In the Slammer

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

My wife forwarded to me this AP article about the sentencing of Mr Mark Bassely Youssef for parole violation.  I don't quibble with the sentence, but I do object to the characterization of Mr Youssef's film, Innocence of Muslims.

However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Dugdale argued Youssef's lies about his identity have caused harm to others, including the film's cast and crew. Deadly violence related to the film broke out Sept. 11 and spread to many parts of the Middle East.

And, I thought that the inital Administration intervention in this case kicked up the issue which resulted in this current situation.  I deplore the casual way (or was it a thoughtless way) the Adminstration dealt with the First Amendment rights of Mr Youssef.  And under the false flag of excusing MENA bad behavior based on a 15 minute YouTube video.  We should be clear with ourselves.  We would be intolerant of some Christian group rioting over the "Piss Christ".  We should avoid the soft prejudice of excusing bad behavior because we think Arabs (or is it Muslims?) are not at our level of political sophistication.

And, we should avoid allowing this false view to adversely influence our foreign policy.

The situation in the MENA area is far from resolved, as noted in this article in a recent edition of The New York Review of Books.

Regards  —  Cliff