No Movie After All?

By now the idea is spreading all over the place that there is no movie Fitna, and never will be—that Geert Wilders simply announced that there would be to expose Islamic intolerance.

I have no direct knowledge either way, but I’m inclined to credit this idea at this point, since the film has not appeared now on several dates on which it had been announced to appear. Maybe it will finally burst upon the world, but I won’t be surprised if it never does.

And look what we have seen: for the mere announcement that he was making a film quoting the Qur’an and showing Muslims acting violently in accord with its words, we have seen threats from several Muslim countries, threats from Al-Qaeda, demonstrations in the Netherlands and around the world, and quailing dhimmitude from the august leaders of Europe, as they cringed before the anticipated Islamic wrath, and from Network Solutions, as they pulled Wilders’s site while it was almost entirely devoid of content.

Note, meanwhile, that hardly a day goes by on which some Muslims somewhere do not commit an act of violence that they deem to be justified by the words of the Qur’an. Jihadist leaders routinely invoke Qur’anic passages to explain their actions and make recruits among peaceful Muslims. In other words, we see the announced theme of Wilders’s Fitna played out every day, not by non-Muslims but by Muslims—and there is nary a peep of protest from anyone. Muslims in the West issue vague denunciations of “terrorism,” but never specifically explain whom they actually believe to be a terrorist, and there are no protests, no threats, no nothing against those who have supposedly “hijacked” their religion.

Maybe that was Wilders’s point all along, and it is a point well made, made again and again and again.

I just spent 30-40 minutes on the phone with Network Solutions (based in PA), complaining about their removal of the fitnathemovie.com website.

Ultimately, I was only able to get as high as a woman named Shannon, the Assistant to the Executive Officer (his name is Roy Dunbar), who gave me a polite brush off, without actually answering any of my questions.

But I was making her very uncomfortable . . . I could actually hear her blanching over the phone!

I explained why I was contacting her (she was already aware of Fitna), and when I was done explaining my gripe (forcefully), she asked me if I had any specific questions for her.

So I asked her some specific questions, and informed her they were for an article I was writing for a popular conservative blog . . . where upon her voice became even gloomier:

1. “Why did you remove a website for TOS violations when there was nothing but a parking page with the text “Coming Soon”, and a photo of the Quran?”

She directed my attention to the notice on the page, saying “It is what it is.”

2. “Why is an American based company willing to practice preemptive censorship, when there has not yet been any violation?”

Again, she had no answer.

3. “Is it Network Solutions’ common practice to remove websites on the day prior to their launch, after months of work have gone into promoting those websites?”

She said she was not aware of such a practice, but she could forward my question upward.

4. I informed her I was in the process of building a new, massive website (true), and that I had planned to host with Network Solutions prior to this debacle (not true).

I asked her why American companies should give Network Solutions their business, when her company has demonstrated their willingness to ruin their customers’ livelihoods for the sake of political correctness, and their own bottom line?

She just sort of sputtered, told me she understood my point, and assured me she’d look into it.

5. I asked her why an American based hosting company is more concerned about disgruntled Muslims than protecting free speech on the Internet?

Dead silence.

6. I asked her for contact information for her boss, Roy Dunbar (CEO of Network Solutions), as she was unable to provide me with answers to my questions, and she declined, stating she could not allow every complaint to go directly to him, because he was a busy man.

I informed her I too am a busy man, and that I had just wasted more than a half hour of my time, being shuffled from person to person, trying to get answers she was ultimately unwilling or unable to provide.

I informed her I knew she was not personally responsible for this debacle (I had been pretty tough on her), and I apologized for what I was going to have to do.

I explained that, unlike radical Muslims, law abiding citizens did not have the option of issuing threats or becoming violent, thus our only recourse is to become such a pain in the ass that companies such as Network Solutions find offending Muslims preferable to the time and resources wasted dealing with us.

I told her I would be posting the gist of our conversation online, at a popular site, and that she was in for a bad week. I really hope I’m right.

Network Solutions

Roy Dunbar, CEO

10 Azalea Drive

Drums, PA 18222

800-333-7680

www.networksolutions.com

Give ’em hell Jawas!

Don’t let yourselves be brushed off by the first few people you talk to . . . and don’t waste a lot of your time talking to them. They are low level functionaries, and you are better off wasting the time of someone at a higher pay scale.

Just keep asking to speak with someone in the corporate offices until you are connected. Be polite, but firm.