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Skittish little things

Oh, the things that have flitted across my mind in the past day or so.

An Iranian newspaper, in its own brazen exercise of “free speech”, is soliciting caricatures related to the holocaust. A soundbite I heard on the radio had a former Iranian ambassador to the UN explaining how much worse it was to depict Mohammed in a cartoon than it is to poke fun at the historical slaughter of millions.

It occurred to me while listening to this man: by painting the Mohammed depictions as substantially more offensive than scoffing at the holocaust, he may have been trying to explain in advance the lack of violent protest that is likely to result from whatever holocaust cartoons come of this amazingly stupid idea. You know, something along the lines of, “See? If holocaust caricatures were anywhere near as bad as Mohammed caricatures, we’d have had Jewish people firebombing the Saudi Embassy in New York…”

Then there was the hunting accident with the Vice-President in Texas, but unlike whatever bird Mr. Cheney was trying to nail, that whole situation seems like too easy a target.

And on a topic only tangentially related to the last item, I recall the excited throng of conservatives who trumpeted the American Bar Association’s rating of Judge Alito. I fully expect the same people to be nodding in agreement with the ABA opinion on the NSA warrantless wiretap program.

Oh, and by the way—Villanova beat top-ranked Connecticut last night. Shades of 1985, when I was still young and full of hope…


6 Comments

Posted by
AlexC
14 February 2006 @ 2am

I wonder was “true Muslims” think about the cartoon outrages. Afterall, they’re not worshipping Mohammad, but Allah, and this “episode” centers around drawing the Prophet.

He’s not the God of Islam. I don’t get it.


Posted by
howard
14 February 2006 @ 3pm

I’ve heard from a wide variety of Muslim sources that depicting the prophet is forbidden. I’m sure such an offense doesn’t come close to justifying much of the reaction we’ve been seeing, though.

I guess it’s true that the reactions in many quarters are largely affected by the nature of the societies in which they are occurring. I’ve heard European Muslims on NPR and BBC who disagree with the portrayals of Mohammed, but also condemn the violent reactions to those portrayals. It seems the difference is in the temperament of the host society.

I wonder what the Muslim equivalent to a Crucifix in a jar of urine is…


Posted by
Steve Nicoloso
14 February 2006 @ 3pm

Ah… to be young and full of hope. Does being vaguely hopeful for your grandchildren in the renaissance after the post-oil, post-consumerist, islamo-faciist armageddon count?


Posted by
howard
14 February 2006 @ 3pm

That’s as hopeful as anything I’ve heard… wait, which are you expecting first? -the armageddon or the grandkids?


Posted by
Omni
14 February 2006 @ 6pm

Howard, don’t you remember what day this is? Happy Valentine’s Day!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

(Click here to see who loves ya)


Posted by
howard
14 February 2006 @ 6pm

Thanks Omni—Happy Valentine’s Day to you too! (cute javascript, btw)

I was peripherally aware of it, I swear. I do have a Valentine, I think, but I’m not sure I have license to mention her here, so…