Sunday, February 05, 2006

Its the cartoons, stupid!

Some of my fellow Wisco Bloggers, most notably Jenna at Right Off The Shore, reprised by Peter at Texas Hold 'em, have begun to look at the left's response to the Islamic temper tantrum over a few Danish cartoons.

Lefty blogger Suzanne Nossell, writing at the H-Bomb, sort of hits all of the bases. The problem, she says, is that the Danes (and other Europeans) have not adequately assimilated Muslims and sorely need to implement, among other things, "War on Poverty-style efforts to combat Muslim unemployment, economic deprivation and social isolation ...." Its not clear to me what additional "War on Poverty" type initiatives that little Denmark with its cradle to grave social welfare might try.

But, says Ms. Nossell, the problem is also that they have wrongly insisted on assimilation of Muslims. Denmark, she says, is moving in the wrong direction, " enforcing required Danish lessons and stricter marriage [the Danes seem to have a problem with arranged and forced marriages] and citizenship laws." Imagine insisting that people who want to live permanently in Denmark conform to Danish norms by,say, learning the language. That sure couldn't help Muslim unemployment and social isolation.

This denial that what the rioters say angers them might be - exactly what angers them - reminds me of those who think the Palestinians voted for Hamas because, as Charles Krauthammer puts it, they want efficient garbage collection.

The Palestinians and Muslim rioters know exactly what they want. And that's the problem.

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