No luck on the Street after the latest storm. The wind has returned.
So a nut in Florida burns one copy of the Koran and troglodytes thousands of miles away in Afghanistan go on a killing spree in protest, and politicians here lament that free speech is at times a problem. Why must we cower in fear of the wrath of extremists with a seventh century mentality? As if these monsters won't dream up their own grievances to rationalize the killing of innocents. They slaughter those among themselves who interpret Islam a little differently.
When the publicity starved pseudo-artist came up with the Piss Christ, Christians protested but no one was killed - ditto for when the clown sprayed his portrait of the Virgin with feces. When Kevin Smith made the blasphemous satire, Dogma, no one was killed. And now that the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have written the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, lampooning the sect, Americans will shrug and move on. There won't be a fatwa issued calling for the death of those men, as there was when Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses was published or when the Danish cartoons were printed. Christianity and Judaism are belittled every day by artists. Islam should not be exempt. Its most fanatical adherents lend themselves to ridicule. Don't the actions of those who have gone on the killing spree in Afghanistan prove the point of the pseudo-pastor in Florida? Of course, the biggest problem with that is that it may expose our troops to even more harm. Yes, free speech inflames some. It is part of the price we pay for the privilege of living in a free society, but it is far less than that paid by those in oppressed nations.
And on a lesser but still annoying note - will the press please come to an agreement on the spelling of the name of the slimeball leader of Libya. How about Gadafi? It's short and to the point.
Read Vic's stories, free: http://vicfortezza.homestead.com/
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