OK, Fox News Supporters. Defend This...

[jsteele]

Brian Kilmeade on Fox & Friends this morning:

"Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims."

I won't even bother to list contradictory examples because I'm sure you all know them. Shouldn't this guy get the "Helen Thomas Treatment"? Isn't it time for Brian to retire?

[Anonymous]

Almost as bad as Bill O'Really on the View. He said on 9/11 we were attacked by Muslims.

[Anonymous]

How can you watch that stuff? It literally makes my physically ill.

[Anonymous]

How quicly we forget Timothy McVeigh.

[Anonymous]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_terrorism

While you are correct that Timothy McVeigh was not muslim, the attached entry from Wikipedia does detail, unfortunately the preponderance of groups acting in the name of Islam with terrorist acts around the world.

[Anonymous]

Man, ETA gets no respect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man, ETA gets no respect.

Or the IRA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How quicly we forget Timothy McVeigh.

Whoopi said that. Come up with something original, not saying what O'rielly said was right but the opinion of 70% of the country does need to be acknowledged.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_terrorism

While you are correct that Timothy McVeigh was not muslim, the attached entry from Wikipedia does detail, unfortunately the preponderance of groups acting in the name of Islam with terrorist acts around the world.

Give me a break. Eric Rudolph blew up the Atlanta Olympics in the name of Christianity. The IRA did not consist of Muslims. Israel was founded by a number of terrorist leaders. One of them, Begin, blew up the King David Hotel -- killing many Jews in the process. Tamil terrorist have been some of the most vicious in the world. They are Hindu. The Shining Path is not Muslim. Maybe you need to spend a little more time on Wikipedia and a little less time watching Fox News.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Fox News' behaviour on this issue is unacceptable. They are blatantly stirring up hatred against Muslims. Nothing can or will be done about it. This nation is going to witness a disturbing growth in racism and xenophobia fuelled by the right-wing media.

I am not sure where this will end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How quicly we forget Timothy McVeigh.

Whoopi said that. Come up with something original, not saying what O'rielly said was right but the opinion of 70% of the country does need to be acknowledged.

Public opinion does not matter. If it did, we would have had legal slavery for much longer. We would have had institutional discrimination against Jews for much longer. Our Constitution and form of government are set up to protect fundamental American values, and they actually have built-in protections against the sway of public opinion. Read the Federalist Papers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How quicly we forget Timothy McVeigh.

Whoopi said that. Come up with something original, not saying what O'rielly said was right but the opinion of 70% of the country does need to be acknowledged.

Public opinion does not matter. If it did, we would have had legal slavery for much longer. We would have had institutional discrimination against Jews for much longer. Our Constitution and form of government are set up to protect fundamental American values, and they actually have built-in protections against the sway of public opinion. Read the Federalist Papers.

Public opinion does not matter? Then why do we have elections?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Public opinion does not matter? Then why do we have elections?

When was the last time you voted for a federal judge? How come a state with a small population, like Wyoming, have the same representation in the Senate as California? Is Wyoming opinion more important?

Our system was set up to protect minority rights. As the saying goes, democracy is like two wolves and a sheep voting on what to eat for dinner. Luckily, our system is set up so that the rights of the sheep are protected.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public opinion does not matter? Then why do we have elections?

When was the last time you voted for a federal judge? How come a state with a small population, like Wyoming, have the same representation in the Senate as California? Is Wyoming opinion more important?

Our system was set up to protect minority rights. As the saying goes, democracy is like two wolves and a sheep voting on what to eat for dinner. Luckily, our system is set up so that the rights of the sheep are protected.

Jeff said it better than me, but it is also precisely the reason that we have elections in the first place -- representatives make the decisions, not us. And even then their hands are tied to a certain extent, with the need for super-majority votes on big things like veto overrides, cloture, and Constitutional amendments, etc. Not to mention the checks and balances from the other two branches of government.

So even though it's really cool to hate Muslims right now, our Constitution still protects them and allows them to build mosques.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How quicly we forget Timothy McVeigh.

Whoopi said that. Come up with something original, not saying what O'rielly said was right but the opinion of 70% of the country does need to be acknowledged.

You can acknowledge it but you can't let it determine whether we violate human rights -- that is, discriminate based on religion. That's why the Bill of Rights in our Constitution is such a phenomenally important document. The majority of a non-Jewish community might oppose the location of a Jewish cultural center in its midst. The Bill of Rights doesn't allow them to vote them out of the neighborhood, regardless of the reason for the sentiment and regardless of how wide spread it is. Adhering to the protections in the Bill of Rights strengthens our society and makes it fairer for everyone who lives here, regardless of their religion.