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U.S. Veers Dangerously Close To Consensus On Koran-Burning
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 9, 2010
Modified Sep 9, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 9, 2010
Modified Sep 9, 2010
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It's always a bit nauseating when one sees all the major media outlets giving an extremist ideologue face time, despite a complete lack of credibility, and with mounting evidence that he's truly disturbed. But Pastor Terry Jones, who started a let's-burn-Korans-on-9/11 campaign, seems to have achieved one thing that even President Obama couldn't: A true liberal/conservative consensus.
After Mayor Bloomberg made it abundantly clear yesterday that he thinks Jones is "boneheaded," more politicians came out against Jones today. President Obama appeared on Good Morning America, tried to appeal to the "better angels" of his nature, and hopes that "he understands that what he's proposing to do is completely contrary to our values [as] Americans." The Vatican and Anti-Defamation League agreed with Obama, with ADL Director Abraham Foxman adding, "we should not let bigots defile the memory of the victims of 9/11 with offensive rhetoric and hate speech."
And in that spirit, both Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck spoke out against Jones: "Burning the Koran is like burning the flag or the Bible. You can do it, but whose heart will you change by doing it? You will only harden the hearts of those who could be moved," Beck wrote on his website. Palin echoed his sentiments on her Facebook account: "It will feed the fire of caustic rhetoric and appear as nothing more than mean-spirited religious intolerance. Don’t feed that fire." Well look at that: an actual, across-the-board consensus!
Of course, they couldn't leave it at that—they just had to break the anti-Koran burning reverie, and compare the issue to the controversy lightning rod that is the proposed Ground Zero community center and mosque: "It’s just like the Ground Zero mosque plan. Does this church have the right? Yes. Should they? No. And not because of the potential backlash or violence. Simply because it is wrong," Beck wrote. This was the closest the US has come to a political consensus since the cat fashion shows.
Tagged
9/11
glenn beck
ground zero
koran burning
mosque
president obama
sarah palin
terry jones
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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