On last night's TV show, Glenn welcomed Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American-Islamic Forum for Democracy. The discussion centered around the problem of political Islam, something he has been trying to stop. Jasser himself is a Muslim believes it's critical to call radicals like ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood "Islamic extremists", not just "extremists" and "violent extremists". Why?
Dr. Jasser: When you say why moderate voices can’t speak up, when you have foundations in the tens of the millions, like the Clinton Foundation, that accepts foreign donations, and President Clinton says oh, it’s not a big deal, it is a big deal. I’m proud of the fact that our organization doesn’t take foreign money, because that would make me beholden to the Mafia that is suppressing free speech for reform in Islam. People like Grover, the Clinton Foundation, and others, that sort of say 'well, the Islamists, we won’t use even that term,' it obstructs me, it prevents reform, and the Islamists dominate the narrative.
Glenn: Okay, why does it obstruct you? Bill Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, Hillary Clinton, taking all that money, and she said everybody knows there’s nobody that loves, you know, or stands for women’s rights more than me. Why does it actually…why is that a lie?
Dr. Jasser: Because if there’s no problem in Islam or Islamism, it’s just about violent extremism as the government wants to call it, I don’t have any relevance. You might as well talk to Buddhists and Christians and atheists about the problem, because it’s all about Whac-a-Mole for the terrorists. If it’s about Islamic reform, then you have to bring to the table Muslims, and that’s the cognitive dissonance. The president at his White House, you know, shindig a couple weeks ago said oh, we have Muslims here because we need them to help us, and yet it’s not about Islam. So, why were you calling in Muslims? So, this is the issue. Al Jazeera outlaws the use of the term Islamist because they realize if we defeat political Islam and the concept of all Islamic states, the Qatari government which funds Al Jazeera, the Saudis, will lose power to the people and free movements.