. . . . Curiously, what seems to rankle Europeans most is the enthusiasm with which Hirsi Ali has adopted their own secularism and the fervor with which she has embraced their own Western values. Though this continent's intellectuals routinely disparage the pope as an irrelevant dinosaur, Hirsi Ali's rejection of religion in favor of reason, intellect and emancipation seems to make everyone nervous. Typical is the British feminist who complained that not only does Hirsi Ali paint "the whole of the Islamic world with one black brush," she also "paints the whole of the Western world with rosy tints," which is, of course, far more objectionable. [I think the book review is more nuanced but read it yourself and decide. - JSW]

Yes, they hate her — really, really hate her. I have remarked this for years. You can sense their hatred in the many snide things they say about her. They seldom come out and attack her frontally — they just snipe at her, sniff at her.

. . . . I don’t know whether anyone else in the world so discomforts liberals and leftists. I will indulge in psychological speculation:

She discomforts them because she highlights their own cowardice before the jihad. They would rather not focus on things that Hirsi Ali knows we should focus on. They would rather think about global warming — in which the villains are George W. Bush, the Republican party, and capitalism. You know: very easy. When you criticize Republicans and SUV-drivers, they don’t put a knife through your chest.

I actually think that Hirsi Ali makes them ashamed — makes her critics ashamed. They know that she is courageous, that she has put her life on the line, that she sees into the heart of the major problem of our time. They hate her the way people hate anyone who delivers a message they can’t stand to hear. She says, “Act,” and they don’t want to act, so this beautiful and brave and clear-seeing woman is anathema to them.

She makes them ashamed because she is out there defending the Western liberal values that they themselves should be defending. They know they should be defending and protecting Hirsi Ali against the brutes who would kill her, but they won’t — because confronting radical Muslims is something that disgusting right-wingers like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney do.

In addition, they believe that Hirsi Ali and other frank and fearless people stir them up — stir up the Muslims, stir up the radicals. If only they would pipe down, and keep to their own business, they would leave us alone.

Well, they won’t leave us alone.

Finally, it makes matters worse that Hirsi Ali is black — because it means everything to the Left that they are the friends and protectors of the dark-skinned, while their opponents, the Right, are racist louts. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a black woman who escaped from the clutches of a savage and “patriarchal” environment, is everything they should love and protect. But they just can’t, because they fear that Pat Robertson would approve.

That’ll be five cents, please (as Lucy used to say, when she played shrink).