I posted on my Facebook page Saturday afternoon that it's time for moderate Muslims to call out those extremists in Islam who are using the religion to call for violence and death.

One of the reactions to my call was swift: there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim. You are either a full time Muslim or not. That was how one of the postings on my page put it and the individual went on to evoke the war on terrorism, foreign policy etc. 

It was almost as if the person was waiting for the opportunity to unload anti-American rants or his views about the United States' political stance across the globe. Nonetheless I always welcome healthy debates that force us to think critically of the world around us and not to think and act like zombies. 

This individual's reaction to my call for moderate Muslims to step up and not let fundamentalists hold Islam hostage is a sentiment deeply buried in the hearts of some who are looking at the current violence across the Middle East as America's fault. 

The anti-Islamic film created by a California convicted bank criminal is said to be widely responsible for the the violence that has been brought to the doorsteps of some American embassies in the Middle East. And in Libya, where it began, the mob-style violence tragically engulfed the life of an American ambassador and some of his staff. 

Like a wild fire it is spreading rapidly across the Middle East. 

What can be done about it?

One of the answers lie with Muslim moderates - those who believe that violence is not the answer to advancing the cause of human dignity- and addressing inherent socioeconomic ills. 

Just as we condemn the actions of Christian extremists who push against religious tolerance by calling for the Muslim holy book, the Koran, to be burned, moderate Muslims must also do the same. They should not let extremists define Islam as a violent religion and exploit the religion to advance their own pathological views.

If you are a Muslim who does not believe that crusading for violence and death is the appropriate response to the anti-Islamic film, then speak out. Tell the world that Islam is more than the way extremists are portraying it on television screens across the world. 

Certainly the anti-Islamic film poses several challenging questions for us about absolute individual liberty.

I'm a big proponent of individual liberty and the right to express one's views. 

But individual liberty becomes a burden sometimes when people use it as a vehicle to convey their prejudice and denounce other people's existence or belief system. That is what happened in the case of the bank criminal in California who engineered his own crusade against Islam by creating a film that was condescending toward Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. 

Therefore when individual liberty becomes a premise for both Islamic and Christian extremists to launder their ill-conceived notions and hatred toward religious tolerance we have to speak out. Men and women of goodwill including Imams and pastors cannot keep silent when dishonest men and women want to rule over religions that have at their core human respect and tolerance.

Thus, what is the ultimate human goal as we watch the doorsteps of U.S. embassies in the Middle East come under attack?

Vice President Joe Biden has become known for his fiery language on the campaign trail. In a visit to Detroit on Wednesday, the VP kept the fire going. Read More:

At a town hall rally in Detroit this week, Vice President Joe Biden outlined the “stark contrast” between Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and incumbent President Barack Obama.

In doing so, he threw a few sharp zingers at the GOP camp.

Biden said the two candidates have the most differences than any presidential race in his memory, namely on tax policy and healthcare reform.

Then he blasted Romney for accusing him of not knowing the difference between off shoring and outsourcing. Biden told the crowd of more than 300 at Renaissance High School that Romney has promised tax breaks to U.S. companies operating overseas.

Biden said:

“If two workers were talking and one says, ‘My job has been outsourced’ and the other says ‘my job has been off-shored’ … What’s the difference? You don’t have a job.”

He didn’t stop there. Biden went on to tout a crafty slogan for a sticker:

“I’ve got a bumper sticker for you: Osama Bind Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”

After listing off reasons why Romney is not the pick for middle class people, he said fate of the middle class hangs in the 2012 presidential decision.

He added to cheers from the crowd:

“Romney calls my friend Barack ‘out of touch’…. Uhhh, [who has a] Swiss bank account?”

While he called Romney’s VP pick, Rep. Paul Ryan, a “good, family man” he also was clear that their agenda was very different than Obama’s. He said their budgeting would “kick 19 million Americans off of Medicaid.”

He also said it would slice a half trillion dollars from the budget in tax cuts for 120,000 of the wealthiest families in the country.

He quoted a line he said his father liked to use: “Don’t tell me what your values are. Show me your budget and I’ll tell you what your values are.”

The day before he came to Detroit, Biden got some criticism for his hotly aimed comments towards GOP legislators at a rally in Minnesota on Tuesday.

“Over the objections — where they sound like squealing pigs — over the objections of Romney and all of his allies, we passed some of the toughest Wall Street regulations in history,” Biden said Tuesday, referring to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation passed in 2010.”

Back in 2008 when Obama tapped Biden for his running mate, pundits declared the Delaware senator Obama’s “fight dog” based on his record of making bold statements.

As the campaign in the Midwest heats up, Romney and Ryan will visit Michigan today. 

Hansen Clarke says he has “no regrets” about his primary campaign. But he has some “grave concerns” after Election Day. Read more:

Congressman Hansen Clarke (D-13) may have lost the battle to represent the new 14^th congressional district to colleague-turn-rival Congressman Gary Peters (D-9), but there’s one thing he want make clear: He hasn’t given up hope.

While Clarke has not publically announced his career plans after his term is up in January, he says he’s not worried about finding a new job next year.

“I have several options available to me,” Clarke told the Michigan Chronicle in an interview regarding his future plans. “That’s why I can continue to devote my time to working on getting more grant dollars to bring jobs back to the region.”

With his congressional seat taken, will Clarke run for Mayor of Detroit again? “People ask me about that all the time, I mean, constantly,” Clarke said. “I get that question so often, sometimes I wonder if my opponent put out that rumor to discourage people from voting for me for Congress.”

As of now Clarke says he has “no thoughts” about a mayoral run, and that his current focus is on moving his legislation through the House.

Moving forward after a slim margin defeat, Clarke says he wouldn’t change a thing about his campaign efforts.

“I have no regrets about putting services over politics,” Clarke said, noting that his job as a representative at times superseded his campaign agenda. “I worked to stop evictions up to the last day to the campaign,” he said. But there is something that has Clark concerned: after the primary election, a number of voters called Clarke’s campaign hotline with a peculiar complaint: that the congressman’s name was not on the ballot.

“There were reports of some election irregularities in Oakland County,” Clarke said. “That causes me grave concerns.”

Clarke said he heard from more than one source that his name was not on ballots issued in his constituency. He said his campaign team believed these concerns to be legitimate.

“We sensed that there was something odd going on, but it was only when we heard about these possible irregularities that we grew concerned,” Clarke said.

Trellis Mercer, a Clarke for Congress volunteer said he spoke to two people making these claims of ballot defects.

“I was working on the campaign hotline and I got a couple calls on Election Day,” Mercer told The Chronicle. “They said that they went to vote for [Clarke] but his name wasn’t on the ballot.” Mercer said his colleagues working the hotline that day reported other callers with the same complaint. “It was about four calls altogether,” Mercer said.

Despite his concerns, Clarke says he will not launch an investigation into the reports.

“I’ve moved on now,” Clarke said. “I but I want to make sure that all candidates have a fair chance.”

While Clarke’s supporters anxiously await his announcement of future plans, the Congressman has a busy schedule ahead of him.

He is working up support for his recently proposed bill that would make it easier for ex-offenders to find employment. The bill, HR6220 or, Ban The Box legislation, would make employers wait until they offered an applicant a job before they could run a criminal background check on that applicant (with some exceptions).

“We’ve had several states adopt this sort of legislation. Now it’s important to us to have this be national policy,” Clarke said. “A lot of times a person won’t have a chance to be interviewed because of a background check.”

Ban the Box legislation has passed in four states including Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Connecticut and Hawaii. This law is also in place in the cities of New York City and Philadelphia.But whatever the future holds for Clarke, he says he will not stop his mission to inspire.

“I want to provide people with the hope that they can make a difference,” he said.

Clarke may or may not run for mayor of Detroit, but if he follows his own advice, he’ll run for something. “I remember how bad things looked for me when I was 23. There were opportunities for me but I don’t see them because I lost hope,” he said. “Don’t give up.”