Whatever happened to the Southland’s most infamous YouTube video maker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, aka Mark Basseley Youssef, aka Sam Bacile? As someone who follows the news closely, I was surprised to learn that the rogue producer of “Innocence of Muslims” is now cooling his probation-violating heels in a Texas prison.
According to National Review’s Rich Lowry, the L.A. fraudster is the first person jailed in the United States for violating Islamic anti-blasphemy laws. In Lowry’s words, “As a practical matter…Nakoula wouldn’t be in jail today if he hadn’t produced a video crudely lampooning the prophet Muhammad.”
This opinion is bolstered by some highly regarded legal scholars, including Jonathan Turley, who point to oddities in Nakoula’s case that range from a highly publicized perp-walk to the year-long prison sentence assessed for technical probation violations.
One might think the legal status of someone falsely held responsible for the murder of four Americans by the President and his Sunday morning mouthpiece, Susan Rice, would be an item of press interest. But apparently the mainstream media’s political biases preclude serious inquiry into a story about the killing of an American ambassador along with San Diego native Sean Smith, and two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty of Encinitas and Tyrone Woods of Imperial Beach.
A free press worthy of that title would also show significant interest in the comment of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Charles Woods at a September 14 ceremony honoring his murdered son and the other Benghazi victims. According to Woods, Clinton offered him these words of retributive comfort: “We will make sure the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted”—a remark apparently aimed at a politically troublesome act of free speech.
Unfortunately, Beltway journalists who magnified the non-lethal outing of former CIA-agent Valerie Plame into a years-long scandal are uninterested in Clinton’s chilling promise to Mr. Woods. Indeed, the non-Fox press and its entertainment surrogates have done everything within their power to disparage reporting about a scandal that harms their man in the White House.
Case in point: Congressman Darrell Issa, head of the House Oversight Committee, was recently lampooned for his group’s Benghazi investigation by the moral deviants at Saturday Night Live. This tasteless spoof echoed the MSM’s constantly reiterated “partisan witch hunt” theme—a political redundancy that only becomes newsworthy when GOP probes target Democrats.
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have also offered dismissive comic takes on the Benghazi hearings—but not on former Secretary Clinton’s astounding “What difference at this point does it make?” response to a Senator’s question about circumstances surrounding the September 11 terrorist attack.
Memorial Day reminded us that myriad Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of liberty. That liberty, however, requires diligent journalists who protect free speech and hold lying politicians accountable. Given the performance of the mainstream press to date, America’s liberty is seriously imperiled.
