This is utterly revolting:

U.S. lawmakers said Sunday they would consider a request by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to formally condemn a Florida pastor’s decision to burn the Koran, after the act triggered deadly riots in Afghanistan.

Note that once again it is being said that one act – the burning of paper – “triggered” the deadly riots. Not the ideology nor the people who committed the acts, of course. Reid flat-out says that Terry Jones caused the murders — murders committed at the hands of other people.  People apparently so simple-minded that they cannot think for themselves and cannot possibly know the difference between right and wrong.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid repudiated pastor Terry Jones for touching off the chaos with what he called a “publicity stunt.” Jones had earlier threatened to burn the Koran, but then shelved the plan until last month. The burning attracted little U.S. attention at the time but was used as a rallying cry in Afghanistan.

“This was an effort to get some publicity for him. He got it. But in the process, 10-20 people have been killed,” Reid said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Asked whether Congress could pass a resolution condemning it, he said, “We’ll take a look at this.”

You’ll take a look at this? Hey, I have a better idea. Why not take a look at why you constantly make excuses for barbarism and evil acts? Why not take a look at, you know, history and see that murderous rampages and beheadings happen all the time – somehow occurring without some obscure pastor burning a book.

Lindsey Graham, who for some inexplicable reason has not been banned by the GOP from appearing on Sunday shows also jumps on the apologist/excuse making bandwagon:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., suggested Congress should condemn the burning, but also stressed that one pastor’s actions should not excuse the subsequent killings.

“Burning a Koran is a terrible thing, but it doesn’t justify killing someone. Burning a Bible would be a terrible thing, but it wouldn’t justify murder,” he said. “But having said that, any time we can push back here in America against actions like this that put our troops at risk, we ought to do it.”

You know what puts our troops at risk, Lindsey? Evil barbarians. It also puts them at risk when you remain willfully ignorant to that fact and, instead, attempt to put the blame on others. Squashing our freedom of speech by having the American government condemn the exercise thereof does nothing to protect our troops. In fact, it spits on the very freedoms for which they fight.

UPDATE:

Harry Reid went even further and said there may have to be hearings on Koran burnings. Lindsey Graham not only wants to condemn the exercise of free speech, but may want to actually limit it. On Face The Nation today, he said “Freedom of speech is a great idea, but we’re in a war”. So much for that pesky old Constitution, I suppose.

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Cross-posted from That’s What She Said