The 35 left-liberal swine who signed a letter to PEN protesting against an award to Charlie Hebdo

If David Cameron hadn’t proven himself so adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, I’d be predicting a narrow overall Tory majority next week. I still think they might do it, especially if Ed Miliband keeps reminding voters why they despise Labour by indulging in such suicidally stupid activities as hobnobbing with anuses like Russell Brand and promising to make Islamophobia a crime. Islamophobia – at least, as it will be defined by Labour’s Islingtonian gauleiters - strikes me as a rather reasonable blanket response to a religion which despises democracy, freedom of thought, women, homosexuals and Jews, and whose aim is to impose itself on the rest of the world, with or without our permission. A Western liberal would need a lobotomy in order not to be creeped out by that little list.

Fortunately, scepticism regarding the ideology of Islam isn’t confined to the usual right-wing suspects. It’s a subject on which the rhetoric of, say, Melanie Phillips, James Delingpole and Douglas Murray is matched by that of several prominent left-wing commentators. For instance,  Rod Liddle today published an article in The Spectator, entitled: “Here’s everything Islamophobic that I have to say, all at once” (read it here), in direct response to Miliband’s disgusting plan to further erode free speech. Liddle disappointed me recently by writing another article entitled: ‘Call me insane, but I’m voting Labour” which prompted his wife, among many others, to confirm that he was indeed insane, and to point out that Miliband’s dhimmitudinal new law would result in her husband being banged up for his comments on what he considers “an illiberal, vindictive and frankly fascistic creed.” Enjoy his article now, because such writings will be banned if Labour get in.

When it comes to writing about Islam and, in particular, his fellow-leftists’ cringing response to it, Nick Cohen is without equal. His genuinely brave 2007 book, What’s Left? – an examination of poisonous modern left-wing beliefs and attitudes – reminded me of similar attacks by George Orwell on his own side in the '30s and '40s. Earlier this week, Cohen wrote a truly magnificent article – also in The Spectator – entitled “Charlie Hebdo: the literary indulgence of murder”, in which he expresses righteous outrage at the writers who tried to stop PEN, an organisation whose aim is to defend free speech for writers, honouring Charlie Hebdo. The article is worth reading in its entirety (here), but this will give you a flavour:

They not only go along with the terrorists from the religious ultra-right but with every state that uses Islam to maintain its power. They can show no solidarity with gays in Iran, bloggers in Saudi Arabia and persecuted women and religious minorities across the Middle East, who must fight theocracy. They have no understanding that enemies of Charlie Hebdo are also the enemies of liberal Muslims and ex-Muslims in the West. In the battle between the two, they have in their stupidity and malice allied with the wrong side.

This latest revolt against freedom by Western intellectuals was originally mounted last week by six deluded cowards (or “pussies” as Salman Rushdie termed them), but has since swelled to include another 29 gutless dhimmi scribblers – all of whom deserve our undying contempt. They all signed a letter to PEN earlier this week. The following paragraph almost made me throw up:

PEN is an essential organization in the global battle for freedom of expression. It is therefore disheartening to see that PEN America has chosen to honor the work and mission of Charlie Hebdo above those who not only exemplify the principles of free expression, but whose courage, even when provocative and discomfiting, has also been pointedly exercised for the good of humanity.

If they feel that strongly about it, perhaps these pantywaist hand-wringers could be persuaded to attend an alternative event honouring those very writers “whose courage, even when provocative and discomfiting, has also been pointedly exercised for the good of humanity” and whom PEN has apparently so cruelly ignored. To give these infinitely compassionate humanitarians an opportunity to demonstrate their own immense reserves of courage, perhaps they should hold their enlightened event in one of those parts of the Middle East currently under the control of the Islamic murderers whose feelings they seem so keen to protect. (As a sign of respect, perhaps they could all join in the joyous shout of "Allahu Akbar" as their ravening hosts start hacking through their necks with a variety of sharp-edged weapons.)

Here is the full list of the whining bed-wetters who signed a letter to PEN in protest at the award. Shame on all their sorry little cultural Marxist arses:

Chris Abani

Russell Banks

Peter Carey

Teju Cole

Junot Díaz

Deborah Eisenberg

Eve Ensler

Nell Freudenberger

Keith Gessen

Francisco Goldman

Edward Hoagland

Nancy Kricorian

Amitava Kumar

Rachel Kushner

Zachary Lazar

Patrick McGrath

Rick Moody

Lorrie Moore

Joyce Carol Oates

Michael Ondaatje

Raj Patel

Francine Prose

Sarah Schulman

Taiye Selasi

Kamila Shamsie

Wallace Shawn

Charles Simic

Rebecca Solnit

Linda Spalding

Scott Spencer

Chase Twichell

Eliot Weinberger

Jon Wiener

Dave Zirin