Rick Sanchez' Childish Assessment of Terry Jones' Quran Burning

Of all of the irritating traits that emanate from the far left, the two most disagreeable have to be intellectual snobbery and liberal guilt. For better or worse, Rick Sanchez will never be accused of the former.

In his piece on Huff Post "Burning the Quran Is No Childish Game", (suggesting that book burning is best left to serious minded adults) the former CNN anchor who was fired for his anti-Semitic remarks, rambles on for 645 words talking about a basketball game between his son and daughter (heartwarming, but striking one as an anecdote inserted only because it fit the title of the piece), a mock court case, and his previous interview with Jones, before finally saying,

As much as I dislike giving Jones any more attention and a 16th minute of fame, silence and inaction in the face of bigotry don't work. Worse, they can unfortunately -- and incorrectly -- signal approval or at the very least acceptance.

There we have it. Rick Sanchez with his complete array of faculties and firing on all intellectual cylinders is hardly an archetype of lucidity, but when he allows himself to be completely blinded by guilt, here's what slips out...

Jones needs to realize that his words and actions make him the very thing he despises: He is no better than the fringe of Muslims who hate.

This comparison is nothing short of obscene. This is as close to a concession to sharia that one could possibly make, and shows exactly why fundamentalist Islam and western democracy are, and will always remain, absolutely irreconcilable.

Sanchez' ignorance is on display again when he writes,

The lesson he needs to learn is that he has every right to express his opinion about Islam or to disagree with Muslims, but he doesn't have to spit in their faces to do it. He didn't need to desecrate a book that one and a half billion people hold sacred in order to make a point. He shouldn't needlessly put the lives of our armed forces at greater risk.

I assume he's speaking metaphorically here. Why should we care about pissing these guys off? Why should we capitulate to these maniacs? Why should we infringe upon the first amendment rights of our citizens, bought and paid for with the blood of patriots, to kowtow to a bunch of backwards, ninth century barbarians? For safety? I thought we learned that lesson, again, after 9/11. Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." People who are burning up the blogosphere with calls for Jones to be charged with murder, saying he needs to be stopped, and that he's no better than a bunch of murdering jihadists need to know one thing: Stopping someone from burning a Koran won't make them like us. It will simply be the first in a long line of capitulations. You'll have to allow them to stone unveiled women in Afghanistan. And while you're at it, don't tell them they can't throw acid in schoolgirls' faces in Kandahar, or they might get mad at you. And for heaven's sake, don't ask them not to kill cartoonists in Denmark for printing satire on the prophet Muhammad. Because, at the end of the day, what appeasers like Rick Sanchez fail to realize, is that burning a book is protected speech, burning an book's author is not.

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it
-Evelyn Beatrice Hall

Chewbacca: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!
C-3PO: He made a fair move. Screaming about it can't help you.
Han Solo: Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee.
C-3PO: But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid.
Han Solo: That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that.
Chewbacca: Grrf.
C-3PO: I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, R2: let the Wookiee win.