Thumbs Up Down Under!

A lovely post at the Australian Conservative........ xoxo

Pamela Geller – fearless, feisty, stylish and standing up for freedom

Just ask your average tourist. Most New Yorkers aren't known for their manners. And they tend to vote for weird liberal Democrats (so forgive me for my cynicism). But the more I learn about Pamela Geller – the more I'm changing my mind, and seeing another side of politics and culture I don't often associate with the Big Apple.

Some background: Pamela Geller is the founder, editor, and publisher of the very successful Atlas Shrugs.com blog, but more than that, she's a champion of free speech rights and that gets her in heaps of trouble. Just read London's terrorist-friendly Guardian!

The New Yorker believes in the separation of Mosque and state, and the rights of women to live their lives, without fear of religious persecution. The subject of numerous profiles – from 60 Minutes to a cover story in the Sunday New York Times – Geller also recently gained prominence for her "outspoken" views against Park51, the planned "Muslim community centre" or as she puts it, "the ground zero mega-mosque."

Not long ago, the busy blogger kindly answered some of my questions. Feisty? Yes. But in a good way. She has a very big heart – and is full of New World spirit and pluck.

Ben: You're very stylish. The NY Times states that your apartment on the East Side of Manhattan "could belong to a socialite or the editor of a lifestyle magazine" and that there "is ample light and a tasteful lack of clutter." But you talk to the people not down to them – I love that. What keeps you so grounded?

Pamela: Why would I talk down to people? I am doing simply what every free citizen should do: stand up and defend freedom. If you love freedom, and love life, there is no other choice. I am quite typical. My love of life grounds me.

Ben: I note that your "old friend" Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs recently wrote an attack piece on you, and I wonder if he's insanely jealous. Care to comment. Certainly, he is more worried about your successful blog than the status of women in, say, Iran.

Pamela Geller: I am not a psychiatrist, so I am not qualified to comment on Johnson. But yes, he demonstrates an immense lack of moral discernment.

To say that he's abandoned his principles is actually giving him too much credit. He now reviles the thing that he once was. You explain it.

Ben: Your timely book "The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America" has been endorsed by everyone from Geert Wilders, the famous Dutch MP, to the international columnist, Mark Steyn. What message can Australians take away from it?

Pamela Geller: Obama is presiding over and abetting America's decline as the world's superpower. This will bode ill for Australia and all free nations.

Ben: Thanks again Pamela and take care. I'm just about to order your book.

Pamela: Excellent.

More here.