The price we pay for Freedom of Speech...

re: #1 ralphieboy

The price we pay for Freedom of Speech...

Bush said "they hate us for our freedom"... i beg to differ, this incident changes that to:

"They hate us for the absolutely vile and idiotic offensive things we use our freedoms to perpetrate"

re: #2 wozzablog

Bush said "they hate us for our freedom"... i beg to differ, this incident changes that to:

"They hate us for the absolutely vile and idiotic offensive things we use our freedoms to perpetrate"

How about "They hate us because we 're stupid"?

Can this whole incident finally please wake up more of the reasonable people on the right? Has this crazy finally gone far enough down the road for them to see which way they're driving?

I wish we could make the point that this is one man and his fifty followers, out of 300 million.

It is just a few ounces of paper, folks.

re: #5 EmmmieG

I wish we could make the point that this is one man and his fifty followers, out of 300 million.

But somehow he has hit a real nerve. And I suspect there are more than fifty more Americans out there who would be happy to join him.

re: #3 ralphieboy

If this does not go forward it is a blow to freedom & it looks like to me that we are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Yes, we must be Free To Be Stupid, it is a God-given right, and they can take this box of glazed donuts away from me when they pry it from my fat, greasy hands as I lie on the sofa...

re: #8 Ojoe

If this does not go forward it is a blow to freedom & it looks like to me that we are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Not if it doesn't go forward because the common sense fairy came and visited the man in his sleep.

re: #3 ralphieboy

How about "They hate us because we 're stupid"?

Too generic.

re: #7 ralphieboy

But somehow he has hit a real nerve. And I suspect there are more than fifty more Americans out there who would be happy to join him.

The question is: How many Americans are appalled by this for every one that would join him?

That's the real question.

re: #10 EmmmieG

Not if it doesn't go forward because the common sense fairy came and visited the man in his sleep.

Worth praying for.

re: #4 Kreniigh

Can this whole incident finally please wake up more of the reasonable people on the right? Has this crazy finally gone far enough down the road for them to see which way they're driving?

It would be nice. Sadly, I think it will just embolden the crazies and keep them going full steam ahead into the ditch.

At this point, I think the only thing that will stop these nutbars is the GOP getting curbstomped in 2012 and Obama winning a second term. That might force the adults to finally step in and get things under control.

re: #14 Lidane

It would be nice. Sadly, I think it will just embolden the crazies and keep them going full steam ahead into the ditch.

At this point, I think the only thing that will stop these nutbars is the GOP getting curbstomped in 2012 and Obama winning a second term. That might force the adults to finally step in and get things under control.

The "hey, lets step onto the center ground and let the adults talk for a while" chat hasn't happened yet - the TP'ers and assorted other nuts of the wing variety need sent to the naughty step.

re: #12 EmmmieG

The question is: How many Americans are appalled by this for every one that would join him?

That's the real question.

Just like the mute question "How many Muslims are appalled by Islamist terrorism for every one that would join them?"

re: #16 ralphieboy

Is that moot or mute?

It could go either way.

re: #6 Ojoe

It is just a few ounces of paper, folks.

When the Klan burns a cross on a black man's lawn, it's just a couple pieces of wood, right?

re: #16 ralphieboy

Just like the mute question "How many Muslims are appalled by Islamist terrorism for every one that would join them?"

There it is.

The obvious corollary.

The proverbial elephant in the room.

And more topically for those more interested in recency -- the gorilla that is invisible.

An act of protected free speech (we believe) now leads to a State Department warning. Acts of protected religious freedom leads to protest...

Previously noted: competing rights with valid claims become the crucible for leadership and statesmanship.

Or not.

And so far, the "nots" are pitching a no-hitter.

.

re: #18 Fozzie Bear

When the Klan burns a cross on a black man's lawn, it's just a couple pieces of wood, right?

If they burn it on their own lawn, then the law sees it as being just two pieces of wood. It is the burning it on the person's lawn part that makes it into threatening behavior.

Ditto goes for the Koran burnings.

re: #19 Dad O' Blondes

At least you left out the piss this time.

re: #19 Dad O' Blondes

I didn't know that burning a holy book was a religious act. I'll keep that in mind when the same folks rationalizing the Qur'an burning start to whine if Bibles are burned in retaliation.

re: #22 Lidane

I didn't know that burning a holy book was a religious act. I'll keep that in mind when the same folks rationalizing the Qur'an burning start to whine if Bibles are burned in retaliation.

The point I made re: "protected religious freedom" was referencing the Cordoba mosque. "Protected speech" referred to the burning of Korans.

The two situations, though 1000 miles apart, are bound inextricably as the Koran burning is perceived as a response to the mosque's planned construction.

Each of the situations involves -- directly -- "rights" which are valid -- and which are competing.

.

I do believe that more violence is what the Bigot Brigade wants. I get the impression that many of them feel that the one thing America can do well, and should do, is engage in violence. No dialog, no tolerance, no nation-building: just send in the Marines.

I fail to see the equivalence. 19 killed 3,000. 50+ threaten to burn... a book. A mosque is going up near where the Twin Towers stood. A church is going up in the muslim world... where? If we're supposed to be playing by the rules of the Marquis of Queensbury, why aren't the other guys reciprocating? Is that too much to ask?

These are rhetorical questions.

re: #25 Gail Wynand Wannabe

If we're supposed to be playing by the rules of the Marquis of Queensbury,

We're not. We're supposed to be the good and decent ones.