- Un-freaking-believable.
Not really. This is the same government that gave us campaign finance reform. Why would they start caring about freedom of speech now?
Posted on 02/03/2006 9:04:55 AM PST by thesharkboy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington on Friday condemned caricatures in European newspapers of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, siding with Muslims who are outraged that the publications put press freedom over respect for religion.
"These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in answer to a question.
"We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable."
Racist you get problems with, but tacky, insulting and tasteless is a protected right most places where there's freedom of the press.
When Islam, of whom Mohammed is the greatest prophet, advocates taking over the world, suppressing freedoms, and killing all infidels all in the name of Islam, I think any caricature of Mohammed which includes a bomb in his turban is very relevant to illustrating the Islamic mentality.
It appears more and more likely that treacherous Clinton holdovers at State actually want to give muslims time to develop The Bomb, pure and simple. But in this case, we have the extraordinary situation where private individuals, with infinitely more common sense and wisdom than all the liberal career diplomats in Washington combined, have it within their power (namely, by drawing insulting images of Mohammad and posting them to the internet) to precipitate armed conflict with these backward moonbat lunatics WHILE IT IS MOST FAVORABLE FOR THE FREE WORLD to fight them -- whether libs like it or not.
Pick our battles? What happened to the Bush fans here who constantly praise his principle and willingness to stand by his beliefs, come hell or highwater.
It still appears to be official policy to not antagonize the muslim world, even if a small per centage of their adherents are murderous lunatics. Wouldn't want to offend them . . . even as they torture and threaten to kill yet another female hostage.
Ordinarily that might be a prudent policy, but the problem with that thinking is that it is unrealistic after 9/11.they have committed one outrage after another since then. So it would be something like the president in the movie 'Fourth of July' persisting in debating the alien in the act of exterminating him, and us.
Do they really think radical muslims, like the ones carrying those despicable signs will eventually decide: "Oh, I never really saw it from your perspective."
Incredible, isn't it, that the Euros are ahead of us on this issue: that free speech means just that?
"Land of the free, home of the brave." Mebbe we should add "and smarter than framing hammers, too" somewhere in the anthem. Our state department. Absolutely incredible.
But when do they start grabbing rocks?
The Mohammad cartoon issue is hot on DU.
Many of you will probably be surprised that the majority of posters support free speech over any supposed right of Muslims, and anyone else for that matter, to be offended.
The majority seem to think that Muslims don't have the right to demand that we follow their cultural and religious prohibitions here in the West.
Frankly, I was surprised and heartened.
Not really. This is the same government that gave us campaign finance reform. Why would they start caring about freedom of speech now?
"'offensive to the belief of Muslims,' State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper"
Apparently beheadings of westerners are not very offensive to them, as I don't remember demonstrations against them in the mooslim countries.
Considering the choice of things that give them offense, I could not care less about their being offended. The only thing about this episode that offends me is the State Dept. mouthpiece giving aid and comfort to the throat-cutters.
I'm wondering how much influence Condi even has over the career bureaucrapweasels in the State Department.
I thought I was the only one. It IS offensive for Muslims, and that part of it, I feel badly for them. It would be as if a newspaper ran a cartoon portraying Christ as a homosexual sex slave to the apostles. Alot of Americans would be quite upset by that, and threaten to boycott as well. Of course, they wouldn't be threatening to burn the place down, but that is besides the point. While the press and media have a right to offend, they have to realize that when you do, you piss people off.
A Decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind
by Hugh Hewitt
February 3, 2006 05:41 AM PST
The furor over the Danish cartoons is sparking an odd reaction among some commentators in the West who see no contradiction in dondemning the idiocy of Joel Stein or the repulsiveness of Tom Toles while urging solidarity with the idiot newspapermen in Denmark who thought it a good idea to not just illustrate Mohammed, but to include some illustrations designed to offend. Like Toles and Stein, they sought a cheap reaction, and getting it, are alarmed that anyone could be judgmental of their efforts.
Of course the thugs who threaten violence against the idiots are evil, and the reaction across radical Islam is every bit as chilling and outrageous as the 1989 fatwa against Rushdie.
But I think the third course between the cartoonist provocateurs and the radicals waving guns at the EU employees in Gaza is to denounce without ambiguity or excuse the latter but at the same time to delineate a very bright line between what the West stands for and the churlishness of the caroonist provocateurs.
Our country's founding document includes in its opening paragraph the explanation for why the Declaration is necessary: "a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that [we] should declare the causes which impel [us] to the Separation."
The cartoons were in bad taste, an unnecessary affront to many of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world, just as Joel Stein affronted the military, the families and friends of the military, and as Toles did the same to the wounded, and their families, friends and admirers. Of course each of them had the absolute right to publish their screed, and the Dutch (and now Norwegian) governments must reply to demands that these papers be punished with a steely refusal to be dictated to as to their culture of free expression and the protection of the vulgar and the stupid.
But don't cheer the vulgar and the stupid.
There are hundreds of thousands of American troops deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the globe among Muslim peoples who they are trying to befriend. The jihadists like nothing more than evidence that these troops represent a West intent on a new crusade and a new domination of Muslims. Idiot cartoonists make our troops' jobs more difficult, and the jihadists' mission easier.
We rightly condemn and must continue to condemn every anti-Semitic outburst from the president of Iran and every anti-Semitic cartoon published in the hate press of the Middle East. Those condemnations loose some of their force among some of the world if we rush to defend those cartoons that can objectively be seen as anti-Muslim.
The jihadists are the enemy, not the Muslim world. Refusing to recognize how idiot cartoonists can indeed offend Muslims who are not only not Islamofascists but also our allies and even our fellow citizens is to refuse Muslims the right to at least the same level of disgust that Christians display when they denounce stupid NBC series like The Book of Daniel or shows like Will & Grace.
From the president's remarks at the National Day of Prayer yesterday:
In our country, we recognize our fellow citizens are free to profess any faith they choose, or no faith at all. You are equally American if you're a Hebrew -- a Jew or a Christian or Muslim. You're equally American if you choose not to have faith. It is important America never forgets the great freedom to worship as you so choose. (Applause.)
What I've found in our country, that whatever our faith, millions of Americans answer the universal call to love your neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. Over the past five years, we've been inspired by the ways that millions of Americans have answered that call. In the face of terrorist attacks and devastating natural disasters here and around the world, the American people have shown their faith in action again and again. After Katrina, volunteers from churches and mosques and synagogues and other faith-based and community groups opened up their hearts and their homes to the displaced. We saw an outpouring of compassion after the earthquake in Pakistan and the tsunami that devastated entire communities. We live up to God's calling when we provide help for HIV/AIDS victims on the continent of Africa and around the world.
Cartoonists seeking to offend need to be defended against violence, but they don't deserve praise and certainly not praise for their gift to the jihadists.
Decency, and a respect for the opinions of mankind, oght still to be highly valued.
Liberating Iraq is not worth the cost, if the price to be payed, is the loss of our own liberty.
IMHO.
Cheers.
When Islam, of whom Mohammed is the greatest prophet, advocates taking over the world, suppressing freedoms, and killing all infidels all in the name of Islam, I think any caricature of Mohammed which includes a bomb in his turban is very relevant to illustrating the Islamic mentality.Cool. I hope you are a cartoonist and come up with a masterpiece on the subject soon. Seriously.
But the state department is not a newspaper and they get to make their decisions independently of the Danish press, true or not true?
We aren't losing our own liberty.
Press Officer for AF, DRL, HIV/AIDS, S/WCI, T Kurtis A. Cooper 202-647-2492
As someone who has often praised Condi, I am beginning to think she is overrated highly. I've spoke with some folks who knew here at Stanford who say that she was a typical administrator who liked to play it safe.
But the idea of insulting people's religion is common among liberals and the like.
__________
I guess you've not read the comments about Islam made on this site, eh? Or is FreeRepublic now a liberal site.
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