Bill Donahue: 'Why Can't The Cartoonists Exercise Restraint As Well?'

By Dom Giordano

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The terrorist attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris has brought about a number of controversial opinions from both here and abroad.

One of those opinions came from the President of the Catholic League, Bill Donahue who talked with WPHT midday host Dom Giordano about the article that he wrote which said that Muslims are right to be angry about what the magazine was doing.

"Muslims have the right to be angry. Of course they have the right to be angry when people intentionally insult your faith and they do it in seriatim over the years, but does that justify violence? Of course not! What they ought to do is what I do. I've had demonstrations in the street many of times, that's what you do."

Donahue goes on to differentiate his opinion from others that have commented on it by asking "Is there something else besides the obvious that the Muslim barbarians are the ones to blame?"

"These guys are not Mel Brooks type of satirists. They are pornographers who intentionally try to insult people and bring it on. Did they deserve it? Of course not. If we're going to ask for Muslims to exercise restraint, and we should, why can't we ask these so called 'artists' who I'm so fed up with in this country and abroad, why can't they exercise restraint as well?"

While he feels that the killers are truly the ones to blame, Donahue maintains that the actions of the cartoonists should factor into the conversation.

I've unequivocally condemned (the killings). I said the only people to blame are the murdering Muslims…but I'm not going to pretend that these artists who want to get away with anything that they want and do it with impunity somehow can't be brought into this discussion. I think it's entirely relevant. "

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