To burn or not to burn

A bit of an editorial slant today.
Did you know someone plans to burn a particular holy book in of all places, Florida? And get this: a certain government official wants to stop it.
To me the whole burning issue is a red herring. In particular how such an act by a few citizens could jeopardize foreign policy, really has me wondering how our government is picking its talking points. Thanks to the media attention this thing got (thanks CNN), it has turned into something bigger than it should have been. I guess it is just part of the time we live in.
Will it anger folks? Sure.
Will it lead to further killings and extremist recruitment ? Possibly but that's giving one event too much influence. Those things would probably have continued. There is ignorance on both sides. Altough I like the speech writer's choice of words- "recruitment bonanza." Which reminds me- the son of Laden apparently likes the television show. Too bad all the cast is dead. Pernell Roberts died earlier this year.
So what could can the government legitmately do? Declare a fire ban.
Of the course that action could have many undue repercussions- like suggest the government is overarching to control the speech of Americans.
Free speech lawyers are going to have a hay day with this one.
Speaking of fire, I've been on a Johnny Cash spree as of late. Picked up a CD of his songs, then I won the DVD Walk the Line, and now I scour the 'net at night for Cash interviews. And by the way Cash also burned down part of Los Padres National Forest in California. His Tennessee home burned down in 2007.
Something else I found last night. Before there was Bear Grylls there was Survival in the Bush. Made in the 50s this film even shows how to kill a bear. Thanks to the Canadian Film Board, there are lots of interesting documentaries from the past online about the wild lands in the Great North.

Comments

Eric Beyer said…
Good post. I always find it funny when people get bothered over such a small thing. The ideas live on. The burning is simply an expression of disagreement; it's not a hate crime. This press conference is scary, if you have the time to watch a few seconds of it. I fast forwarded it to a relevant part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaKcfmqBI6s#t=10m18s

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