Please Explain WWIII

And we thought political correctness had run amok here? Worldwide riots erupt because of a cartoon. A cartoon!

Now there is much headscratching and throatclearing among the media over whether to include images of the offending caricature of Mohammed in stories about the violence it inspired.

How softly must we walk to avoid breaking the eggshells that these people want to live inside? If the idea that killing non-believers by suicide bombing will win you virgins in heaven is not kooky enough for you, is the fact that drawing a mere picture of your prophet is a grievous sin not a sign that there is something wrong with your religion?

Here's some trivia for you. The Danish paper Jyullands-Posten originally published the cartoons in question last September.

So why no outrage until now?

NPR reported this morning that, after getting no satisfaction from the Danish prime minister, Islamic clerics in Denmark who had sought an official apology circulated the cartoons -- including even more inflammatory ones not published -- deliberately to rouse the rabble.

Well, congratu-freaking-lations! You did it!

Yeah, I know. I don't understand the Muslim culture or the other factors involved. It's complex and layered and ... OH BALONEY! You know what? I don't want to understand. What I want is to see some spine. I want to see the media in free countries around the world stand up to this kind of intellectual tyranny by publishing the cartoon as a symbol of our willingness to tolerate unpopular thought.

You know, the idea behind democracy?