Republicans are quick to claim that Democrats do not support the troops when some of us don’t want to support Republican wars of greed and conquest, but when the troops needed equipment, health care, a raise, family support, and educational benefits, Republicans said no. But the most recent example of their ‘support’ is positively shameful.

The pastor of a tiny, fringe evangelical church in Florida on Tuesday rebuffed a plea for restraint from Gen. David H. Petraeus, who warned that a plan to burn the Muslim holy book could provoke violence against American troops and citizens overseas. "Instead of possibly blaming us for what could happen, we put the blame where it belongs — on the people who would do it," Pastor Terry Jones of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., told the Associated Press. "We should address radical Islam and send a very clear warning that they are not to retaliate in any form." Jones also said he was still praying over his decision and hinted that he might change his mind. "We understand the general’s concerns and we are taking those into consideration," he told WOFL-TV in Orlando. A coalition of Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders held a news conference in Washington on Tuesday to condemn Jones’ statements and other slurs aimed at Muslims nationwide. "The threatened burning of copies of the Holy Koran this Saturday is a particularly egregious offense that demands the strongest possible condemnation by all who value civility in public life and seek to honor the sacred memory of those who lost their lives on Sept. 11," said a statement by religious leaders organized by the Islamic Society of North America… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <LA Times>

In the past, I have said that I oppose burning the American flag, but I defend the freedom to do so. I also defend my own freedom to speak out against it. In the same way I am speaking out against burning the holy book of Islam. In my opinion, burning it is just as wrong as it would be for Muslims to burn Bibles.

Although I oppose the war in Afghanistan, I don’t want out troops put in unnecessary danger, and I don’t want Al Qaeda, Islam’s version of the Tea Party, to have this recruiting tool. So if I, an opponent of the war, support the troops in this, where are the Republican leaders on the issue?

Keith Olbermann and veteran Todd Bowers have the answer.

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Why are the Republicans silent? The answer is simple. They fear offending the very people whose hatred they have so carefully cultivated for political advantage. If American soldiers die as a result of their silence, they do not care. They only express support for the troops when it serves their end to use war to transfer wealth from the poor and middle classes to the rich.