Last night on "Hannity," anti-Muslim activist Pam Geller and outspoken Islamist Anjem Choudary barely even attempted to have a civil discussion about the intersection of faith and free speech in America, choosing instead to shout at and over each over for as long as Sean Hannity would let them.
Hannity began the segment by repeating the unverified threats against Geller's life made by an English-speaking jihadi. He quickly reminded his audience exactly why he invited Choudary onto the program -- he's a caricature of a Sharia-desiring, women-hating Muslim extremist.
Hannity turned to Geller and asked whether the FBI has contacted her about the "fatwa" put out on her. She said that the FBI has not reached out to her, but that the NYPD counter-terrorism task force had. Geller added that the person who should really be providing her with protection is President Barack Obama, "because he created an environment that raised the stakes on this," noting that she had held a free speech conference on September 11, 2012 -- the same day that the embassy complex in Benghazi, Libya was attacked.
Hannity turned to Choudary, and asked whether he supported the "fatwa" against Geller.
"This isn't Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck they were drawing," Choudary replied, "this is the prophet [and] this woman wants to have people draw cartoons that insult the prophet knowing full well that carries the death penalty in Islam. So definitely, she's asking people to attack."
"Is that how frail you are in your faith," Hannity asked, "are you so insecure that your prophet can't have a cartoon drawn about him? So you believe [Geller] should die? You want her to die!"
"You know what?" Choudary responded. "She should be tried in a Sharia court, be found guilty, and of course she would face capital punishment." Hannity reminded Choudary that Geller isn't a Muslim, but all Choudary could say was that she "should have thought about that before she had that competition. You can't go down that road, insulting Muslims, and think the Muslims aren't going to retaliate back. I would attack someone if they insult my mother, let alone the prophet who I love 100 times more."
At this point, Choudary and Hannity's "conversation" devolved into a shouting match in which words like "Sharia law" and "oppressive regime" were tossed about and Pam Geller -- Pam Geller -- stepped in as the voice of reason, explaining the difference between Catholic Canon law, the Jewish Talmud, and Sharia law. With this trio sharing the same screen, though, reason didn't have a fighting chance, and within in a minute all three were shouting at each other again.
"You knew the consequences," Choudary said, as well as things about the United States occupying Muslim countries and "murdering innocent people." Geller cracked wise about Choudary's belligerence, insisting that he wouldn't let her speak uninterrupted because he's "used to stepping all over women." And Hannity, for his part, kept repeating that one of his invited guests was "evil and pathetic," and despite all the cross-talk, it was abundantly clear which guest he was referring too.
Watching the entire shouting match below via Fox News.
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