Antique Media Fear?
Glenn Reynolds points to a New York Observer report that the editorial staff of the New York Press has walked out after the paper’s publishers decided not to print The Cartoons.
I agree in principle with Hugh Hewitt and Joe Carter and Jim Geraghty, et al.
I am particularly fond of this Evangelical Outpost passage by Joe Carter:
The West is at war with terrorism, not with Islam. But is has become increasingly difficult determining which side of the Islam/Islamicists divide many Muslims are on. Perhaps its simply a matter of moderate Muslim voice being drowned out by the jihadists. If so, then I recommend that they speak louder.
When I joined the Marines I swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, including the rights to free speech and a free press. For fifteen years I stood ready to take up arms or, if necessary, to lay down my life in the defense of these foundations of liberty. I believe in protecting the freedom of speech, whether it comes from terrorist-wannabes like Ted Rall, know-nothing pundits like Joel Stein, or religious-bashing Danish cartoonists. I believe that, like religious liberty, this is a divinely permitted freedom that demands due vigilance.
Then this bracing clarity that makes me yell, “Yes!”:
But just once I’d like to be called upon to champion speech that is true, honorable, just, and pure. Just once I’d like to defend a freedom that wasn’t vulgar, degraded, and profane. Just once I’d like to defend freedom that aspired to the ideals of Thomas Jefferson rather than to the inclinations of Larry Flynt.
On the other hand, now that buildings are burning and people are dying, it is a bit dangerous not to inform the public.
We are at war not with Islam, but a cancer within Islam, and it is important for Americans to understand the aggressive malignancy of this cancer.
As Patterico has noted, the Antique Media has championed and published art offensive to Christians, but if they cannot publish cartoons, do not expect ever to see a “Piss Mohammed”.
Michelle Malkin tried her best to inform Fox News viewers, but even Murdoch’s Men were skittish.
To skew information in such a manner is irresponsible.
Alas, the Media are Antique.
Finally, Glenn Reynolds highlights the thoughts of Alaa:
Those in the West who give such people the ammunition and pretexts to launch such pitiful shows and stir up the emotions of gullible simple people, are their allies and facilitators. . . .
The rage of the Islamic world would be far more appropriate if it is directed against those who blow up mosques during prayer time, kidnap murder and torture innocent travelers, and all the other repertoire of atrocities committed in the name of Islam, It is this that is the real blasphemy and real affront to the name and reputation of our religion and its great founder the Prohpet (PBU), and not some silly cartoons in an obscure Danish paper that nobody would have noticed were it not for this artificial uproar of which the real agenda and purpose is all too apparent.
A random sampling of Antique Media shows they are not investigating this obvious line of inquiry that Alaa rightly labels “too apparent.” [UPDATE: Of Course! NRO is on top of this, as is the Wall Street Journal.]
From France, we find determination:
French Muslim organizations tried to prevent the weekly Charlie-Hebdo from reprinting the 12 cartoons, which were first published by the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, but a court rejected their suit on Tuesday on a technicality.
The weekly’s front page carried the new cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammad burying his face in his hands and saying: “It’s hard to be loved by fools.”
Inside pages showed the 12 cartoons that were first printed in Denmark and included an editorial explaining the decision to reprint them.
“When extremists extract concessions from democracies on points of principle, either by blackmail or terror, democracies do not have long left,” Charlie-Hebdo editor Philippe Val wrote in the editorial.
Agreed.
However, we cannot forget evil people are using silly cartoons to justify evil — evil that is undoubtedly being planned as we sleep.