Because one is not a Christian, that's why.

From the Inbox in Time Magazine, December 7, 2009, regarding the Fort Hood shootings:

I found it interesting that your cover photo of Nidal Malik Hasan, who apparently killed in the name of God, labels him a possible terrorist [Nov. 23]. In Verbatim, Scott Roeder, who also killed in the name of God, is called the "accused shooter". What's the difference between them again? I am less concerned about the thousand or so radical Muslims, who are highly monitored, than I am about the million or so unguarded radical "Christians" whose hatred is fanned daily by the rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter.

David Berry, Raton, N.M.

Brilliant.

Which was worse?

I take CrasherGate very seriously. This was a major screwup that could have had a tragic outcome. Thankfully it didn't, but mechanisms have to be put in place to ensure this can't ever happen again.

That having been said, the politicization of this event by the right is a) unsurprising, given they have no moral center anymore and b) unwarranted. Let me remind you of this breach:


Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw shoes.

And by the way, if it had been Howard Dean that commuted the sentence of a multiple-cop-killing, chronically repetitive offender like Maurice Clemmons, you can sure as hell bet that the right would go stunningly ape-shit over it. But since it was Mike Huckabee, well....

President Obama at Fort Hood

Possibly his finest oration ever. He strikes the right tone as commander-in-chief and consoler.

I think all of us - every single American - must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who have come before.
We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes.

This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations - all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.

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Not bad for a Muslim.