Craig, you and I are USUALLY on the same side in political issues, but we differ on the section I highlighted above.
While MOST Islamic people are peaceful enough, I see this as a protest against the ones who carried out the 9/11 attacks and against the ones who cheered after the towers fell...and against all those who burn US flags, US politicians in effigy, and in many other ways, protest against the US and our ways of life.
Is this going to be offensive to many who aren't in those groups? No doubt...but life is full of disappointments and offensive things...get over it.
Well, it's nice that we agree usually, but not that many agree on everything.
I think Al Queda has disrespected Islam enough already, what with trying to get the Muslim world invaded and all (did you know 90% of the people killed by Al Queda are Muslims?)
I think that this represents the lumping together of the innocent and not innocent irresponsibly, and involves completely unnecessarily wronging Muslims.
While these people may think they're doing what you say, what they're doing isn't aimed at Al Queda, it's aimed at Muslims who not only did not do the attack, they were Al Queda's real target of the attack. Attacking innocent people for their religion is a far cry from the political protest of things like protesting a nation having invaded their country or put a dictator over them or a foreign military in their country. They may burn the flag of the country who protects their dictator, but they didn't burn bibles. And I'll tell you, the Muslims being disrespected here had less to do with Al Queda, their enemy, than the American people have to do with their country's actions *who they elect*. Muslims did not elect Al Queda. This blaming Muslims for 9/11 is wrong and you are defending the mistake.
It's a little like having a KKK rally showing hate for blacks in response to the OJ Simpson murders. 'But they're just protesting the terrible crime a black man did'.
The answer to this isn't your 'get over it' - it's the message to you to stop wrongly disrespecting innocent people.
I know you have some 'liberal' values, but one of them is being able to be fair, putting yourself in the shoes of people and seeing what's fair. You aren't showing that one.
'Get over it' is the statement of the mob doing wrong, not someone doing right. You have no right *morally* to do something so hurtful to innocent people because you can't tell Al Queda from Muslims. You are defending this mistaken placing of blame and crossing the line for religious insults - religious hate - religious war - for no good reason but that you are caught up in the mob mentality. 'Get over it' is not a rational defense. It's thuggery.
Listen to the Jewish poster who compared this to the scapegoating of Jews in Germany and ask if you are doing anything right here in venting your anger against innocents.
Keep it up, and you will have more and more real incidents of violence on both sides to give Al Queda and the political exploiters of this 'conflict' what they want as they feed on it, getting support, getting money, getting votes by giving people a 'cause' of hate with themselves the people who gain from the hate they create.