Martyr Complex

According to Sully, slain Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was/is "a martyr," "a fearless liberal critic," who "expos[ed] the misogyny" of Islam and "represent[ed] freedom of speech. Sully says that "there is a difference between [Michael] Moore's anti-Western lies and van Gogh's pro-Western truths."

That would be the Theo Van Gogh who regularly referred to immigrant Muslims as "goatfuckers" and said of a female historian who criticized him: "I suspect that Ms Gans gets wet dreams about being fucked by Dr Mengele."

Well, Van Gogh certainly loved free speech, but he doesn't sound much like a liberal or a champion of women's rights. Of course, Sully may have different definitions of liberalism and feminism. And there's nothing pro-Western or truthful about Van Gogh's views.

But I suspect that it's just more of Sully's usual half-assery, a combination of laziness and deliberate disregard for inconvenient facts. In this post, Sully claims that Van Gogh was killed by "a gang of Islamists" and "thugs," while the article he links to repeatedly refers to a single assailant. So it's not surprising Sully refuses to comprehend Van Gogh's bigotry and intolerance.

Needless to say, violence is not a legitmate response to speech, no matter how vile. But Sully needs to find a new posterboy for tolerance if he wants anyone to take his little crusade seriously.