So, I've only been sort of disconnectedly paying attention to the whole Danish-cartoon-that-insults-Mohammed thing. I saw the headlines, scanned a couple of articles, and basically wevved it.

But now Danish embassies are on fire in Syria and Lebanon? WTF? And the UK and the US are saying that the cartoon was wrong? Double WTF? Shouldn't we, of all people, we freedom-spreaders, we gifters of democracy at the end of a gun, shouldn't we be supporting freedom of speech? I mean, is endorsing such fanatical reactionism (by condemning a cartoon) really a good idea when, ostensibly, that's exactly the kind of bullshit that, you know, facilitates terrorism?

Honestly, people who would react to a depiction of their prophet as violent with, uh, violence, especially when it's a fucking cartoon, are hypocrites, and nuts to boot. The liberal blogosphere doesn't seem to be talking about this very much, but I think we should be.

So, what do you think about all this? Am I wrong? Is there a good reason for US to side with the reactionaries rather than the defenders of free speech? Pipe up.