Deja Vu All Over Again

The High Priestess of Hate Mongering, Pam Geller, was given space the other day on an anti-Obama site that calls itself  "American Thinker" to present her latest evidence of the Muslim plan to take over America.

If you're not familiar with Geller, count yourself among the formerly lucky ones ("formerly" because those days are now over). She is author of a charming book called, Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance, and numerous articles around the web that combine racism, anti-Obama hysteria, and fear of the unknown in entirely new ways.

Here's a sample via Loonwatch.com:

So why not tell the truth about Obama and his reported strange sexual predilections? My question is, it is well known that Obama allegedly was involved with a crack whore in his youth. Very seedy stuff. Why aren’t they pursuing that story? Find the ho, give her a show!

Classy stuff.

My favorite is her attempt to prove that President Obama is the love child of Malcolm X.

Barack Hussein Obama Jr Malcolm X Barack Hussein Obama Sr. Barack Hussein Obama Sr., Tom Mboya, and Philip Ochieng, all share common physical features of the Kenyan Luo tribe: Modest stature under six feet, round faces, small chins, wide set eyes, slanted back foreheads, and retracted hairlines…none of these features are shared by Malcolm X and Barack Hussein Obama Jr.

So we are talking about serious derangement here. She's very influential in the Fox News crowd.

Geller's "American Thinker" article takes a seemingly bizarre fact and spins a conspiracy out of it: apparently, whole Butterball turkeys are halal, or slaughtered according to Islamic law.  Or so Butterball would have us believe. I hesitate to do this to you, but maybe you should read Geller's article, here.

Without getting too deeply into the specifics, an animal that is halal has been slaughtered with a sharp knife cut across its neck, and bled to death. To someone standing on the sidelines, it is very similar to kosher, except where it is not. Some sources say the slaughter must be done by an observant Muslim, and a prayer to Allah said as the knife is applied. A purist will argue with me, but after reading around quite a bit on this, I rather like the way Wikipedia puts it:

Whether Muslims' factory-slaughtered meats meet halal standards is an ongoing debate, and the answer depends largely on the individual being asked.

And, indeed, there is some question about whether Butterball turkeys really are halal. But Butterball certainly wanted people who cared (formerly, only Muslims) to think so. That is, until Geller's little treatise. Butterball has apparently backed off their halal claims.

But it raises the question: Why? Why would a company like Butterball bother with something like halal?  Are their owners religious Muslims? Are they really part of a vast Muslim conspiracy to force us, against our will, to eat meat sacrificed to Allah? Is creeping Islam, like creeping communism, destroying us from within?

And then it dawned on me:

$$$

Capitalism!! Of course!

Butterball's web site lays it out:

Butterball is one of the largest global turkey providers in the world. For more than 25 years, Butterball® has been providing quality turkey to markets around the globe. Currently, exporting over 100 million pounds of turkey products annually to over 50 countries, it’s no wonder that Butterball is one of the most celebrated choices for turkey. Butterball is committed to developing the best new products to specifically cater to all international cultures. [My emphasis]

For customers around the world who care, Butterball felt – for whatever reason – they could say their turkeys are halal. And those who didn't care ... didn't care. Until now. Butterball is clearly worried that they'll be the next Proctor & Gamble logo conspiracy.

Incidentally, there are other companies you may have heard of that offer halal meats. McDonald's, for instance, offers halal chicken nuggets in Dearborn, Michigan. I'll bet none of that halal chicken winds up in Detroit, though.