Khartoons

Over at The News Blog, Steve Gilliard perfectly nails the cartoon intifada currently going on in Denmark and the Middle East here and here.

Sadly some of his commenters are ignoring the reality of the situation and the right of Muslims to boycott, demonstrate and show their displeasure with the cartoons in any non-violent way. Many have already attached violent crimes to this debacle even though no known violence has yet occured. Still others have taken to the usual routine of castigating the Muslims as ungrateful and repressive animals who should shut up or "return to their shitholes."

Mostly though the issue has been about free speech and censorship. Many who are hiding behind this excuse have also tied this censorship exclusively to Muslims, pretending such things do not happen when Christians or Westerners are offended.

Um, no, Christian groups and our own government voicing their displeasure or calling for boycotts are plentiful and common. Just today we get these gems:

Via AmericaBLOG:

The Joint Chiefs of Staff just sent a menacing letter to the Washington Post over a cartoon.

Via Atrios:

Christian ministers were enthusiastic at the early private screenings of "End of the Spear," made by Every Tribe Entertainment, an evangelical film company. But days before the film's premiere, a controversy erupted over the casting of a gay actor that has all but eclipsed the movie and revealed fault lines among evangelicals.

. . . .

Kevin T. Bauder, president of Central Baptist Seminary in Minneapolis, stated in a Jan. 13 entry: "Granted, we must not overreact. And it would probably be an overreaction to firebomb these men's houses. But what they have done is no mistake. It is a calculated strategy."

(my emphasis)

People get pissed off by almost anything in this country. Let's stop pretending that Muslims getting pissed by what truly are quite offensive cartoons is something exclusive to their religion.