(WASHINGTON POST)
By Kathleen Parker
The recent spectacle of Pamela Geller, the erstwhile journalist who organized a provocative contest in Texas of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, gives pause to even the most passionate defenders of the First Amendment.
Not since Westboro Baptist Church’s “God Hates Fags” message and Florida pastor Terry Jones burning the Koran has the principle of free speech been so sullied and abused.
Waging a one-woman crusade against the Muslim world, Geller says she wanted to draw a line in the sand and demonstrate to terrorists that, when it comes to free speech, America bows to no one. Okay, we get your point. It’s an American point, actually.
And Geller’s contribution to these protections and our unwavering dedication to its preservation is, exactly, what? A taunt. Shouldn’t one at least aspire to some originality? It’s been done. And each time, the result is the same. You haul out a picture of Muhammad; “they” haul out a fatwa. Cat puts out cheese; mouse gets eaten. What does one expect?
Indeed, two would-be terrorists presented themselves at the exhibition and were quickly dispatched to their just rewards.
