(Dr.) Sanity on the Danish cartoon flapdoodle.

Bill Clinton, a former president of the U.S. sad to say (we mean the president part), sailed into a near earth orbit over the Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet di Tutti Prophiti. Outrageous und appalling, don't you know. It was horrid.

What a dimbulb.

As though "rising anti-Islamic prejudice" were something not firmly based in fact. How about "well founded fears about the latest world death cult"? Would "rational alarm" work for the Comeback Kid? Would "time-honored Western tradition of free, open and vigorous debate ring a bell? Did he ever trip over that concept while he was . . . a . . . Rhodes . . . Scholar, we wonder? Now THAT was money well spent on a promising student!

Dr. Sanity (pbuh) nails the issue about "causing uproar" in Dar-al-Islam on account of the all-too-robust expression of views, with a welcome affirmation of where the right to free expression comes from:

As usual, Clinton misses the point. This controversy is not about anti-semitism vs. anti-Islamic prejudice. It so happens that I think being "prejudiced" against someone who is trying to kill, enslave and/or silence me is a sort of reasonable thing. Islam doesn't much care about hurting other religion's feelings, do they? Can you read a Bible in Saudi Arabia? My goodness, you face the sentence of death in Islam if you convert to another religion. But even with all that aside, making fun of Islam and their god is a...god-given right--even if it upsets a million little mullahs.

No, the entire controversy is about freedom of speech--not about hurting Islam's feelings. Quite frankly, appeasing the wrath of a consummate bully only encourages them in their bullying.

Is Clinton so totally clueless that he is unable to recognize the psychopathology of the bully who whines piteously and claims the status of poor helpless victim; while out of the other side of their mouth they demand death for artists and filmakers (has anyone heard an apology for the killing of Theo van Gogh??); issue fatwas against writers who displease them; and scream for the extermination of the Jews and Israel? These are cartoons, for heaven's sake, Mr. Bill. Go look at Islamic newspapers sometime and see how they portray Jews, Western politicians, Christians, etc. See if they are willing to apologize (they aren't); and did we even ask them? (we didn't). Maybe their cartoons are offensive; maybe the drawings of Mohammed are offensive. So what. Tsk. Tsk.

"No Apologies." Dr. Sanity, 2/1/06.