In this country you have the freedom to believe-in anything you like. However, your beliefs, your values, your holy books, and yes, your prophet(s), will be examined, criticized, and sometimes ridiculed. If you can’t handle this, you can’t live here.

Today is “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day”, and tens of thousands of believers in freedom of speech are sharpening their pencils in solidarity with cartoonists everywhere who have been threatened, harmed, or even killed, in the name of free speech.

Finally, it is with a smile that I reflect on the reports coming in across the country of American Muslims responding to the flurry of artistry with what may perhaps be the best sign yet that American Muslims are every bit as assimilated and patriotic as everybody else. American Muslims have been participating by drawing boxing gloves on the images of said prophet’s hands and scribbling “Ali” nearby the label “Muhammad”.

Today, America’s Muslims show they are far above the barbarism demonstrated in Europe and the Middle East. Today, they are the biggest winners.