…the second time as farce.

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce."

Back in 2005 the "Islamic expert" Hans-Peter Raddatz – a Daniel Pipes wannabe – greatly enhanced his career by announcing to the German media that Muslim groups had made death threats against him.  The story got wide play in Germany and beyond, Raddatz received round-the-clock police protection and he was a sought-after guest on the German TV talk shows.  He even got some attention in the US: the Wall Street Journal reported that Dr. Raddatz was hiding out from his would-be assassins in the US, and the right-wing extremist Web magazine Front Page began publishing contributions from Raddatz. Soon, however, the excitement died down as it became evident that the "threats" against Raddatz were overblown.

Last week the litigious "Islam expert"  Dr. Udo Ulfkotte – a Raddatz wannabe – tried to imitate Raddatz’s success thanks to a YouTube video that surfaced just before Europe Cup soccer match between Germany and Turkey. YouTube has taken down the video, but I was able to see it first: it was a video of two German teenagers- probably drunk – making obscene remarks about Turks.  A commenter on YouTube then (wrongly) identified the girl in video as Ulfkotte’s wife. According to Ulfkotte, he then received "numerous" death threats, and a price of 1000 Euros ("Kopfgeld") was put on his life and that of his wife. Ulfkotte hoped that this event would cause a media sensation in Germany; he contacted all of the major newspapers and television networks: but no dice.  Only the hate blog Politically Correct published the story. Poor Dr. Ulfkotte: he was counting on Die Zeit and Der Spiegel to provide a boost to his career and enhance his image in Germany. Perhaps the lack of interest had to do with Ulfkotte’s strategy of taking legal action against journalists who criticize him?  In any event, Dr.Ulfkotte had a major public relations success today. A well-known newspaper picked up his story: the neo-fascist weekly Junge Freiheit. In the article Dr. Ulfkotte reveals that he was invited to come to the United States:

Ulfkotte überlegt derweil, ob er und seine Frau überhaupt noch in Deutschland in
Sicherheit leben können oder ob ein Umzug ins Ausland nicht ratsamer wäre. „Wir
haben aus der Schweiz von politischer und aus den USA von kirchlicher Seite
Unterstützung und Hilfe angeboten bekommen. In Deutschland interessiert sich
dagegen außer der Staatsanwaltschaft niemand für unsere Bedrohung.“ (Ulfkotte is wondering whether he and his wife can still live safely in Germany, or should they move abroad. "We have received offers of help and support from Swiss political groups and US church groupg. But other than the state prosecutor no one in Germany cares about the threats made against us.")

I would urge Dr.Ulfkotte to take advantage of the offer and come to the United States.  Here he will find a multicultural society where different ethnic groups and different religious groups get along just fine.  We might even put a black man with a Muslim-sounding name in the White House.  Also, we still have true freedom of expression: writers, journalists, politicians, pundits etc. can openly criticize each other without fear that they will be taken before a judge. So come to America, the land of endless opportunity. You might even become a millionaire like your ideological comrade Mark Steyn.