(Via Herald Reporter) At her mildest, Ann Barnhardt appears on a poster, dressed in pink high-heeled shoes, toting a pink AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, standing side-by-side with a heroic portrait of Joan of Arc.
At her most extreme, the slim, dark-haired woman with wide, bright eyes appears before an American flag, holding a copy of the Quran bookmarked with raw bacon, reading pages aloud, tearing them out and setting them ablaze in a large vase.
Barnhardt’s tough, explicitly illustrated anti-Islamic message first played in Loveland in Sept. 20 at a meeting of the Loveland 912 Project.
“She’s out there. That’s for sure,” 912 Project chairman Tom Buchanan said. “I don’t think we’ll be asking her back again anytime soon.”
Yet Barnhardt was scheduled, until a cancellation on Friday, to bring her presentation back to the region again tonight at a meeting of the Colorado Conservative Union, a group for which Buchanan also serves as chairman.
He said Friday he had learned only recently that Barnhardt would return, and that he had not planned to attend tonight’s event, having already hosted her at the 912 gathering.
“She’s got some pretty strong convictions, and those strong convictions attract people,” Buchanan said of Barnhardt. “These days, we’re looking for leaders, no matter how wrong they might be. Maybe that bluntness that she has is what attracts people.”
Barnhardt’s appearance had been set for 6 p.m. tonight at Johnson’s Corner Truck Stop and Café.
‘Not In My House’ – But owner Chauncey Taylor, upon hearing about the speaker and her presentation, contacted the CCU organizers on Friday and canceled the event.  “I don’t want anyone who is espousing violence, or inviting violence upon themselves, to be here,” Taylor said after investigating Barnhardt’s website and talking with event organizers.
“My duty is to keep this a safe and uplifting place for our customers and employees. Anyone who is going to advocate violence is not welcome. That’s not acceptable, not in my world, not in my house. If you’re espousing hate, please don’t come to my house.”
Barnhardt, who described herself in an interview Friday as a “traditional, pre-Vatican II, Latin-Mass Catholic,” rejects any distinction between Islamic extremists and Muslims in general.  She said also that she rejects the notion that Islam is a religion, and that Muslims therefore enjoy First Amendment protection.
“It’s not a religion,” she said. “It’s a totalitarian political system. It is a seditious system, working against every government on the face of the earth.”  In the pages of a translated Quran, Barnhardt says she finds evidence that its contents also advocate “homosexuality, pedophilia, necrophilia, bestiality, … oh, and incest. That, too.”
The CCU newsletter advertising Barnhardt’s appearance warns of “the graphic and potentially offensive content of our speaker’s material,” and says children will not be allowed to attend — and for good reason.
‘Absolutely offensive’ – “It is not potentially offensive,” Barnhardt said. “It is absolutely offensive. I have photographs of female genital mutilation” that she says are part and parcel of Islam.  “I’m going to show the information that needs to be shown,” she said. “This business of burying your head in the sand has got to stop.”
Yes, Barnhardt has received death threats, most recently after the posting of her Quran-burning video on YouTube, where it has been translated into 10 languages including Arabic.  “Watch your back,” a Muslim living in Britain wrote. “I’m going to kill you when I find you.”
Barnhardt did not seek police help. She replied, “You don’t need to ‘find’ me,” then listed her address in Lonetree.  “Luckily for you, there are daily direct flights from Heathrow to Denver,” she wrote, then gave detailed directions to her home.  “Just do me one favor. Please wear body armor. I have some new ammunition that I want to try out.”
Her broad-brush treatment of the followers of Islam calls for a solution to what she calls “Muslim creep,” a movement that she says will destroy the nation.  “Mass deportation is the solution,” she said, adding that American-born Muslims will have a choice.
“If they refuse to renounce Islam, try them for treason,” she said. “If we don’t act, we’ll be living under the tyranny of a Marxist-Islamic jackboot.”  (read more)

Censorship? – Remember that old public service ad with a father confronting his son about drug use? Asked where he learned to do such things, the son replies, “You, all right? I learned it by watching you!” A similar process applies to self-censorship. When those in positions of power and authority succumb to the temptation of muzzling their own speech out of fear, is it any surprise that the less powerful often follow suit?
Consider the case of Molly Norris. After threats prompted Comedy Central to censor Muhammad in the April 21 episode of South Park, the Seattle-based artist took a stand for free speech. Norris created a poster announcing “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day,” sponsored by the made-up Citizens Against Citizens Against Humor. Imploring people to sketch the prophet on May 20, the image features good-natured doodles of a teacup, a domino, and other items claiming to be his likeness. “As a cartoonist I just felt so much passion about what had happened [that] I wanted to kind of counter Comedy Central’s message they sent about feeling afraid,” Norris explained in an interview.
Yet as her idea raced around the internet, taking on a life of its own, she had second thoughts. Norris composed a note distancing herself from the event, declaring that she “never wanted or committed to leading a ‘movement,'” and arguing that enough cartoons of Muhammad have been drawn to “get the … point across by now.” She even defaced her original poster with comments such as “Lighten up! This is a fictional cartoon!” while assuring us that the teacup, the domino, and their friends are not actual representations of Muhammad. Elsewhere she admitted, “I am personally afraid of Muslims because the peaceful folks of that religion do not often come forward to differentiate themselves from any radical elements!” Well, that much is true.
So how should lovers of liberty react to Norris? With disappointment, perhaps, but not with anger. After all, when a prominent network like Comedy Central — which could afford to pay for whatever security it and the South Park creators need — caves to a small cadre of goons, what message does it send to someone whose only protection might be a deadbolt? The answer: that self-censorship is an acceptable response to Islamist intimidation.
The lesson gets reinforced over and over: Citing safety concerns, Yale University Press balked at including the Danish Muhammad cartoons in a 2009 book about — yes — the Danish Muhammad cartoons. Then images of the prophet were pulled from New York City’s Met. In February, the Danish newspaper Politiken apologized for offending Muslims by reprinting Kurt Westergaard’s bomb-in-the-turban caricature. Westergaard himself is deemed too dangerous to associate with, having had a charity illustration refused and a talk show appearance canceled. Lars Vilks, known for living in a booby-trapped house after drawing Muhammad as a dog, is becoming persona non grata as well. In short, Norris and others “learned it by watching you!”
Media outlets that self-censor produce citizens that self-censor. Because free speech is absolutely vital to beating back the storm surge of Islamism.