Society

Looks like the Rev. Terry Jones got an unexpected visit today:

A few men entered the Dove World Outreach Center building today who identified themselves as FBI, they did not make any comments to the press. Both Pastor Terry Jones and his associate pastor are saying they are carrying weapons because of death threats.

I hate to speculate here, but I wonder if this isn’t a final push to put an end to this “burn the Quran” nonsense?

I also understand people arguing the freedom of speech point, but there are limits to that. Everyone with a level head agrees that this will hurt our chances in the current war and increase the ever growing risk our troops already face. In short, it amounts to treason.

Yes we have freedom of speech in this country, but you still can’t yell “FIRE” in a crowded theater.

And unlike the Park51 project, the Rev. Jones is doing this to purely incite hate, so comparing the two stories is a strawman at the best.

Meet Tim Randal. He is now the former leader of the Big Sky Tea Party in Montana. Here is what lead to his fall from power:

Tim Ravndal: "Marriage is between a man and a woman period! By giving rights to those otherwise would be a violation of the constitution and my own rights"

Keith Baker: "How dare you exercise your First Amendment Rights?"

Dennis Scranton: "I think fruits are decorative. Hang up where they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions."

And while people might be quick to commend the Tea Party on firing him, they must also ask themselves “how did he get in power?”.

Randal isn’t the first high profile Tea Party person to make such vile comments. Remember back in July when Tea Partier in Chief wrote a rather racist filled letter to Abraham Lincoln, acting like he was the President of the NAACP? That lead to Williams falling from power within the party (as far as we know), but yet he was also able to gain a position of power before showing his true, hate-filled side.

So with stories coming out every week exposing the extremist views of the Tea Party, the kind of views that would make the Taliban proud, America should stop and ask if this is the kind of views we want our country to be recognized for. Do we really want political leaders echoing the same kind of rhetoric that we are used to hearing from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? This American sure as hell don’t want that.

From TPM:

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander of the Afghanistan War, said today the planned burning of Korans by a Florida church could put American troops in danger.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," Petraeus told the Wall Street Journal. "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."

Chalk this up as pure common sense, but when you talk about religious fanatics like the Rev. Terry Jones, sense is something you don’t have the luxury of. Outrage, emboldening terrorism and putting our troops at greater risk is much better in the name of publicity for the so-called Reverend.

You can tell it’s election season. Commercials are on the air and the robocalls are ringing off the hook. The yard signs are in full bloom along with the attack ads.

But the biggest indicator that an election is nearing? More charges of Republicans using copyright material without permission:

A company has sued Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle, claiming she reprinted two Las Vegas Review-Journal articles on her campaign website without permission.

Las Vegas-based Righthaven is seeking unspecified damages in its complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.

The suit alleges Angle neither sought nor received permission to display a Review-Journal article and editorial on her website this summer.

For those that don’t remember back to 2008, the big one was John McCain using Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty” without permissions. There have also been a bunch of others since then and the biggest common denominator? They are always Republicans being sued.

I guess it really does play into the GOP’s way of thinking. They have always believed in rewarding some for the work of others. Do you rake in the big bucks? Good – you shouldn’t have to pay taxes. Instead let the little man pay his taxes so you can reap the rewards. Just think of it as Robin Hood in reverse.

So this will leave us wondering how many more cases we will hear of Republicans stealing the work of others before November rolls around.

Craziness in Maryland:

A gunman with an explosive device strapped to himself has entered the Discovery Communications building in Silver Spring, Md., and may have taken at least one person hostage, police said.

Montgomery County police said there may also be other explosives in the building, but they said they could not confirm reports that one or more shots had been fired.

Law enforcement authorities identified the man as James J. Lee. They told NBC News that he had a long history of protesting at the building. NBC said the man may have posted environmental and population-control demands online.

The suspect has a laundry list of demands posted on his website. Things from stopping global warming to ending illegal immigration and “anchor babies”.

While this guy appears to be an all around lunatic, that isn’t stopping the wingnuts from labeling him. Here’s Gateway Pundit:

GUNMAN, BOMBER, LEFTIST ACTIVIST- HOLDS HOSTAGES AT DISCOVERY BUILDING (Photo)

Yeah except the guy also holds some extreme rightwing views as well. But nothing takes the cake like ultra-radical Ace of Spades commenting on Lee being Asian:

I am speechless with this statement of absolute idiocy. I guess we should start calling Hitler an American, since America is a white country and Hitler was white.

(UPDATE - fixed the broken end of my post. My computer is getting silly and ready for a reboot)

This one should get people talking:

HATCH: Let's be honest about it, in the First Amendment, religious freedom, religious expression, that really express matters to the Constitution. So, if the Muslims own that property, that private property, and they want to build a mosque there, they should have the right to do so. The only question is are they being insensitive to those who suffered the loss of loved ones? We know there are Muslims killed on 9/11 too and we know it's a great religion.... But as far as their right to build that mosque, they have that right.

I just think what's made this country great is we have religious freedom. That's not the only thing, but it's one of the most important things in the Constitution....

There's a question of whether it's too close to the 9/11 area, but it's a few blocks away, it isn't right there.... And there's a huge, I think, lack of support throughout the country for Islam to build that mosque there, but that should not make a difference if they decide to do it. I'd be the first to stand up for their rights.

And Hatch is right.

Adam Serwer, who is filling in for Greg Sargent this week, sums it up great:

This statement is all the more remarkable because it isn't grudging -- there are no hedges about the "wisdom" of where the project is being built, as though the group should have expected a nation-wide smear campaign designed to paint the developers as Islamic extremists for wanting to expand an existing prayer space into a community center.

Jonathon Weisman at the WSJ echoes something I have been saying all along:

Islamic radicals are seizing on protests against a planned Islamic community center near Manhattan's Ground Zero and anti-Muslim rhetoric elsewhere as a propaganda opportunity and are stepping up anti-U.S. chatter and threats on their websites.

One jihadist site vowed to conduct suicide bombings in Florida to avenge a threatened Koran burning, while others predicted an increase in terrorist recruits as a result of such actions.

"By Allah, the wars are heated and you Americans are the ones who…enflamed it," says one such posting. "By Allah you will be the first to taste its flames."

White House homeland security adviser John Brennan told reporters Friday that he had seen no evidence that the debate over the proposed Islamic center in Lower Manhattan, other mosque protests or the planned Koran burning had affected U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

Of course hatred trumps common sense for so many in this country. It’s easy to burn a Koran or say no to a Mosque, but its hard to comprehend that these actions are alienating the second largest religion in the world. Does America really want a billion Muslims pissed off at us, instead of a few hundred radicals?