More gasoline on the Christian-Islam fire

By Lee Russ

Thursday, November 02, 2006 at 02:34 PM

While Republicans and extreme right commentators love to portray criticism of the Iraq war as a recruiting tool for terrorists, they rarely mention the recruiting value of things like Abu Ghraib or the many absurdly inflammatory remarks from their own kind (such as Coulter's "invade their countries, kill their rulers and convert them to Christianity").

Well, here's another can of gas on the growing fire.

First, the wife of a Hernando County (Florida)commissioner send a newspaper a letter objecting to the use of county resources to assist a mosque in celebration of the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.  She said, in part:

The stated goal of the Muslim faith is to kill us, the "infidels." By providing county employees for their use Hernando County is sanctioning this hateful, frightening religion.

Which, of course, sparked a firestorm, which in turn sparked her husband, the Commissioner, to defend his wife's comments:

I'm not seeing that as bigotry, because I don't feel bigoted on it. It's just a matter of fact.

Which sparked good old Brother Jeb to rebuke the man he appointed just this past August, through his spokeswoman who said:

He's disappointed. He thought their comments were entirely inappropriate.

Florida is built on its diverse background, different cultures and religions - it's what makes Florida so strong. The Arab-Americans living in our state are just as patriotic as the rest of us.

Maybe a little character and sanity check before you appoint someone would be a good idea, Jeb, old boy, instead of looking solely to party loyalty and ability as a fundraiser.

Like talking to a wall.