I have always been a firm believer in the first and second amendment as the absolute bedrock of American society. Without those two rights guaranteed to all citizens, we have nothing but a dictatorship waiting to happen. For the most part, the second amendment is NOT under attack, even though right wing loons keep telling us Obama is going to take them away any second, which he is not. Both parties express the same views, including the assault weapon ban which I do not agree, with as every citizen in this nation should have access to the same weapons as the military to prevent them from telling us what to do. If we had equal standing they certainly wouldn't be fighting the drug war no one wants or foreclose on houses the banks don't own in the same fashion lest blood be spilled everywhere.
But the second amendment makes certain that the first also remains in the place. We in this country have the right to say whatever we want and no one can stop us within reason. We can't yell fire in a crowded movie house or show porno on the Cartoon Network at five in the afternoon, for example. But, religious, racist and really stupid speech is allowed and protected as no one can tell anyone what to believe, no matter how repulsive it might be. This type of free speech is paramount to a free society and must be defended even if I don't agree with it.
This week Muslim fundamentalist morons stormed the Egyptian Embassy yesterday because of some obscure, second rate video put on YouTube that slandered the prophet Mohamed. They demanded the US take down the video and apologize, which of course we didn't. Unless you were in the Egyptian Embassy that released this truly idiotic statement:
"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions,"
Then today, the US Ambassador to Libya and three of his aides were killed when Muslim idiots stormed the embassy there and suffocated him to death for this imagined offense.
Romney went on the attack accusing Obama of apologizing AGAIN with this press release:
"The embassy in Cairo put out a statement after their grounds had been breached, protesters were inside the grounds," said Romney at his press conference. "They reiterated that statement after the breach. I think it's a -- a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values. That instead, when our grounds are being attacked, and being breached, that the first response to the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. And apology for America's values is never the right course."
"It's their (Obama's)administration," said Romney. "Their administration spoke. The president takes responsibility not just for the words that come his mouth but also from the words of his ambassadors, from his administration, from his embassies, from his State Department. They clearly sent mixed messages to the world, and the statement that came from the administration, and the embassy is the administration."
The only problem with Romney's statement and that of the Embassy's is that none of it is true. First off, the statement given by the Embassy was for the Terry Jones debacle, not this latest outrage. Second, Obama never apologized for the attack. Here is the quote:
"Today the American people stand united in holding the families of the four Americans in our thoughts and in our prayers," he said. "The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack. We are working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats and I have also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people."
"We will not waiver in our commitment to see that justice is done for the terrible act and make no mistake justice will be done," he concluded. "But we also know the lives these Americans led stand in stark contrast to those of their attackers."
Where is that apology Romney is accusing the president of? With his tax returns, tax plan and magic underwear apparently. Much like most of the GOP platform, it doesn't exist in reality but in some Netherworld where fictional Obama eats children and wipes his ass with the Constitution. This is the huge problem with Romney, who has zero military experience, that his bluster on sensitive subjects could get us involved in a war where calmer heads should prevail.
But, let's not let off the religious fuckwads who also exist to a lesser extent right here that I call the American Taliban. These assholes want a religious government that tells people what they can and can't do so voting for the Republicans will be no better than supporting the same morons that killed innocent people for their stone age mentality.
But focusing on the Muslim extremists that exist EVERYWHERE, I have a special brand of hate for them. Not because of their race or their religion but how they practice it. Nothing, and I mean nothing, gets me angrier when I see some holier than thou Muslim declare some ancient site in violation of their ideology and then proceed to destroy it. The huge statues of Buddha in Afghanistan being destroyed is a crime against humanity on par with the Holocaust as this is eliminating a historical site that belongs to the world, not just their limited world view. The ultraconservative Muslims in Libya, which made my douchebag of the week column some time ago for exactly this reason, have destroyed mosques and tombs that date back 5000 years. This is a crime punishable by death and one, if it happens here, will cause a backlash the likes of which religious wingnuts have never seen. Thankfully, no other religion has this incredibly stupid provision and one that needs to be shouted against in the loudest possible terms.
I don't care what your religious beliefs are. If you want to worship a giant spaghetti monster in the sky, that is your right. If you force me to worship it to, then you're going to get a gun in your face. Religious freedom is the right to worship or not depending on your beliefs. The religious right in this country doesn't understand that any better than the Muslims as they keep pushing their anti-abortion agenda and anti-gay rights platforms against people who don't prescribe to their belief structure. That is the price of living in a free country: that some are going to do things like put out an ill-conceived video attacking the Prophet Mohamed as a womanizer, pedophile and drunk who invented a religion to subjugate mankind, all of which may or may not be true depending on who you talk to. But he still had the right to do it, and killing people over an obscure video, that until now, no one would have seen anyway, seems really stupid. Now, with all the press it's getting, expect their sales to go through the roof. Way to go schmucks.
The unintended consequences from these actions will be increased attack on innocent Muslims living in the country. Not that the news media has reported any of this, but attacks on followers of this religion have increased dramatically over the past six months, including the Sikh massacre that may have been mistaken for Muslims. On top of that, winguts like Michelle Bachmann and Peter King have leveled unfounded attacks on Muslim Americans serving in our government, accusing them of aiding terrorist groups on the flimsiest of reasons.
I have long said that if this country goes to war, Muslims here and abroad are going to pay a heavy price as those internment camps I have written about are going to get filled up fast, like the Japanese were in the 1940's. The reason will be that no Muslim will be safe as attacks on them will increase exponentially if people feel threatened by them and the only safe place for them will either be by leaving the country or forced into a prison for their own safety. This is not an outcome I want to see happen.
Muslims have got to start not only strongly condemning such actions but by violently putting down any future attacks for their own safety. If Catholic Churches start crucifying gay people on their front lawn, I will be the first to start burning down every church in a hundred mile radius and killing anyone who tries to worship there and I would hardly be alone on that. Muslims need to do the same.
In Syria, we see countless innocent people being put into the hospital for trying to stay away from the fighting. The problem is, the fighting is everywhere and it is time to pick a side. Every able bodied man should either be fighting for or against the Assad regime as trying to live a normal life is putting your head in the sand to the ultimate truth around you. Standing on the sidelines is no longer and option and, if every man, woman and child stood up and fought against Assad, he'd lose. I don't why Muslims refuse to stand up and fight for what they believe in, but it is a deadly character flaw that may lead to a massive war in which the casualty count will be decidedly not in the favor. Israel is itching for war with Syria and Iran while the US understandably drags their feet, but this will not continue forever. And with the death of a US ambassador and Muslims reacting violently to the smallest slight, the people of the Middle East are living on borrowed time. Too bad there isn't a way to kill all the fundamentalists everywhere of every religion and leave the rest of us in peace.
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