Fox News Watchdog

California’s governor does not have the legal duty to appeal the recent ruling that overturned the state’s same-sex marriage ban, a lawyer for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday.

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Since taking office, President Obama has visited Ohio, the nation’s premier political bellwether state more than any other — 10 times to promote and defend his embattled economic agenda and to blast Republican opposition.

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The state’s Green Party said that it had filed suit asking state election officials to disallow various homeless people and other candidates on the party’s November ballot who had been recruited by Republicans.

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Judges can require that the government meet the standard of proof required to obtain wiretaps when requesting cellphone data to track suspects, a federal appeals court ruled.

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Media conservatives, led by Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, are comparing a Florida church’s plans to burn Qurans on the anniversary of the 9-11 attacks to plans to build an Islamic community center in Manhattan.

Florida church plans to
burn Islamic and Jewish religious texts

AP:
Christian
minister “vowed” to “burn copies of the Quran to protest the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks.” A September 8
Associated Press article reported,
“A Christian minister vowed Tuesday to go ahead with plans to burn copies of the
Quran to protest the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks despite warnings from the White
House and the top U.S. general in Afghanistan that doing so would endanger
American troops overseas.” AP continued:

Pastor Terry Jones of
the Dove World Outreach Center said he understands the government’s concerns,
but plans to go forward with the burning this Saturday, the ninth anniversary of
the attacks.

He
left the door open to change his mind, saying he is still praying about his
decision, which was condemned Tuesday by an interfaith coalition that met in
Washington to respond to a spike in anti-Muslim bigotry.

Gen.
David Petraeus warned in an e-mail to The Associated Press that “images of the
burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan – and
around the world – to inflame public opinion and incite
violence.”

State Department
spokesman P.J. Crowley echoed that, calling the plan to burn copies of the Quran
“un-American” and saying it does not represent the views of most people in the
U.S.

Miami
Herald: Pastor “also
plans to burn copies of the Talmud, a sacred Jewish
text.” A September 5 Miami Herald article reported
that the Gainesville Dove World Outreach Center also plans to burn copies of the
Talmud.

Right
wing compares burning Qurans to building a community
center

Beck: “It’s just
like the Ground Zero mosque plan.” In a September 6 blog
post to his
website The Blaze, Glenn Beck wrote:

I’m on vacation
and trying to unplug but the news can make that hard. I just read the story about the Florida church planning to burn
copies of the Koran.

What is wrong with us?  It’s just
like the Ground Zero mosque plan.   Does this church have the right?  Yes. 
Should they?  No.  And not because of the potential backlash or violence. Simply
because it is wrong.

Palin: Quran burning “is
insensitive and an unnecessary provocation – much like building a mosque at
Ground Zero.” In a September 8 post to her
Facebook account,
Fox News contributor Sarah Palin wrote:

Book burning is
antithetical to American ideals. People have a constitutional right to burn a
Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary
provocation – much like building a mosque at Ground Zero.

I would hope that Pastor Terry Jones
and his supporters will consider the ramifications of their planned book-burning
event. It will feed the fire of caustic rhetoric and appear as nothing more than
mean-spirited religious intolerance. Don’t feed that fire. If your ultimate
point is to prove that the Christian teachings of mercy, justice, freedom, and
equality provide the foundation on which our country stands, then your tactic to
prove this point is totally counter-productive.

Our nation was founded in part by
those fleeing religious persecution. Freedom of religion is integral to our
charters of liberty. We don’t need to agree with each other on theological
matters, but tolerating each other without unnecessarily provoking strife is how
we ensure a civil society. In this as in all things, we should remember the
Golden Rule. Isn’t that what the Ground Zero mosque debate has been
about?

Barnes: “[T]his
is similar in one way to the Ground Zero mosque.” On the September 7
edition of Fox News’
Special Report with Bret Baier,
Fox news contributor and Weekly
Standard editor Fred Barnes criticized plans to burn the Quran, and claimed that
“Islamophobia” was “not sweeping America.” Barnes further
claimed:

But look, this is similar in one way
to the Ground Zero mosque, the mosque that is planned to be built on the fringe
of Ground Zero. And that is, it is what Sarah Palin called an unnecessary
provocation. And this is a provocation, and that’s what General Petraeus is
worried about.

Beck guest host
Glover: “[T]his burning the Quran issue is very similar to building the
mosque on ground
zero.” During the
September 8 edition of The Glenn Beck Program, guest host Dave
Glover said that the debate over
whether it was appropriate to burn copies of the Quran was “about wise choices”
and that “this burning of the Quran issue is very similar to the building of the
mosque on ground zero.” Glover further claimed, “Just because you have the right
to do something doesn’t mean you should.”

Bolling and
Geller agree: “The sensitivity issue” of Islamic community center and burning Qurans is “the
same.” During the September 7 edition of Fox Business’
Money Rocks, host Eric
Bolling claimed, “The sensitivity
issue seems to be the key here for the mosque. Is it not the same issue with the
Quran burning on Saturday?” He then asked, “So therefore, if you don’t want them
to burn the Quran on Saturday, why wouldn’t Muslims — moderate Muslims —
simply say, ‘Hey, it’s too sensitive an area downtown; move the mosque?’”
Guest Pamela Geller, who has helped lead the push against the Islamic
community center, said that the two were “the exact same issue.” Geller also
said that “the burning of books is wrong.”

Boehner
lumps in “Pastor
Jones” with “those who want to build the mosque.” During the September 8 edition of ABC
News’ Good Morning America, host
George Stephanopoulos asked House minority
leader John Boehner (R-OH) about Jones’ plans to burn copies of the Quran.
Boehner invoked the Islamic Community Center in Manhattan in his response:
“Well, to Pastor Jones and those who want to build the mosque: Just because you
have a right to do something in America does not mean it is the right thing to
do.”

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