I was going to use this space to berate the University of Illinois for reprinting the Muhammad cartoons when I discovered that my very own beloved university, the University of Wisconsin, did the very same. To be fair to the schools, these were student newspapers, and I know that here in Madison, school officials have already organized a student forum regarding the cartoons. Regardless, how damn dumb do you have to be to understand that not only do the cartoons portray the central person of Muslim history as a terrorist, but transitively suggest that all or most Muslims are terrorists? I just really don't see much of a difference between this and throwing Christians to the lions, or the Spanish Inquisition. Obviosly a mite toned down from either, the cartoons still represent festering Western ignorance and arrogance. I mean, let's think for a second. These cartoons originated in Denmark, right? Ah yes, Denmark, a country whose heritage is so rich that it includes a huge catalog of bedtime stories and a passing reference in that one Hamlet thingy. And both cheese and fruit Danishes. Oh, and fresh Copenhagen (it satisfies). As you can see, Denmark is highly qualified to wave around accusations that are discriminatory on multiple levels. The rest of Europe is also to blame. France? Germany? Sweden? Italy? Philadelphia? Really? Damn... Russia, at the very least, grew a pair and shut down the paper that reprinted the cartoons. Editors are citing "free speech issues" as reasons for reprinting the cartoons. The jury is still out on whether or not the Associated Press is going to pick up my cartoon about Jesus sitting on Bill O'Reilly's face. The right to speak is not the compulsion to speak. Seperate issues. There is a serious anti-Muslim current in our society, misplaced hate towards terrorism gets redirected to innocent people, which is something I can't understand. Then again, every Monday I scream for Jack Bauer to kill indiscriminately.

UPDATE (2.18): Let's clarify. In light of America's endless quest to militarily depose Muslim leaders, my position on these cartoons is defensible. Muslims in places like Syria, Iran, and Libya are left to wonder if they are next. The original publication of the cartoons was an honest stupid error. Their reprinting in European and Oceanic newspapers was reprehensible. The propagation of the cartoons in American media is offensive, hurtful, jerkfaced, and all sorts of other unpleasant adjectives. We continue to wage undeclared wars throughout the world and detain innocent (mostly Muslim) prisoners in overseas torture camps. These claims do not even require me putting links or other references up. They are common knowledge at this point, and for these cartoons to continue to spread is just unacceptable.