“Imagine if Mayor Bloomberg invited a Muslim cleric from Egypt known for his advocacy of female genital mutilation, wife-beating, ‘martyrdom’ bombings in Israel and Iraq, and the murder of homosexuals and converts from Islam to be an honored guest of the city. New Yorkers would naturally rebel against the mayor, who would certainly survive politically. But what if he did something even more brazen and perverse: invite the cleric back. Surely, it couldn’t happen here. But it did happen in London last year under the aegis of left-wing mayor, Ken Livingstone. Livingstone considers Yusuf al-Qaradawi (the cleric’s name) a huggable, ‘moderate’ liaison between East and West. Anyone arguing otherwise Livingstone accuses of xenophobia or – a ridiculous term now gaining traction in the United Kingdom – ‘Islamophobia’.”

Yet another right-wing boost for Nick Cohen’s book, What’s Left: How Liberals Lost Their Way, this one by Michael Weiss in the New York Daily Post, 6 May 2007

Of course, the visit by Dr Qaradawi actually took place in July 2004. But when you have such a lightminded attitude to the facts in general why bother getting the date right?