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September 10, 2010

Floridansanity: Mosque BBQ — Now With Cammo Twist!

By Michael Shaw

<p>Joe Raedle/Getty Images</p> <script type="text/javascript">AKPC_IDS += "17008,";</script>

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Wow, haven’t had seen this much lunacy from the Sunshine State since the Schiavo daze.

If you thought the symbolism couldn’t get any starker or more indictable in terms of hallmark American institutions becoming over-identified with Quran burning, what we see coming out of Gainesville from Terry Jones’ church/outreach center is this fabulous merger of five iconic American mainstays: the church; the cross; the flag; the media; and now, most dramatically, the U.S. military.

How good it must make bin Laden feel, knowing that, nearly nine years to the day of his heinous act, it would inspire such a scene: a pro-burn, ex-Marine, in uniform (standing for 150k potential U.S. human targets in Iraq and Afghanistan), brandishing a super-sized Old Glory , in front of a cross-emblazoned Quran-burning church, posing for a circle of camera-people eager for the money shot.

Hallelujah!

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  • http://www.inconsequentiallogic.com roschelle

    an all time low for our dear country! i wish the media would just black out jones and his followers

    • jonst

      So you think THIS episode, repeat, THIS EPISODE, is our “all time low” do you? Interesting. Interesting.

  • http://www.nocaptionneeded.com John Lucaites

    Sinclair Lewis wrote a novel in the 1930s in which he says: “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.” The title of the novel: IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE.

    http://www.nocaptionneeded.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/cross.png

  • http://www.highcontrastcomedy.com boxcar

    Dead On Analysis, BagMan.

    not that i expected anything different…
    ;)

  • Redruby

    Why do you continue to give this craziness coverage? Is there nothing else newsworthy?

  • black dog barking

    Seems to me, Quran burnin’ appeals to a mindset that some years back favored amending the Constitution to specifically outlaw burning the American flag. In that case burning wasn’t such a good thing. Back then it seemed like those opposed to publicly burning the flag drew heavily from a cohort that was quite comfortable with the idea of burning Christian crosses, especially in the yards of uppity neighbors. An obvious common thread binding each of these groups is their affinity for outrage — no, their addiction to outrage. Burn, don’t burn, whatever, these guys are mad. Assholes.

  • Enoch Root

    Do I need to point out that Rev. Jones’ cross is broken? Surely if there’s a Flag Code (which Mr. Marine seems to be violating), then there must be a similar Cross Code.

    Perhaps Jones doesn’t really care about the appearance of the cross on his church. Only the appearance of flames in front of it.

  • Stella

    Publicity hounds flock to the cameras, be they in Florida, NYC, Wasilla or wherever.
    Could we please take a break from clucking about fools?

  • Glenn May

    The U.S. media has completely abandoned its gatekeeping duty. Blame it on cable news, the Internet, Fox “News,” whatever, but clearly there is no longer any editor anywhere with the guts to say, “This is not a story, it’s a crackpot and we’re not going to cover it.”

  • tinwoman

    Mainstays of American culture? I don’t see a gun. Picture isn’t complete without one, although the camo helps.

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