Gregorius Nekschot

In left-leaning modern democracies, one wonders what happens when the freedom of expressions is brought to the high altar of multiculturalism?  In Canada, as we have reported, it may be illegal to publish speech “hateful and contemptuous” of any ethnic group.  In the Netherlands, long a safe haven for political and religious dissenters, one particular cartoonist by the pen name Gregorius Nekschot (Gregory Shot in the Neck) has been arrested for drawing offensive cartoons of Muslims and other minority groups.

The Dutch police have released him, but he is to face a trial in the near future.  One can rest assured, however, that Dutch intolerance of undesirable speech is not only reserved for the ethnic majority:

The prosecutor’s office notes that it has also taken action against Muslims suspected of discrimination. A Moroccan-born Dutchman was recently convicted of discrimination for writing in a blog that homosexuals should be tossed from rooftops and thrown down stairs. A court ordered him to do community-service work.

Smoking weed may be legalized, but voicing unpopular opinions is not.  The Dutch parliament is investigating the cartoonists arrest, lest the prosecutor’s office reverse the country’s famous permissive speech policies.

There are typically two reactions to anti-Americanism: one reaction seeks to understand the antipathy and the other dismisses it as the inevitable result of being a superpower.  It is truly hard to understand the feelings, usually diverse and contradictory that drive contempt for America.  Much has been said of an Obama presidency redeeming America in the oft-veiled eyes of the Muslim world.  After all, if America is willing to elect a black man whose father was a Muslim, perhaps America isn’t the Great Satan after all.

Not so fast, says Edward Luttwak in an op-ed in the New York Times.  This audacity of hope of a messianic foreign policy transformation of an Obama White House ignores the fact that through a strict Koranic reading, Sen. Obama is shameless apostate who must (I kid you not!) be assassinated.

As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant.

Sen. Obama has spoken of his sincere devotion to Christianity and to his church in Chicago.  However, this devotion is what condemns him:

His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive).

With few exceptions, the jurists of all Sunni and Shiite schools prescribe execution for all adults who leave the faith not under duress; the recommended punishment is beheading at the hands of a cleric, although in recent years there have been both stonings and hangings.

Thus in the Muslim world, Sen. Obama may be more considered more heinous than Sen. McCain or—dare I say it—George W. Bush, himself!

In America, this should make no difference, but a President Obama would not automatically help America’s image as some of his supporters have claimed.  For some, it would be an offensive move by our democracy to an elect a man who has supposedly known their religion and freely rejected it.  The vast majority of Muslims will care little about Sen. Obama’s religious views one way or the other.  Vocal clerics, however, have never been known for their laissez-faire attitudes on faith.  For them, an Obama presidency would be a slap in the face.

The Examiner reports that D.C. Councilmen Jim Graham and Phil Mendelson have introduced a bill to levy a $25/month tax on employer-provided parking, labeling the tax the “Clean Air Act Compliance Fee”.

Though it is good force drivers to pay for their burden on the pubic infrastructure, their sullying of the air, and their use of taxpayer-subsidized oil, the bill does not accurately account for air pollution.

Image two commuting scenarios: a Prius driven one mile to work and an SUV driven thirty miles to work. Certainly the SUV puts a greater strain on the environment and infrastructure, but both vehicles will face the same parking tax. This is why I advocate increasing the gas tax, which is a better indicator of the burden people put on the roads and the environment. However, since the city cannot tax the gas of Virginians and Marylander who drive in, the parking tax is the next-best solution.

My only fear is that such a tax is yet another factor pushing business out to the suburbs. The suburbs, despite their horrendous traffic and lack of practical transit alternatives, offer cheaper office space, the perception of lower crime, and plenty of qualified workers.