more Danish cartoon controversy

Fellow American blogger in London, Anglofille has some interesting views and news on the Danish Mohammed cartoon controversy. The Liberal, a London magazine, apparently published at least one cartoon on their website. Warned by the Metropolitan Police that they couldn't protect their safety, the magazine chickened out and put a square block with word censored over it - or should it be "self-censored"? This morning I couldn't click through to the Liberal site (www.theliberal.co.uk) at all. Go check out all of what she has to say on that.

Also read her interesting commentary on who's talking about this issue. She says:

From where I sit, it appears that the right-wing has hijacked this story in the American media. Perhaps I am wrong, and I hope I am. But I would not be surprised if liberal writers and thinkers in the States avoid taking on this story because they’re afraid to be lumped in with the right-wing. I think that many liberals are terrified to do anything that may be deemed politically incorrect.

Ouch. We don't have to go on about it (like I've done), but either we value the principles of a liberal democracy or we don't. These things are free press, free speech, freedom from unwarranted intrusion from Government.

I've noticed that some right-wing bloggers in Tennessee have been disappointed with the reaction from the US State Department and if they cared, the UK Foreign Office, (if you don't care, it was the same mealy mouthed "sensitivity" crap, "wise not to publish" crap).

It's time to point out that the Bush Administration doesn't give a toss about civil liberties, so their po-faced sensitivity crap is just more of the same. Look at what else they do: Cindy Sheehan (who by the way, I'm not an apologist for), invited to the State of the Union address by an elected Representative is dragged out of the Capitol and arrested for wearing a t-shirt. American citizens are spied on illegally- not because we have an over-rigorous legal framework on the matter, but because the administration is too lazy and too arrogant to get easy-peasy retrospective warrants, and they're too full of their own zeal to realize what they're doing to the Constitution.

Republicans who value the principles of our civil society need to stand up against this - it's already clear the Bush Administration doesn't listen to us "liberals" (the other half of the voting population, by the way).