Oh joy, the Pamela Geller hate parade will soon be clattering back down into the subway system, with a fresh set of advertisements intended to... well, we're not really sure what their intent is, aside from spreading religious intolerance and evoking painful memories of 9/11. The last time Geller soiled the subway with her Islamaphobic ranting was in September, when a different but equally noxious set of ads prompted the MTA to change its policy regarding offensive ad buys. As a result, the new round of ads feature a prominent disclaimer from the MTA.
"This is a paid advertisement sponsored by American Freedom Defense Initiative," the disclaimer reads. "The display of this advertisement does not imply MTA’s endorsement of any views expressed." 25% of the ad space will be taken up by the disclaimer, which the MTA settled on after a federal judge ruled that it would be unconstitutional for the MTA to reject Geller's ads outright. In the end, MTA Chief Joe Lhota decided that "the answer to distasteful and uncivil speech is more, and more civilized, speech."
Geller's new $10,000 ad buy will be featured in 50 different locations in the subway system. Asked about her latest hate campaign, Geller told the Observer, "I refuse to abridge my free speech so as to appease savages. Thousands of anti-Israel ads have run across the city and not one has been defaced. My ads, 10 went up in New York City, and they were destroyed in hours. You don’t agree with me, fine, run an ad. I have no problem with other people’s ideas." Nope, no problem at all with other people's ideas... as long as they're not Muslim.
