11/15/17   

CAIR somehow got my article/column that appeared in The Grant County Beat Nov. 13, “Dear Islamophobes.” They sent an email to the editor/owner of The Beat, and I suggested a response to that email and also wrote a tongue-in-cheek “news” story. The editor/owner wanted nothing to do with it. This is not the first time she has refused to post one of my blogs out of fear of offending Muslims. Repeat: Fear. It appears the campaign to shut down criticism of Islam has reached into the middle-of-nowhere New Mexico where it has effectively censored a little-read news blog. Oh, my. Here is the email exchange and the “news” article. 

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ME: You may not want to go with this one. Maybe a disclaimer that, with the exception of the email from CAIR, this is a fake news piece that I was having fun with, exercising my First A rights and pulling a few chains at the same time.  

Editor/owner: NOPE. Not a chance. I don’t want anyone to know that CAIR emailed me. Just YOU, because it was in reference to YOUR column. And I don’t want to exacerbate matters! 

Local On-line Publisher and Columnist Honored by CAIR – Special to the Grant County Beat by Peter Burrows 11/14/17 elburropete@gmail.com, silvercityburro.com  

The Council on American Islamic Relations, CAIR, sent the following email yesterday to the editor of The Grant County Beat:  

Date: November 13, 2017 at 5:53:24 AM MST To: “editor@grantcountybeat.com”                                  From: Ibrahim Hooper <ihooper@cair.com>                                                                           Subject: Do you also publish other racist, neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic columns, or just Islamophobic ones?http://www.grantcountybeat.com/columns/libertarian-leanings/40490-dear-islamophobes-stiffen-thy-spines-confront-the-evil   

The editor of “The Beat” couldn’t be reached for comment, but this reporter is aware that she is flattered that CAIR is among the vast viewership The Beat enjoys.  

Peter Burrows, who writes the Libertarian Leanings column that CAIR lauded, noted that when CAIR tries to shut down free speech, “you must be doing something right.”   

Burrows suggested The Beat respond with, “Just the Islamophobic ones. The Nazis, neo-Nazis, Jews, anti-Semites, racists, whomever, have not been ordered by their God to kill me for 1400 years.”   

He continued, “I am not surprised the editor did not take my suggestion She is a classy lady who does not want to get into a pissing match with CAIR. Besides, I think she’s smart to keep a low profile on this one, as CAIR’s next step could be to enlist the local ACLU to sue her for publishing a hate speech article.”   

When asked about the “racist, neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic” charges in the CAIR email, Burrows said he pleads guilty to being a racist, “if Islam is a race.” He added that the email did not call his article homophobic, misogynistic or xenophobic. “These guys are slipping.”  

Burrows cited other articles he has written that CAIR might also enjoy, especially “Slandering the Prophet,” written 4/26/15 and available at silvercityburro.com.   

“My number one slander was: Muhammad loved the Jews. That’ll get CAIR’s knickers knotted. If that irritates them enough, maybe they could see their way to getting ahold of the Southern Poverty Law Center and having my blog declared a ‘Hate Group.’ They did it for Ann Corcoran’s fabulous blog, ‘Refugee Resettlement Watch.’  

“I know I’m not that good, but Hope springs eternal.”