This link takes you to Tim Blair's reproduction of the cartoons that have so many Muslims' turbans in a wad. I'd reprint them myself, but I don't know how.
I have no idea as to whether the free world wins or loses this particular battle of wills. I certainly hope we win. My point is only to utilize the mechanism of democracy, in demonstrating to my own elected officials that I will not support any kowtowing to fear. Yes, some innocenct people will eventually get hurt when some uncivilised followers of the prophet exuberantly give in to their basest violent impulses. It's worth remebering that the alternative is not no violence; it's the current bastardized version of sharia where violence is doled out fairly regularly, with synagogues and churches (and, I imagine, gay bars and Planned Parenthood centres) being burned in addition to embassies. We'll still have inciteful cartoons, they'll just be about Jews and ultimately Christians. (These subtle distinctions that we make between Jews and Christians are all so much blah blah blah to the Islamists.)
So, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Michael Steele, Ben Cardin, Doug Duncan, (holding nose) Martin O'Malley, and Robert Ehrlich, if you want my vote for your next campaign, you will need to take a stand for freedom of speech, and defend my right to say odious things. Or you can unsuccessfully hide your fear behind a pretense of "respect" that is neither warranted nor honest.
We can deal with the societal niceties of not being rude once the ground rules for civilised behaviour have been agreed upon. But the message being sent by the lunatics who are burning down embassies left and right is not that Mohammed's image is sacred, it's that there is a subset of Muslims that like nothing more than having an excuse to run around and scream and play offended. And that mindset does not deserve to be catered to, or respected. It needs to be squashed.
- Moishe Potemkin