Palin was one of the first prominent leaders on the right to take a stand against the Quran burning. Her reasoning under the First Amendment- ‘just because you can doesn’t mean you *should*’, was the same consistent reason that she gave for opposing the GZM under the circumstances.
Imam Rauf, OTOH, issued a veiled threat of violence if he didn’t get his way on the issue (in addition to using the same term ‘radical’ to define 70% of the American public as Islamic terrorists)...
Who’s being disingenuous here?
I'm a Palin supporter, read and love her book, and hope I have the chance to vote for her for President in 2012. That said ... have ANY prominent leaders on the right taken a stand FOR Quran burning?
I agreed with Palin at first -- that "just because you can doesn't mean you should." However, analyizing it more deeply, I have concluded that a kind of well-meaning, innocent disingenuousness is at play in that sentiment.
The Imam doesn't want to build the mosque at GZ "just because he can." He wants to build it to send a message to Islam that says, "Islam has achieved an important foothold in America at the very site of a great and bloody attack by us."
Americans didn't want to burn Korans "just because they could." They wanted to burn Korans because it was a civil, peaceful, non-violent and powerfully symbolic way to communicate to Islam: Not on our watch. Burning paper, burning symbols, is civil. Burning live people, sawing the heads off of living, breathing Jews and Christians, flying loaded passenger jets into occupied office towers, exploding suicide bombs in public places, is uncivil. It is also BARBARIC. I've read hysterical posts by FReepers who equate the peaceful, lawful, legal, symbolic burning of Korans with the barbaric acts of Muslims, and I see that they are being as disingenuous as the Imams.
Palin SHOULD have come out and said, "Better to burn paper Korans in peaceful, legal, symbolic protest than to burn live Muslims on the street. Islam might want to take a hint and do likewise when dealing with non-Muslims." Talk about the Golden Rule and loving your enemies, as per Christ's instruction? Burning Korans, mere paper, instead of flesh-and-blood Muslims IS honoring BOTH of those Christian commandments. Would that Islam had opted to burn mere cloth and paper in the form of bibles and flags instead of wholesale bloodshed and violence against Jews, Christians, and America.
Palin's understandable attempt to be "civil" backfired, and I am not surprised.