First of all, kudos to Obama for not taking the triple dog dare ya to call Jones and ask him to cancel the Koran burning event. I usually do not agree with Obama (obviously) on most policy decisions, but, had Obama called Jones, it would have made the situation about Obama, rather than Jones and his nutty followers. I’ve seen a few tweets where people are calling Obama out for not calling Jones, and, quite frankly, they are wrong. This is Jones’ deal, not Obama’s. And, just to be clear, Jones has the right to burn the books (marginally, since this is not exactly “demonstrating peaceably”, but, then, neither was the Boston Tea Party), but, it is not a truly Christian thing to do. Anyhow, via USA Today
Florida Rev. Terry Jones says he is canceling the planned burning of the Quran and instead flying to New York on Saturday to meet with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the planned New York mosque.
“We have agreed to cancel our event on Saturday and on Saturday I have agreed to meet with the imam,” Jones said at a news conference in Gainesville, USA TODAY’s Larry Copleland reports.
Update at 5:12 p.m. ET: Jones said Rauf had agreed to move the mosque farther from ground zero, but that has not been confirmed.
Too be honest, I’ll believe it when I see it, and when Rauf agrees to move the mosque.
And, let’s all be honest: Jones’ little stunt truly outed the tolerance of the Muslim community.
(PS: the Unhinged Tools category is for Jones, not Rauf or Obama (at least not in this context))
More: A Florida Imam says there is not deal.
Fox News says if the burning happens, they will not cover it. The AP states it will not distribute photos or audio if it happens. Is this a case of chicken-shittedness, or just refusing to give Jones any more press? Speaking of press, Mike Thomas wonders what would have happened if the media had ignored Jones? Well, really, someone would have known in the Islamist world, and rioted regardless.
