Koran Burning Is Not the Same as Mosque Building

Gail Collins isn't impressed with the new line of argument that equates the burning of Korans with the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero. "This is under the theory that both are constitutionally protected bad ideas," she writes in the New York Times. "In fact, they’re very different. Muslims building a community center in their neighborhood on one hand. Deliberate attempt to insult a religion that is dear to about 1.5 billion souls around the globe on the other." (Jon Stewart agrees.)

Two recent examples, from the right, of the opposite view:

• Sarah Palin: "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." (Full Facebook post here; summary here.)
• Andrew McCarthy, National Review: "You know what else might be 'socially provocative'?" he asks, playing off the words of the imam behind the Islamic center. "Building a mosque near Ground Zero."