to American freedoms and society, not to mention moderate Muslims around the globe.[...]
It is intolerable that writers and American citizens on American soil should have to endure the same defamatory campaigns and threats as Salman Rushdie. As a result, few journalists have dared to expose the international terrorist connections of seemingly benign Islamic institutions that hide under demonstrably false veneers of moderation and tolerance. The courageous individuals who have taken on these groups have been subjected to frightening campaigns of intimidation that do not pass unnoticed by their colleagues. The result is that stories describing the true nature of radical Islamic activities in the U.S. and their growing menace to American society are few and far between. Moreover, the menace of radical Islam to secular and moderate Muslims, women, and intellectuals has been ignored almost entirely."
Note: this topic was posted 11/11/2005. Testimony dated February 24, 1998. Thanks strategofr.