"Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil" - Thomas Mann

It looks like Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic extremist organization, is having a coming out party and using America's first amendment as the confetti. The "We Are Jihadists, Hear Us Roar" festivities are scheduled to be held on July 19 at a Hilton hotel in the Chicago area. The theme for this event: The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam

This event is a bit of a catch-22. The message is crude, ugly, and a bastardization of a peaceful religion. Should something like this be allowed to propagate? Should we not simply ban this event from taking place? Should we tell them, "hate-mongers, go home"?

It feels like we should. It feels right. But it isn't.

If we do not allow these fanatics their voice, we allow them a quiet but potent victory. It would mean that America chose to go back upon her word... to repeal the right of free speech, the right to assemble peaceably. Like the messages of other hater mongers, past and present, they have the right to their opinions.

So, it's a bit of a dilemma.

As an American I am proud of our rights and privileges. I support the freedom of speech and agree that this group, like the Klan, and the Nazi Youth, be allowed its voice. But as a capitalist pig, and wayward infidel, I have the right to boycott Hilton Hotels. Which is exactly what I will do. I am not tolerant of hate-mongering.

I don't live in Florida. I used to live there. So, after years of not living there I had the opportunity to visit again. There was a low-frequency feeling of apprehension on my

way to the Sunshine State. Would it be the same? Would I still like it? I admit I was also worried because, well, I'd heard quite a few people say that Florida was full of "rude" people. "It's too hot." And, my favorite, "too many Spanish people". Yeah, people around here say that.

They were right, Florida was not as I remembered... it was actually better in some ways. Sure, it was hot - but not in the hellish degree that non-Floridians love to bitch about. Rude people? I didn't meet any. And those pesky Latinos with their insidious plot to destroy us with orgasmically tasty foods and music that commands your body to boogie? Yeah, they are still there too. They always were.

You see Florida is not about being homogenous. And I realize now that Florida's lack of sameness is what bothers many of the down-talkers around me. They don't so much dislike Florida as they dislike the diversity.