Former President Clinton has finally come out with his true feelings about freedom of speech:

He said the people's religious convictions should be respected at all costs and that media should not be permitted to criticize other faiths. He said the media could criticize any issue including governments and people, but nobody had the right to play with the sentiments of other faiths.

So how do you separate someone's religious beliefs from them? Their religion is part of how they derive their identity. The obvious reaction would be that any criticism of a Muslim would end up becoming a criticism of their religion because most people are thin-skinned and look for ways to shut up their critics.

Well this week hasn't been pretty for Gore or Clinton. They've shown their true colors when it comes to both national security and basic civil rights. The fact that some European countries can prosecute the publishers does not translate out into an obligation to do so, nor does it make it right. The Islamic media publishes some stuff that is so patently offensive and religiously hateful that by Clinton's standards, it should be shut down entirely.

If you don't believe in the right to say offensive things, you don't believe in freedom of speech. Stop making excuses, stop calling it incitement to violence. Civilized people don't riot over cartoons, no matter how offensive. Those who do, deserve to be rounded up and unceremoniously sent to prison. Civilized people don't tolerate people turning mere offense into license to go on a rampage. I'm sick of the wishy-washy leftists who are all about the freedom to denigrate peaceful religions like Judaism and Christianity, but practically piss their pants when it turns to Islam.