So the Voice of America did a story on CAIR and forgot to mention how they're unindicted co-conspirators of convicted terrorist boosters. Roughly par for the course for American public diplomacy. But the headline - "American Muslims Hope Obama Will Encourage Tolerance, Respect for Rule of Law" - is what really catches the eye. Respect for the rule of law? Really?

CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad called on Obama to pursue a less-militaristic policy... "We are asking President-elect Barack Obama to deliver [on] his promise and end the illegal war in Iraq, and also we ask him not to escalate the war in Afghanistan and to seek consultation and counsel from American Muslims, who care both about America and the world," Awad said.

That clears things up. I wouldn't necessarily have described it that way in the headline - I would've put something like "American Muslims Hope Obama Will Encourage Tolerance, End Middle East Wars" - but why let precision get in the way of a gentle-sounding boilerplate? As for tolerance, I don't think they have anything to worry about:

In Chicago yesterday, in his first post-election newspaper interview, with reporters from the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, the president-elect was asked: “Do you anticipate being sworn in as Barack Obama or Barack Hussein Obama?" Obama replied: "I think the tradition is that they use all three names, and I will follow the tradition, not trying to make a statement one way or the other. I'll do what everybody else does."

Of course that's not true and hasn't been true for two out of the last five Presidents. But wouldn't it be great if it was? As usual: it's not the action itself that's obnoxious as much as how the justification is just stupid (or in this case demonstrably false, which is a subspecies of stupid). It's like insisting Obama's relevance during the transition and then justifying it with that idiotic Office Of The President-Elect thing. Or pretty much anything Biden says. The election is over. I understand that. I'm not asking for much. Just for people not to be aggressively dumb.

Say, where is Biden these days?

References:
* American Muslims Hope Obama Will Encourage Tolerance, Respect for Rule of Law [VOA]
* So, About Those Unindicted Co-Conspirators That Democrats Are So Cozy With... [MR]
* 41 days to Inauguration [Politico]
* Despite Bells and Whistles, 'Office of President-Elect' Holds No Authority [Fox News]
* Breathtakingly Stupid VP Candidate Very Lucky The Media's In The Tank For Obama [MR]

Previously:
* The Mysterious "1 Percent" Number That CAIR Keeps Quoting From the Pew Study - Unsurprisingly, Not Exactly Honest [Video]
* Video: Obama Outreach Coordinator Meets With CAIR Reps, Terrorist-Endorsing Preachers (Plus: FBI Testimony Links CAIR To Terrorists)
* Just A Reminder: HLF Merely The Tip Of The "Import Jihad Into The US" Iceberg