ToonGate:

The president spoke out about the controversy for the first time, signaling deepening White House concern about violent protests stemming from the publication of caricatures in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten and reprinted in European media and elsewhere in the past week.

“We reject violence as a way to express discontent with what may be printed in a free press,” the president said.

At the same time, Bush admonished the press that its freedom comes with “the responsibility to be thoughtful about others.” (emphasis mine)

You mean like how the US media was “thoughtful” in not blowing open the story on warrantless wire-tapping of US citizens while Bush was running for re-election? Heh….but enough about that for now.

As encouraging as our foreign policy is towards religious extremists (look how much more success they’ve had in the middle east), this type of implicit acceptance of the idea of applying your values to people that obviously do not follow them adds fuel to a suspicion I’ve had for awhile: the pumping up of thumpery may be intentional. At this rate, how long until Bush starts adding behind the mention of Muhammed “peace be upon him”?

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