Fascist “journalist” Patrick Lagacé of La Presse continues smearing Ensaf Haidar for meeting Robert Spencer
Like a dog worrying a bone, Quebec’s French-language La Presse just can’t let go of this non-story: this is its third full-length article about the meeting I had with Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Raif Badawi, who is in prison in Saudi Arabia for insulting Islam. (I wrote about the first two here and here.)
There is nothing much new in this latest article, “Est-ce bon pour Raif Badawi?,” that is, “Is it good for Raif Badawi?,” by Patrick Lagacé, La Presse, February 27, 2019. False charges about me repeated without evidence or any opportunity given to rebut them. The claim that I am secretly enjoying all their smears of me — how they came to have mind-reading skills, they do not explain. Horror that Ensaf Haidar had such poor judgment to as to meet with me, despite the fact that it is likely to offend the Saudis. Lagacé complains that besides meeting me, Ensaf’s “criticism of the Saudi regime has become frontal, incessant.” She even dares to “criticize Islam in general.” Only silent acquiescence and dhimmitude, and constant respect for his jailers will free Raif Badawi, you see, in the expert opinion of Patrick Lagacé.
The irony of this is off the charts. Raif Badawi is in prison today precisely because he spoke the truth rather than remain silent, despite the immense personal risk. In response, Patrick Lagacé and his quoted “expert,” Dennis Horak, Canada’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, are telling Ensaf Haidar to do just the opposite: to remain silent and submissive, not speaking unpopular truths for fear they might offend the Saudis, to whom we must apparently all kowtow.
Even worse, La Presse has shown that it doesn’t care about Raif Badawi at all. By repeating SPLC/CAIR lies about me, and trying to tar Ensaf Haidar as an “Islamophobe” for meeting with me, they are making an all-out effort to intimidate Ensaf into silence and/or to get her Leftist supporters to drop support for her cause. This is what is the most despicable about this entire despicable episode: Patrick Lagacé, Marc Thibodeau, and La Presse would rather see Raif Badawi’s cause discredited (which they are working so hard to do) and Raif himself die in prison than allow Ensaf Haidar to stray from the politically correct reservation. This is the quintessential fascist impulse: dissidents must be crushed. I knew journalists were a contemptible bunch, but Lagacé, Thibodeau and their ilk are changing my view: I thought entirely too highly of them.
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