On That Anti-Islam Trailer

I was listening to "Hannity" on Fox News Channel not too long ago and he had a debate going about the situation in Benghazi and the Middle East.  I have so much to say on the issue frankly, with all that has been revealed in the past week.  But since recounting it all may cause me to pull my hair out (and it's finally long enough to pull), I'll just mention this.

You see, Tucker Carlson was in this debate and he made an observation that just floored me.

He pointed out that the man who made that anti-Islam trailer is a Coptic Christian from Egypt.  He came to America to be able to live and express himself freely and now he sits in prison, allegedly for a probation violation. 

A little context, as most people are unaware of this.  The Coptic Christians are a minority group in Egypt who are regularly persecuted and murdered for their faith.  So imagine coming from that environment and journeying to the United States.  The United States guarantees the ability to express yourself freely without legal repercussion.  So this man does just that.  You can find the trailer reprehensible or whatever, however, it does not change the fact that he has every right to produce a film as demeaning or insulting as he wants.

And what happens?

He is criticized by top governmental officials.  Not in Egypt or Pakistan.  No.  By American officials, who should be, rather than kowtowing to violent mobs, defending this man's right to make a film, no matter how offensive it is.  Instead, he is used as a scapegoat, blamed for causing mobs that claim to be the second coming of Bin Laden.

Then he is perp-walked when he is taken in for questioning and now arrested for an apparent "probation violation."  Only the dullest among us will fail to see that he was arrested, not for probation, but because he made this film.  It is disgraceful.  And not only is it disgraceful, it is scary, because it suggests that anyone who criticizes Islam, as long as there is a threat of violence, can be silenced.

Just as this man, who came to America to be free and now is not, merely for exercising his rights.