Blog and Vlog with Jack Hunter

When Florida pastor Terry Jones decided to “send a message” to Muslims by burning a Koran last week, it incited outrage and violence throughout the Arab world. American leaders rightly responded by condemning the senseless and dangerous act. Yet in the end, and despite the pastor’s obvious and irresponsible recklessness, Jones used his free speech and political leaders used theirs. Such is the nature of free expression in a free society.

But one politician’s condemnation of Jones contained a suggested remedy far more dangerous to American freedom than burning the Koran. Said Sen. Lindsey Graham on CBS’ Face the Nation:

Yeah, I wish we could find some way to hold people accountable. Free speech is a great idea, but we’re in a war.  During World War II you had limits on what you could say if it would inspire the enemy.

Certainly the Founding Fathers considered free speech more than just a mere “great idea” but one of the bedrock principles of our republic, even enshrining it in the first amendment to our Constitution. That Graham would be willing to capitulate to radical Islamists by curtailing this precious freedom is particularly astounding when you consider that the Senator consistently and adamantly opposes curtailing the one policy that unquestionably “inspires the enemy” more than any other. In fact, when it comes to looking out for America’s proper defense and actual security—Lindsey Graham is arguably the most ass-backward politician alive today.

While, almost amusingly, Sen. Graham doesn’t deny that…

Here Judge Andrew Napolitano and Jack discuss liberals’ hypocrisy in their support for President Obama’s Libyan War.

After reading my recent column “Obama’s Libyan War,” a liberal friend took me to task: “Jack, you just don’t understand…” he began as he continued to explain the supposedly important humanitarian reasons for the President’s recent intervention. I just stared at him. I then asked, “If Bush had gone to war in Libya, would you have supported it?” He winced and replied, “Well, I would like to think I would.”  “You’re lying,” I said, which he eventually admitted. I then added that any liberal who now says they would have supported Bush doing in Libya what they now support Obama doing is lying. And they know it.

If there’s one thing worse than hypocrites, its partisan hypocrites—and with this new Libyan war Obama Democrats have again proved themselves virtually identical to the Bush Republicans they once despised. I distinctly remember syndicated talk radio host Sean Hannity arguing with antiwar Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul that it was a moral imperative for America to invade Iraq to liberate its citizens from Saddam Hussein’s “genocide” and “rape rooms.” At the time, virtually no one on the Left accepted these purportedly humanitarian reasons as justifications for the invasion of Iraq.

Today, as most conservatives (including Hannity) either oppose or are highly skeptical of Obama’s “humanitarian” Libyan intervention, those most in favor of it are either the same neoconservatives who were the most enthusiastic about Iraq—and liberals most loyal to Obama. Said neoconservative godfather and Weekly Standard editor…