Pat Buchanan: Norwegian Right-Wing Terrorist ‘Breivik May Be Right’

By Tanya Somanader/Think Progress

Today, in a World Net Daily op-ed, failed presidential candidate and conservative pundit Pat Buchanan offers an example of the ethnic bigotry and racial insensitivity that has come to define him.

Offering his take on the horrendous terrorist attacks in Norway, Buchanan joined the Wall Street Journal and the Jerusalem Post in arguing that the far-right extremist perpetrator Anders Breivik may have had a valid point. Arguing that Breivik was bringing attention to his cause, “a Crusader’s war between the real Europe and the ‘cultural Marxists’ and Muslims,” Buchanan declares that, on the “climactic conflict between a once-Christian West and an Islamic world…Breivik may be right“:

But, awful as this atrocity was, native-born and homegrown terrorism is not the macro-threat to the continent.

That threat comes from a burgeoning Muslim presence in a Europe that has never known mass immigration, its failure to assimilate, its growing alienation, and its sometime sympathy for Islamic militants and terrorists.

Europe faces today an authentic and historic crisis.

With her native-born populations aging, shrinking and dying, Europe’s nations have not discovered how to maintain their prosperity without immigrants. Yet the immigrants who have come – from the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia – have been slow to learn the language and have failed to attain the educational and occupational levels of Europeans. And the welfare states of Europe are breaking under the burden.[...]

As for a climactic conflict between a once-Christian West and an Islamic world that is growing in numbers and advancing inexorably into Europe for the third time in 14 centuries, on this one, Breivik may be right.

The sad reality is that Buchanan helps mainstream anti-Muslim intolerance. A regular MSNBC contributor and frequent guest on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Buchanan once invoked the Nazis’ attempt to march in Skokie, Illinois as an argument against the Islamic Center proposal in New York. He also used this platform to defend Rep. Peter King’s (R-NY) “McCarthyesque hearings” on the threat of terrorism from American Muslims, saying American Muslims are “most susceptible or vulnerable to the recruitment” by terrorists who will “radicalize them and make them enemies of America.”

Of course, Muslims are just the most recent group of people on Buchanan’s enemies list, which already includes Latinos, African-Americans, and gay people. As Buchanan said, he “prefers the old bigotry.” And he’s bringing it back to the mainstream.

Fox News Has Mainstreamed Pam Geller's Islamophobic Hate Speech

From Media Matters

In the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Oslo, Norway, the manifesto of accused killer Anders Behring Breivik is being examined, and commenters are noting that he frequently cited fringe, so-called "antijihad" writers including Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller. Geller has long been a reliable source for Fox when the network needs or wants to highlight far-right, fringe, and extremist opinions -- and Geller has only benefited from the exposure. And now that the opinions Geller proudly holds have been connected to a horrific act of violence, Fox News' role in mainstreaming Geller and her brand of Islamophobic activism should be put under the microscope.

Geller And Other Fringe "Antijihad" Bloggers Were "Frequently Cited" In Breivik's Manifesto

NYT: "Breivik Frequently Cited" Geller's "Atlas Shrugs" Blog. Detailing the fringe right-wing blogs cited in Breivik's "manifesto," The New York Times reported:

The man accused of the killing spree in Norway was deeply influenced by a small group of American bloggers and writers who have warned for years about the threat from Islam, lacing his 1,500-page manifesto with quotations from them, as well as copying multiple passages from the tract of the Unabomber.

In the document he posted online, Anders Behring Breivik, who is accused of bombing government buildings and killing scores of young people at a Labor Party camp, showed that he had closely followed the acrimonious American debate over Islam.

[...]

Mr. Breivik frequently cited another blog, Atlas Shrugs, and recommended the Gates of Vienna among Web sites. Pamela Geller, an outspoken critic of Islam who runs Atlas Shrugs, wrote on her blog Sunday that any assertion that she or other antijihad writers bore any responsibility for Mr. Breivik's actions was "ridiculous."

"If anyone incited him to violence, it was Islamic supremacists," she wrote. [The New York Times, 7/24/11]

Jeffrey Goldberg: Geller "Should Be Aware Now That Violent People Look To Her For Guidance." Commenting on the Times article noting the number of times Breivik cited Geller, Atlanticnational correspondent Jeffrey Golberg opined:

Geller is a hatemonger, but she didn't pull the trigger. Free speech means free speech. But she should be aware now that violent people look to her for guidance, and she should write with that in mind. [TheAtlantic.com, 7/25/11]

Village Voice: Geller Should Be Considered Among The "Lunatics." After noting the frequency with which Breivik cited fringe, right-wing Islamophobic bloggers including Geller, The Village Voiceopined:

RTF [Conservative blog Right Turn Forever] acknowledged that Breivik followed Geller and Gates of Vienna, but while those people are known to you and us as lunatics, to RTF they are "popular not only among anti-Islam activists, but amont [sic] even more moderate types concerned about the rise of radical Islam in the West." (RTF doesn't name any of the alleged "moderate types" who follow these nuts.) [The Village Voice, 7/25/11]

Geller Routinely Uses Downright Outrageous, Hateful Rhetoric

Geller: "President Obama Is Indeed A Bastard, Literally And Figuratively." In an April 29, 2011, post on her blog, Atlas Shrugs, Geller wrote, "President Obama is indeed a bastard, literally and figuratively." [Atlas Shrugs, 4/29/11]

Geller Compared Critics Of Muslim Radicalization Hearings To "Pre-War Nazi Germany." In a March 9, 2011, post on her blog, Atlas Shrugs, Geller compared criticism of Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) hearings on the purported radicalization of American Muslims to "what it must have looked like in pre-war Nazi Germany." [Atlas Shrugs, 3/9/11]

Geller: Obama "Is A Third Worlder And A Coward" Who's "Appeas[ing] His Islamic Overlords." In an April 13, 2010, post on her blog, Geller wrote: "Obama is a third worlder and a coward. He will do nothing but beat up on our friends to appease his Islamic overlords. All this is going down while Obama plays footsie at his nuclear nonsense campfire -- sucking up to Iran's enablers while beating up our allies." [Atlas Shrugs, 4/13/10]

Geller Called Obama "President Jihad" And Said Obama Was "Advocating Jihad." In an April 1, 2010, blog post titled, "President Jihad: Obama Encouraged Violent Palestinian Muslim protests against Israel," Geller claimed Obama "is agitating Muslims against Jews" and stated:

The President of the United States is advancing jihad against the oath of office that he took. [Atlas Shrugs, 4/1/10]

Click here for more outrageous and hateful commentary from Geller

Fox News Has Aggressively Mainstreamed Geller

Geller Engaged In Fundraising For Her Issues On Fox. On June 28, 2010, Geller appeared on Fox News' Fox & Friends where she promoted her book about "the Obama Administration's War on America," discussed her campaign to place signs on taxis that state "Honor killing victims: Is your family threatening you? LeaveIslamSafely.com," and to instruct Fox viewers how to contribute to her campaigns through her website. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/28/10]

Geller On Fox: Developers Of Islamic Community Center Near Ground Zero "Want To Stab Americans In The Eye." On May 27, 2010, Geller appeared on Fox News' Fox & Friends to criticize the developers of the Park 51 Islamic community center in New York City:

I think that that's wrong. I think there's no tolerance there. I don't know why they'd want to stab Americans in the eye with that. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/27/10]

Geller On Fox: A Mosque "Basically Embodies The Very Ideology That Inspired" 9-11 Attacks.On May 15, 2010, Geller appeared on Fox News' Huckabee to discuss her opposition to the New York City Islamic community center, calling it "an outrage, an insult" and "humiliating to the families and to all Americans." Geller called the community center "a mosque" which she said "basically embodies the very ideology that inspired those attacks on 9-11." [Fox News, Huckabee, 5/15/10]

Geller On Fox: "All The Evidence Points To Obama's Anti-Semitic Associations." On July 27, 2010, Geller appeared on Hannity and claimed that President Obama's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a "photo op" and accused Obama of being anti-Semitic. [Fox News,Hannity, 7/27/10]

Geller Compared Islamic Community Center To A "Ku Klux Klan Shrine" Near A Black Alabama Church. On August 11, 2010, Geller appeared on Fox News' Fox & Friends and voiced opposition to plans to develop an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan. Geller said:

This is not a religious issue or a freedom of speech issue. Would you build a Ku Klux Klan at the 16^th Street Baptist Church in Alabama? It has nothing to do with that. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/11/10]

Geller On Fox: "Arabic" Is "A Spearhead Of An Ideological Project That Is Deeply Opposed To The United States Of America." On February 14, 2011, Geller appeared on Fox Business' Follow the Money to discuss Arabic language instruction in Texas schools. Gellar said that Arabic "is the language of Islam and it is a spearhead of an ideological project that is deeply opposed to the United States of America." [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 2/14/11, via Nexis]

Koch-Funded Tea Party Heavyweight Tim Phillips Spoke at Norweigan Killer's Political Party Event

From Alternet

Anders Behring Breivik, detained in the deadly Oslo bombing and shooting that has left 92 dead, has links to Norway's anti-government political group the Progress Party, according to the LA Times:

On social media forums, he claimed to be a disgruntled former member of Norway's anti-tax, small-government Progress Party, according to the Norwegian Nettavisen news service. His postings reflected strong anti-Islamic views and a deep skepticism about the mixing of different international cultures.

As if turns out, Tim Phillips, President of the Tea Party group Americans for Prosperity, spoke at a Progress Party event in 2010. According to an article published in the Norweigen paper Aftenposten on April 24th, 2010:

Phillips was invited by the Progress Party leadership to talk about grassroots organizing. But he talked mostly about how his organization is fighting for a weaker central government and lower taxes, to health reform and climate change.

Moreover, he spoke regularly Democrats in the U.S. as the "left side".

Read about Phillips' appearance here. 

Breivik Was Influenced By American Islamophobes Behind ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Hysteria

By Lee Fang/Think Progress




As the world struggles to make sense of the tragic attacks in Norway last week, it has become apparent that Anders Behring Breivik, the main suspect held by police, left a long trail of online comments, a YouTube video, and a manifesto outlining his political beliefs. The New York Times reports today, Breivik “endeavored to find common cause with xenophobic right-wing groups around the world, particularly in the United States” and his manifesto “quoted extensively from the anti-Islam writings of American bloggers.”

In his manifesto, Breivik cites an assortment of right-wing figures, but a troubling theme is evident in the 1,500 page document. Breivik was directly influenced by the same cadre of American anti-Muslim activists that have gained a powerful following in the contemporary conservative movement in recent years. Many of the leading Islamophobes who inspired Breivik have also been responsible for a rising tide of hate campaigns, from the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” hysteria to a disturbing trend of demonstrations against Muslim Americans across the country:

– Breivik cites neoconservative Islamophobe Frank Gaffney on opposition to Turkey joining the EU, and reprints a post from Gaffney’s think tank, the Center for Security Policy: Gaffney, a former Reagan official, is a regular on Fox News, a writer for the Washington Times op-ed page, a sought-after speaker at major conservative conferences, and a ubiquitous talking head on talk radio. His think tank created a website to orchestrate protests against the the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” in Manhattan. When he is not arguing that President Obama is a secret agent of the Muslim Brotherhood or claiming that radical Muslims have infiltrated the top levels of American government, he is calling for people who practice Islam to be prosecuted under sedition laws.

– Breivik cites blogger Pamella Geller several times in his manifesto, reprints articles praising her: Geller, the writer behind the popular anti-Muslim blog Atlas Shrugs, has been perhaps the most proactive anti-Muslim activist, given the fact she was the first to smear the planned Park51 community center as a “victory mosque” and was involved in demonstrations against the construction before most of the media gained an interest. As Geller travels the country promoting her belief that Muslims are an inherent threat to American society, she has been connected to protests against mosques in California, Tennessee, and other states.

– Breivik posts a 45-minute interview with Brigitte Gabriel, a leading organizer of grassroots anti-Muslim activism: Gabriel is the author of several popularanti-Muslim books, is the founder of ACT! For America, a group Gabriel created to engineer a permanent activism base for efforts to scapegoat Muslim Americans. Her group has collaborated with Tea Party groups, pushed bans on Sharia law in states, and mobilized a vicious hate rally in Orange County earlier this year. In an interview with ThinkProgress, Gabriel confessed that she regularly advises Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King (R-NY).

– Breivik extensively quotes Robert Spencer, a leading anti-Muslim writer sponsored by David Horowitz: Spencer’s blog Jihad Watch, along with Geller’s site (Spencer and Geller created the group “Stop Islamization of America” to distribute action alerts), have driven anti-Muslim memes in the news for years. Sponsored by David Horowitz’s think tank, Jihad Watch has led efforts to purgethe Republican Party of Muslim Americans and is a constant purveyor of strange anti-Muslim claims, like one recently that former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) had secretly converted to Islam. Despite his links to Holocaust deniers and other unsavory individuals, Spencer provides punditry for Fox News, National Review, and other top conservative media organs. ThinkProgress has found his books sold at CPAC, the College Republican conference, and events for Young Americans for Freedom.

– Breivik linked ten times to video clips for the movie Obsession, a documentary created by a secretive group called the Clarion Fund: In 2008, a mysterious organization called the Clarion Fund mailed the documentary Obsession to 28 million households in swing states leading up to the election. The movie argues that Muslims are waging a war against America, and will stop at nothing to destroy western civilization. Clarion has subsequently produced more films, which are distributed and publicized widely by Geller, Gabriel, Spencer and other leading anti-Muslim activists. The group is chaired by a number of prominent Islamophobes, including Gaffney and Daniel Pipes.

The American media has failed to connect the dots in recent years as anti-Muslim activists like Geller, Spencer, Gaffney, and Gabriel have played an incredible role in fomenting a surge in anti-Muslim hate in America. Most reporters latch onto right-wing opportunists like Newt Gingrich, who at the height of the Ground Zero Mosque protests added fuel to the fire with his own bigoted comments. But there is a well-financed, well-coordinated effort among far right Islamophobes to orchestrate a “crusade” against Muslims. While the American Islamophobe machine has mostly inspired petty vandalism against mosques and racist demonstrations in the United States, the massacre in Norway is a grim reminder that dehumanizing hate can have dangerous but unintended consequences.