Disappointing
By Callimachus | Related entries in Blogging, CartoonsAmericans rally in defense of free speech in Denmark, and to one observer it all looks so “pernicious.” These people in the picture aren’t advocates of Western virtues and secular values. They’re hard-core Islamophobes, apparently.
To some, this is not about innocent cartoons and murderous religious fundamentalism. Ah, but to some they’re not innocent cartoons. “Why else come to the defence of such ignorance and insensitivity?”
Why else indeed. That question says a great deal about someone named Michael Stickings, none of it anything he ought to be proud of.
It’s the kind of post you expect to meet at a far left site, not at something that has “Moderate” for its first name.
Michael can’t be bothered to notice the number of “conservatives” who have come out and said … well, I think this site says it best:
the fact that Irving is a jackboot fixated twat provides no special reason to support or acquiesce in his incarcertation.
See also here, and here, and especially here, but also here.
Enough for you? Yet Michael snickers because he doesn’t see conservatives “rush” to defend Irving the way they’re defending Jyllands Posten. Yes, I’m sure he’d love to see us rush into that minefield. The way to defend Irving is at arm’s length, with a clothespin on your nose, and saying what Harry said above.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 6th, 2006 and is filed under Blogging, Cartoons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 6th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
You forgot the title.
Listen, Michael Stickings is a smart guy, but you’re right, I don’t agree with his characterizations here. And I feel he usually goes overboard with the rhetoric. There certainly is room to criticize Europe, and still support them…and I think that’s what most right-wingers are doing.
But let’s be frank, the right-wing media does make great hay at the expense of Europe’s nanny state. They also grossly overstate the situation over their to prop up their own ideology. I’m not saying this is wrong, I’m just saying it’s the case…and for a guy like Michael it seems that enough is enough.
March 6th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
A post that speaks for itself so well, it doesn’t even need a title. :)
As I’ve stated before, that the job of exposing Islamic supremacism to the masses for what it is was left to a bunch of formerly obscure cartoonists, merely for want of anyone in the Western media with more gravitas willing to take the lead, was really the most shameful aspect of this whole story. The stakes of this war really should have been made clear to the people of the West much, much sooner.
March 7th, 2006 at 3:02 am
America and Europe are family, and they act like it. They strain hard not to be identified with the other. They articulate one another’s flaws and foibles with deadly accuracy. But, at least on this side of the water, and among the people I run with, there’s a deep-down recognition that we represent one culture and that an attack on it there is an attack on it here.
As Europeans often will say, when you confront them with anti-Americanism, “we’re only talking about your political leadership, not Americans as a whole,” likewise much of the American criticism of Europe is based on their political and cultural elites. And in both cases, there’s a certain amount of bunk to that and a certain amount of truth.
It’s unfortunate that the real people don’t get to see and hear more of one another. The voices that carry loudest don’t speak for most of us. But we who set ourselves up as authorities in this World-Wide Web ought at least to take the trouble to distinguish things. Especially those who claim the title “moderates.” Moderates don’t reach for the tarbrush as their first instinct.
March 8th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Michael Stickings started out on TMV as a left-of-center contributor with definite centrist intentions. Even when he posted something from far out in left field he presented it in a reasonable, moderate manner. He’s pretty much given up those moderate sensibilities and embraced the role of leftist firebrand. I’ve pretty much given up commenting on his posts at TMV, since they really don’t lend themselves to reasoned discussion.
That’s sad, because it hurts Joe Gandleman the most, since it’s his site and he honestly tries to promote an environment where people from both sides can discuss things. He states that he doesn’t ride herd on his co-bloggers, and that’s generally a good thing. However, that kind of policy relies on the honesty of the co-bloggers to exercise some degree of moderation in how they present their posts. Michael Stickings’ vitriol is currently undermining that effort.