"Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" kicks off

Josh Marshall highlighted today's good news: the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week from last October -- featuring "heavily subsidized and poorly attended events on campuses around the country" -- has spawned a sequel.

Of course, it's tempting to ignore David Horowitz's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week because it's just too silly to bother. On the other hand, it's also tempting to marvel at the occasion and offer a reminder of just how far gone today's conservative movement really is. It's probably more fun to go with the latter.

Here's Horowitz's pitch:

The purpose of this week and the campaign leading up to it will be: 1) To highlight the genocidal agendas of the Islamo-fascist crusade; and 2) To make the public aware of the "soft jihad" -- the domestic networks that fund and provide political support for the agendas of the jihad, including its armies of terror.

The core of the jihad is its intention to conquer and force into submission all religions and cultures which are not its own. It has absorbed the Nazi-virus of Jew-hatred and seeks as its first goal the obliteration of the Jewish state, but its agendas include the obliteration of Christian communities and all non-Muslim cultures as well.

Ron Chusid's take from October is still spot on: "It's just getting harder to keep track of all those holidays. I mean, is Sweetest Day, which just occurred, a real holiday, or just an excuse to sell more candies and cards? Now I learn that this is Islamo-Fascism Awarness Week. Is this a real holiday, or just an excuse to sell more right wing paranoia?"

All evidence points to the latter, though I don't think Horowitz & Co. are "selling" claptrap so much as they're peddling it for free, hoping no one notices how nonsensical their materials really are.

At a minimum, we should get some good quotes out of the events. Last fall, in one of my personal favorites, Rick Santorum told a Penn State audience, "Islam, unlike Christianity, is an all-encompassing ideology. It is not just something you do on Sunday."

If anyone sees similarly illuminating remarks at this week's events, be sure to let me know.