What to do about people burning Korans? Lindsay Graham’s idea of restricting First Amendment rights seems to have gone over like a lead balloon, and good riddance to it–though it’s tempting to wish an evil end to the whole cast of characters, from Terry Jones to Hamid Karzai to the rioters in Afghanistan.

As for the news media, in the world of internet self-promotion, eschewing coverage of such events counts for little, at least when it’s someone like Jones, who has already won his 15 minutes of fame, and can’t wait for another 15. But as long as we’re in the democracy-promotion business, I say it’s time to make clear throughout the world just what the American Constitution protects: the right to build a mosque just as much as the right to burn a Koran. Or a Bible. Or an American flag.

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