Year: 2014

NEW YORK (TIP): A series of provocative anti-Islam advertisements has embroiled New York City’s transportation authority in a free speech legal battle this week after a pro-Israel political group filed a federal lawsuit to force the city to include a rejected phrase in one of its controversial ads. The group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, launched in 2010 by blogger Pamela Geller, proposed an ad that displayed the quote, “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah,” attributing it to “Hamas MTV.” The quote is displayed next to the head of a sinister-looking face wrapped in an Arab keffiyeh scarf, and also includes, “That’s #MyJihad. What’s yours?” The city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority rejected the ad, which would be displayed on buses and subways, saying it “would imminently incite or provoke violence.” Courts have previously ruled the MTA’s ad spaces are open-ended public forums that cannot discriminate on the basic of political views. Three of the group’s approved ads have already begun to appear on 100 New York City buses and two subway stations, after city officials and faith leaders gathered on the steps of City Hall last week to denounce the views of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. “These ads are outrageous, inflammatory and wrong, and have no place in New York City, or anywhere,” said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement to The New York Daily News in September. “These hateful messages serve only to divide and stigmatize when we should be coming together as one city.” On Monday, October 6, the group altered one of its ads that included an image of journalist James Foley after the family said it would cause them “profound distress.” That ad featured a screen-grab photo of Mr. Foley moments before he was beheaded by an Islamic State militant, along with a photo of Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, a British national and rapper currently fighting in Syria, in front of a DJ turntable. The ad reads: “Yesterday’s moderate is today’s headline.” In a letter to Ms. Geller, AFDI’s founder and executive director, the Foley’s family urged the group to withdraw the ad, saying, “Having lived and reported from communities in which nearly everyone was of Muslim faith, [Foley] had great respect for the religion and those who practiced it. The advertisement you are preparing to run seems to convey the message that ordinary practitioners of Islam are a dangerous threat. This message is entirely inconsistent with Mr. Foley’s reporting and his beliefs.” The group acquiesced, removing Foley’s image from the ad, substituting instead another image purported to be Mr. Abdel Bary holding aloft an unidentified severed head, which was blurred out on the new poster. “Our organization has created this campaign in order to educate people about Jihad,” Geller told a local radio station in September. “I don’t think the truth is controversial. I think we’re entering a very dangerous period, and I don’t think the American people should be disarmed in the information battle space.” The group’s other ads include a photo of Hitler sitting with a Muslim Imam, proclaiming “Islamic Jew-Hatred: It’s in the Quran.” Another reads: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.” While these ads were approved, the MTA said the “Killing Jews” ad “would lead reasonable observers to interpret it as urging direct, violent attacks on Jews, given turmoil in Gaza, Syria and Iraq and New York City’s heightened security concerns.” Geller rejected the criticism her organization has been receiving by New York leaders and opinion pieces in the media, calling it a “double standard.” “In Islamic countries, if you criticize Islam, you are sentenced to death,”she wrote in her blog, Atlas Shrugs. “In the West, if you criticize Islam, they assassinate your good character and destroy your name and reputation. There are few brave voices who publicly speak with candor about the threat we face. These courageous souls face ruin and death threats in defense of freedom and equality for all.”

(Source: The Christian Science Monitor)

Republican Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano Backs Democratic Cuomo for Governor

ALBANY (TIP): Shell shocking Rob Astorino, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, the Republican Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano has decided to back Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo for reelection .

As CBS 2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported Wednesday, October 8, Mangano is the top dog Republican in New York State’s wealthiest county, but decided to cross party lines to back Cuomo over Republican Rob Astorino.

In a new television campaign ad that debuted Tuesday, October 7, Mangano praises Cuomo for his shoulder to shoulder work in helping Long Island recover from Superstorm Sandy and then declares, “I’m a Republican and I’m voting for Gov. Cuomo.”

The endorsement is seen as a blow to Astorino’s campaign, although he is quoted in Newsday as saying he “doesn’t care about endorsements,” WCBS 880’s Mike Xirinachs reported. The endorsement was also a big boost for Cuomo, but the big question was whether Mangano’s defection will influence voters.

New York State Republicans have pointed out that of the 14 Republican county executives, there are just two defectors. Those defectors are Mangano and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, whose county includes Syracuse.

Another key Republican, Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio, also endorsed Cuomo this week.

State Republican Party Chairman Edward Cox said Mangano just might fear retribution from Cuomo.
“Andrew is known to be very tough on people who don’t go along with him,” Cox said.
Mangano’s endorsement came as Astorino, who now serves as Westchester County executive, has been campaigning on Long Island in search of suburban votes. Astorino was dismissive of Mangano’s choice.

“If the county executive of Nassau wants to put his arm around a governor who is under federal investigation for corruption, who broke his pledge to raise taxes, and is causing property taxes to go up, that’s his choice,” Astorino said.

Astorino, the target of a multi-million dollar negative ad blitz, has also come out with a commercial of his own showing his children laughing at Cuomo’s ads and calling them “ridiculous.”

But as Kramer reported, the Cuomo strategy seems to be working. A new poll has himahead by 20 points.

The Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday gives the Democratic incumbent 51 percent of the vote, with the Westchester County Executive getting 31 percent and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins picking up 9 percent.

In particular in the poll, Cuomo leads Astorino by 32 points among female voters. Men favor Cuomo too, but by a five point margin.

Cuomo and his running mate, former Buffalo congresswoman Kathy Hochul, have made female voters a priority this year. They created a new “Women’s Equality Party” and touted efforts to protect abortion rights, help domestic violence victims and address pay inequities.

“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo got a head start on the Quinnipiac University poll with his weekend campaign bus ride touting women’s issues. A monster lead among women voters powers him past Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino,” said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “It ain’t over ’til it’s over, but more than two-thirds of voters say their minds are made up.”

The telephone survey of 1,153 likely voters was conducted last Wednesday through Monday. Its margin of error is 2.9 percent.

(Source CBSNewYork)