This weekend saw a heated, angry debate on the amount of vitriol in American political discussion.  With so many on the right and left cutting political hay over the actions of a certifiable nut job and trying to use an insane tragedy as a political tool with which to attack their opponents, we missed one of the really “feel good” stories that helps reaffirm your faith in the inherent goodness of mankind.

Now, I know it doesn’t generate the ratings that spitting, slobbering TV talking heads get when they’re calling everyone who disagrees with them heartless bastards, but this story over at ThinkProgress.org is well worth the five seconds it will take to read it.

Thousands Of Egyptian Muslims Show Up As ‘Human Shields’ To Defend Coptic Christians From Terrorism

On New Year’s Day, a devastating terrorist bombing at a Coptic church in Egypt killed 21 people and injured 79 others. Although the identity of the culprits was not known, it was assumed that they were Muslim extremists, intent on targeting those they saw as heretics. Religious tensions immediately rose in the country, and angry Copts stormed streets, battled with police, and even vandalized a nearby mosque. The riots and heightened tensions between the Muslim and Coptic communities was likely what the terrorists wanted — to divide the Egyptian community and create sectarian strife between different religious groups.

Yet by Coptic Christmas Eve, which took place Thursday night in Egypt, things had changed completely. As Egyptian Copts attended mass at churches across the country, “thousands” of Muslims, including “the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak,” joined them, acting as “human shields” to protect from terrorist attacks by extremists. The Muslims organized under the slogan “We either live together, or we die together,”…

What I find amazing is the difference between the common people and the powers-that-be which is illustrated in this headline and article.  An act of inhumane murder took place in both Egypt and Arizona, but instead of seeing every major voice and face in their country racing to the cameras like their asses were on fire to slander and attack political opposition, these Egyptian Muslims decided that they were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and risk their lives for the freedom of their countrymen to live, think, and worship as they wished, without fear of violent repercussions.

The hacks on MSNBC and the conservative talk radio voices immediately went into convulsions, so eager were they to denounce, traduce, and besmirch their ratings opponents, while the Muslims in Egypt:

…showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside. From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.

Do you want to know what I would love to see?  An American response to the Rep. Gifford shooting similar to this course of action by the Muslims.  The next time a Congressperson appears in public, be they Democrat or Republican, citizens who are concerned about the safety of our elected officials, and scared of living in an America where those elected officials don’t feel safe and free to walk about visiting with their constituents, should form up around them as a human shield to protect them in a similar manner.

Link arms and make sure that the crazies of the world know that we’re not going to let you harm our public servants, nor the free political discourse of American society, because you’re angry at them for some perceived injustice.  In this country, if you have a problem with a politician, you solve it at the ballot box, not with a firearm, and it’d be a nice show of faith if we saw the TEA Party protecting even the Democratic officials, whom they dislike so much, from harm.

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