ACT for America, a nationwide grassroots group that educates the public about radical Islam, was founded in 2007 by my vigilant activist friend and Lebanese Christian immigrant journalist Brigitte Gabriel. I was honored to accept Gabriel's invitation to speak at her organization's annual banquet at Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 7.
Gabriel has worked tirelessly to expose the Islamic imperialist agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic state; barbaric practices of female genital mutilation and honor killings by adherents of sharia; and the whitewashing of violent jihad in American middle school textbooks. Past speakers and honorees at ACT for America's events and legislative briefings include former Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas (now President Donald Trump's secretary of state), Rep. Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma (now Trump's NASA administrator), Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida (now Florida governor) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
I planned to talk to ACT for America's gala attendees about the ongoing national security threat that jihad-coddling Muslim grievance groups and other identity politics agitators in the "Open Borders, Inc." infrastructure pose to our country's very existence. But thanks to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Council on American Islamic Relations, Miami Herald, copycat journalists and the Trump Organization, the event was banned from Mar-a-Lago.
Yes, banned.
All it took was a noisy little echo chamber of lazy media lemmings in search of weekend clickbait. On Saturday morning, the Miami Herald published an inflammatory attack masquerading as "breaking news" with the headline:
"Anti-Muslim extremist group says it will host $1,500-a-plate gala at Trump's Mar-a-Lago."
Where did the Miami Herald get its characterization that ACT for America was an "extremist group"? From the discredited charlatans at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Miami Herald reporter Nicholas Nehamas admitted to me that he wrote the "story," padded with an obligatory assist and dutiful quote from SPLC's Muslim counterparts at CAIR, after receiving an SPLC HateWatch alert titled:
"Anti-Muslim Hate Group to Hold Gala at Mar A Lago."
Media monkey see. Media monkey do.
Barely two hours later, according to an email I obtained, the Mar-a-Lago catering department informed ACT for America that "we will not be able to host your proposed event" because "as a private Club we strive to ensure that the agenda and subject matter discussed at any event is in line with our Club's culture."
Gabriel was not given a chance to defend herself or educate Mar-a-Lago's cowering bureaucrats about the SPLC's corrupt culture of manufacturing hate fraud, raising millions off fear-mongering, stashing away gobs of money in offshore accounts and staving off internal complaints of racial and sexual harassment for decades. Nor was I was given a chance to answer any questions about the subject matter of my planned speech, which was going to cover the SPLC and CAIR's war on immigration enforcement patriots, SPLC's defamation settlements, and the ongoing litigation against the smear merchants by deplatformed Trump supporters Laura Loomer and Gavin McInnes.
A cascade of copycat hit pieces ensued. The New York Times crowed:
"Mar-a-Lago Won't Host Anti-Muslim Group's Gala, Trump Organization Says."
The Palm Beach Post echoed:
"Trump Organization cancels anti-Muslim group's event at Mar-a-Lago."
The Guardian followed:
"Lavish gala hosted by anti-Muslim group canceled at Mar-a-Lago."
And the Daily Beast bellowed:
"Mar-a-Lago Disinvites Anti-Muslim Group ACT for America to Host Annual Gala at Trump Resort."
The Trump Organization's capitulation to Trump-hating speech and thought police thugs has daunting implications for a wide range of politically engaged citizens on the right. If Trump's family-run companies will swallow the SPLC and CAIR's defamatory "hate" labels wholesale and throw the president's most ardent supporters under the bus, what signal does that send to any hotel chain (or local government) about protecting the free speech and peaceable assembly rights of anyone on the center-right?
SPLC's sweeping hate designations haven't just targeted Gabriel and me (two conservative women of color, by the way), but also (for starters):
--Black conservative scholar Carol Swain.
--Black Trump administration Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson.
--Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz.
--Refugee Resettlement Watch blogger and citizen journalist Ann Corcoran.
--Investigative Project on Terrorism founder Steven Emerson.
--Former Reagan official and Center for Security Policy president Frank Gaffney.
--Jewish anti-jihad activist Pamela Geller.
--Former FBI agent and Marine veteran John Guandolo.
--Somali-born ex-Muslim activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
--Renowned historian and author David Horowitz.
--Scholar and Middle East Forum founder Daniel Pipes.
--Palestinian-American ex-jihadist Walid Shoebat.
--Scholar and Jihad Watch founder Robert Spencer.
--Lawyer, Fox News host, LifeZette.com founder and talk radio veteran Laura Ingraham.
--Former prosecutor and judge and Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro.
--Author and nationally syndicated columnist Diana West.
--Alliance Defending Freedom.
--The Remembrance Project.
--Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum.
--American Principles Project.
Christians, Jews, Muslims and atheists. Cops, vets and government officials. Attorneys, doctors, academics, authors, journalists and activists. White, black, brown, multiracial, multiethnic, interfaith and intermarried. Has there ever been a more diverse universe of "white supremacists" on the planet?
But not to worry. While the SPLC and its open borders media handmaidens are busy destroying their enemies, Trump is busy "monitoring" the situation. With friends like these...
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