Lord Jello

As those who follow my pontificatory gems of wisdom know, I have been laying it on the editor of the Telegram for not publishing the "Cartoons." I send him bon mots on a regular basis and today the great Mark Steyn had a doosie in the Western Standard that was, as Jimmy Durante would say, "apropos to de occasion." Mark castigated the media with his usual biting satire. Here are a few of the great lines:

"Many parties have behaved wretchedly in these last few weeks--European commissioners, the British foreign secretary, the U.S. State Department, significant chunks of the incoming Canadian cabinet, the dead-again Christians who lead the United Church of Canada--but the western media have managed to produce a uniquely creepy synthesis of craven capitulation and self-serving pomposity."

How about:

"Or as Philip Lee, professor of journalism at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, put it: "Freedom of the press means you can publish, or not. Not publishing is also an expression of freedom." Up to a point, Lord Jello. That's a valid position if you're the editor of, say, the Ottawa Citizen and some fellow mails you some cartoons about Mohammed and you say, "Interesting idea, old boy. Unfortunately, not quite our bag." But that's no longer tenable when the cartoons themselves are the story. Then it's not even simple news judgment; it's the headline and you've no choice in the matter. "

And:

"Anyone who's spent any time in the Muslim world cannot help but be struck by its profound ignorance. The famous United Nations statistic from a 2002 report--more books are translated into Spanish in a single year than have been translated into Arabic in the last thousand--suggests at the very minimum an extraordinarily closed society, which in turn explains its stunted political development "

Great stuff:

"Meanwhile, we prattle on about "moderate Muslims," telling ourselves that the "vast majority" of Muslims aren't terrorists, don't support terrorists, etc. Okay, why don't we hear from them then?
Because they live in communities where the ideological bullies set the pace, where the price of speaking out is too high, and so they find it easier to say nothing, keep their heads down. And why would we expect them to do any differently when the mighty BBC and CNN do the same? If there is such a thing as a "moderate Muslim," he's surely thinking, "Well, if the CBC and the Toronto Star have to knuckle under to the imams, there's no point me tossing in my two bits."

That should tease you to go read the whole piece in the Standard. A subscription is required but it's free. The Western Standard should be patronized because it was the only one to post the "Cartoons."

I nods to Damian.