Thomas Friedman at the rescue of ex-CNN Middle East editor

The firing of CNN senior editor of Middle East affairs, Octavia Nasr, has triggered a vibrant buzz over the Internet. The Lebanese Christian journalist has been lynched for tweeting her condolences for Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shiite spiritual leader who was also involved in the founding of the Hezbollah militia.
The former CNN journalist has received support from rather unexpected quarters: the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, not known for his sympathy for radical islamists. His arguments deserve to be read because it provides rationality in a debate that, like so many other "buzzes" on the Internet, prosper on stigmatisation, hate, defamation and manicheism.
Friedman agrees that Octavia Nasr "made a mistake" (Reporters should not be issuing condolences for any of the actors they cover" and he does hide Fadlallah's "dark side" but he also gives the floor to academics and pundits that describe the defunct in much more nuanced ways.
Friedman's main argument is also about the U.S. free speech rationale: should the U.S. media ban all speech that offends someone, can a country like the U.S. make do without the opinions and insight of people that might be politically incorrect but knowledgeable about other countries and cultures?