Another perspective

I recently stumbled on The Stranger, and I found this article on the Muslim cartoon outrage to at least make some well-reasoned points (running counter to my post below). But I think it still fails to weigh the outrage of offensive cartoons in European papers against the outrage of burning down embassies and threatening violence against entire populations. If I punch you in the arm, and you draw a gun on me, you immediately cede the higher moral ground. To be sure, there was some ugliness in the U.S. in the immediate days after 9/11, but nobody here managed to burn down the Saudi embassy.

I think Sanders draws a somewhat legitimate parallel. However, what he fails to notice or acknowledge is that our ultra-PC attitude in this country toward African Americans (particularly in the media) has sometimes stifled legitimate debate and discussion, no doubt to the detriment of blacks and other Americans alike. Do we all get along pretty well? I guess so. Does that mean that African Americans have achieved true equality? Probably not. Perhaps the path to true understanding is riddled with some necessary, albeit painful, potholes.

And believe me, there are plenty of Americans who find the United States' cozy relationship with Saudi Arabia to run counter not only to our claims on "spreading freedom," but counter to our deepest democratic principles.