Except that viewing the Muhammad cartoons and the response to them in a vaccum is silly and useless.
Despite a few isolated incidents to the contrary, and despite a horseshit campaign of fear mongering against the 'muslim threat,' the facts on the ground -- the NUMBERS -- are clear: The 'western world' hasn't been suffering mass violence at the hands of Muslims. Exactly the opposite is true. And therefore viewing the Muhammad cartoons as anything other than a scummy, self-important insult added to a hundreds-of-thousands-of-dead-people injury is dishonest. One western cartoonist or filmmaker getting stabbed or burned out of his house is a tragedy. But hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis and Afghans is just business as usual. This has been the state of affairs since long before Bush II and it hasn't changed with Obama. Half a million muslim kids died from US sanctions on Iraq in the 90s. Do you know any of their names? No. But you know Salman Rushdie's.
This isn't 'eat a bloody steak' day. It's more like 'spit on a queer' day. Watching all these twits patting themselves on the back for their bravery in kicking people when they're down is pathetic.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-05-22 01:45 am (UTC)Despite a few isolated incidents to the contrary, and despite a horseshit campaign of fear mongering against the 'muslim threat,' the facts on the ground -- the NUMBERS -- are clear: The 'western world' hasn't been suffering mass violence at the hands of Muslims. Exactly the opposite is true. And therefore viewing the Muhammad cartoons as anything other than a scummy, self-important insult added to a hundreds-of-thousands-of-dead-people injury is dishonest. One western cartoonist or filmmaker getting stabbed or burned out of his house is a tragedy. But hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis and Afghans is just business as usual. This has been the state of affairs since long before Bush II and it hasn't changed with Obama. Half a million muslim kids died from US sanctions on Iraq in the 90s. Do you know any of their names? No. But you know Salman Rushdie's.
This isn't 'eat a bloody steak' day. It's more like 'spit on a queer' day. Watching all these twits patting themselves on the back for their bravery in kicking people when they're down is pathetic.