No doubt. But Martin has free speech and will use it as he sees fit. I don't think it's either wise or sensible to pass laws regarding what words people are allowed to speak.

And keep in mind...I do disagree with Martin's position on the matter.

Rabbi-Sol, I don't honestly think that Isreal is a friend to Jews (in a general sense of Jews worldwide). But we'll disagree on that one.

The word "jihad" comes from the Muslim culture, and means a holy war. My use of it in a broader sense is quite clear, I think. Every nation that goes to war over heartfelt issues is fighting a holy war on the basis of its own most sacred beliefs...or at least it's pretending to in order to motivate its public and its soldiers to support that war.

You don't have to be Muslim to fight a holy war. (You don't even have to believe in God! You can believe in some other thing that you hold sacred...like petro-dollars.) George Bush is fighting a holy war...quite obviously. He is on a jihad against those whom he considers "evil". So is Ariel Sharon. So were the IRA. So was Hitler. So too the Spanish Armada. So too the English fleet that defeated them. So were the crusaders who went to capture Jerusalem. So was Mao Tse-Tung. So was Pol Pot.

Jihads are the rule, not the exception in warfare, and the Muslims have no monopoly on the concept...unholy as it actually is. They just have their own favorite word for it, that's all.