RUTHFULLY YOURS

The “max” in Newsmax, if pronounced backwards, is “scam.” So the above is pronounced “News-scam.” This time it’s because the cover story of the November issue — “The Truth about Islam in America” — is handled in a way that would make the mainstream media proud.

Because it’s almost indistinguishable. In addition to being an overall puff piece, there is a flattering timeline titled “Important Events in Muslim-American History” (printed in an Indiana Jones-style font), which goes through all the contributions by Muslims in America. When it gets to the contribution on September 11, 2001, instead of an active sentence such as “Muslim hijackers fly airplanes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center, killing 3,000 people,” we get: “The 9/11 terror attacks fuel a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment across America that continues today.”

So the victims in that sentence are Muslims. And the main point about that day is that it triggered anti-Muslim sentiment. Then we get to 2002 and it reads, “The FBI reports that hate crimes against Muslims have risen 1,600 percent since 2000.”

What that statistic doesn’t tell you is that the increase amounted to a total of 481 crimes in 2001, nationwide. Which is less than one-sixth of the number of people killed by Muslims in just one day, in just three locales. It also doesn’t tell you that by the following year the number was down to 155 — compared to 931 hate crimes against Jews, who in contrast did not kill 3,000 people.

One other odd thing about the timeline is that the issuance of the postage stamp honoring the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr was placed before the 9/11 event. Even though the decision to issue the stamp had been made well in advance of the holiday, the holiday itself actually came after the month of September, so the stamp would have only been available starting in November. I suppose that putting these two events in correct succession would have seemed just too blatantly perverse a reality. Meanwhile, missing was the related fact that the public only learned about the stamp when Muslims had the naglost* to complain that it was missing from a poster advertising holiday stamps, causing the post office to reissue the poster, with apologies. All two months after 9/11.

(*The Russian word “naglost” is like ‘gall,’ only stronger: it means taking a dump on someone’s front doorstep, then ringing the bell to ask for toilet paper.)

One additional touch the magazine had was a sidebar titled “Muslims in America: Middle class, Educated, Professional.” It was about how well integrated Muslims are in American society and how well they do, with a snapshot of Muslim Girl magazine in the middle.

I guess Newxam sees that the future is Islam, and is securing its place in the 7th Century so as not to get left behind in the 21st.