With the Great Cartoon Crisis of 2006 apprarently drawing first blood, and spreading as far as New Zealand, Stephen Green writes, “there will come a time when the International Left will have to choose sides”–and that includes Hollywood:
Already, it’s happening in Holland. Denmark will be next, perhaps followed by Norway. Can California be that far behind?
Threatening Salmon Rushdie didn’t get Hollywood on board, because they don’t read books. Forcing some Danish cartoonists into hiding won’t be much help, either. But someday, maybe soon, Hollywood will do something which they think is a positive – and suddenly Steven Soderbergh or someone will be camped out at Dick Cheney’s Undisclosed Location. When that day comes, we’ll gain a new ally.
The Bloggy Right has been fighting the good fight for four years now. But if this really is a civilizational war, then we’re going to need more allies. We need professional help in the effort to teach the Arab World that firebombs and fatwas are no match for free speech. And, like it or not, we need TV and movies and cable to help us get our message across.
Our message comes down to this: They’re just comics, you bullying bastards. Grow up.
And as this cartoon attempts to illustrate, they’re nothing compared with the vile cartoons coming out of the Middle East on a daily basis.
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