Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Hirsi Ali interviewed by a cartoonishly anti-America Canadian


If you've never heard Ayaan Hirsi Ali speak, this is a good place to start. Fast-forward to the 2:35 mark, where her interview begins. The Canadian interviewer throws out a steady barrage of false stereotypes about America. Hirsi Ali patiently, yet directly, rebuts. The last 1/4 of the interview:

Hirsi Ali: I think its highly exaggerated [to say] that Muslims in America are under siege. If that were the case, we know of groups in history who were under siege, and what they usually do is leave. I don't see any American Muslim leaving and going back to any Muslim country.

Interviewer(sarcastically): You're faith in American democracy is just delightful.

Hirsi Ali: Its the best democracy ever. Its the best place to be.

Interviewer: Tell that to the people who believe there have been a couple of stolen elections; that the Democracy is completely broken.

Hirsi Ali: I tell them, "You shouldn't have stood by and watched for the democracy to be stolen." My point is [...] that both Republicans and Democrats, and the majority of Americans, fortunately, feel that they can run for office, they can get power..

Interviewer (interrupting): as long as you're staggeringly rich, and totally connected, and in the pockets of your donors, you can do anything you want in America.

Hirsi Ali (literally rolling her eyes): In America you can come with no penny, no money, and you can become very wealthy in America. Tell me which other country..

Interviewer (interrupting): Is there a school where they teach you these American cliches? Is it part of your application process? I'm so upset that I'm losing my cards here - I can't believe you just said that!

Hirsi Ali: I read Alex de Toqueville; and I read About Democracy; and I lived in countries that had no democracy, that had no Founding Fathers, that could not have invented (unintelligible). So I don't find myself in the same luxury as you do. You grew up in freedom, and you can spit on freedom, because you don't know what it is to not have freedom. I haven't. I know that there are many things wrong with America, and I know that there are many things that are wrong with Americans, but I still believe its the best nation in the world.
Radio Talk Host Dennis Prager comments, and extensively fisks:

I don't recall a host looking as intellectually shallow in comparison to a guest in my life. I don't recall. She almost played with him, and he doesn't even notice. He would not have played it, and it was pre-recorded, had he realized how poorly - intellectually - he came across in comparison to her.

It gives you an idea of how much of the left thinks in cliches, because he never actually responded to her. And he was stunned that a black woman would like America!?

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