It may not be readily apparent in this picture, but I am actually – in a small way – striking a blow for freedom of speech and against fascism at home and abroad.
You see, a while back a newspaper in Denmark published some cartoons depicting Muslims and their prophet Muhammad in a not particularly flattering light. (Duh! Flattering cartoons ain’t funny.) It is taboo in Islam to depict Muhammad in any way, but evidently it’s really taboo to depict him with a bomb in his turban. A lot of American media outlets seem to be too scared to run these cartoons, so it’s possible that you’ve never seen them. Here they are.
Ever since then some people have been going nuts, killing people, burning embassies, issuing fatwas. You know the usual things extremists do when you hurt their feelings. Despite the fact that the cartoonists are not Muslim and live in a country where they have freedom of speech, so the whole thing makes as much sense as Hindus, who hold the cow in reverence, rioting and killing because some non-Hindu somewhere ate a cheeseburger.
The US government’s response shows without a doubt that Bush and Cheney and their minions never even got to the first amendment in their reading of the Constitution. They keep saying that free speech is a responsibility and that you should try hard not to offend anyone of differing beliefs.
Well, that’s a big steaming hot pile of B.S. Free Speech is guaranteed to offend people. The founding fathers knew that, that’s why they made the protection of it the first amendment, numero uno.
Anyway, one of the ways that the extremists are trying to punish the Danes is by boycotting their exports. So I have determined to do what I can to show the Danes that there are still some Americans who believe in free speech. According I have switched from Cabot to Danish cheeses (they make a great Havarti) and from Guinness to Tuborg or Carlsberg. I may even buy some LEGOs.
You can read more about the Buy Danish movement here.