But, how do you think Muslims perceived the cartoons?

Why should non-Muslims be bound by Muslim sensibilities? Do you think Larry Flynt should be bound by Jerry Falwell's sensibilities?

But, how do you think Muslims perceived the cartoons? Do you think they saw it as just a dumb joke, or as an attack on their sacrosanct beliefs?

So, Michelle called the MSM cowards for cowering before the extremist who were so offended as to become violent. I think the MSM showed restraint by choosing not to show the cartoons due to the very real danger to human life this could cause.

The fact that violence over the cartoons was unjustified does not change the fact that showing the cartoons meant putting more lives in danger. Human life trumps principle, right pro-lifers?

But Michelle kept milking the issue, criticizing those who wouldn't show it and trying to get it shown wherever she could, even on FOX news after they told her not to. Why? Because she believes so dearly in civil liberties? Because even though the cartoons were offensive (which of course she didn't think, because she is bigoted against Muslims) they shouldn't be censored? No, her only aim was to provocate and spread hate for fun and profit, potentially endangering human life.

SO now a mainstream blog makes an offensive joke about her, and she whines and paints herself as a victim when she was the one championing offensive humor that could've cost people their lives. Some moral highground she has.

Bottom line: If she had any consistency, she would have simply ignored Wonkette's crude humor, raising herself above it and accepting that it simply is the price she pays for the positions she takes. But that would take class, and of course she has none.

Neither Malkin nor any of us taking her side in this dispute are questioning Pareene's right to make offensive jokes, let alone saying he should be killed for them. Indeed, I allow that the humor was merely sophomoric rather than racially motivated.

So, how, exactly, does this relate to the right of Danish newspapers to publish cartoons without setting off murderous rioting around the world?

But when somebody makes offensive jokes towards her, it's like, totally different. No doubt because she made some complex moral reasoning weighing racist speech versus anti-religious imagery that she didn't let us in on, and not because she has a wildly inconsistent worldview that all Republicans don't not have.

Well y'know what, if Wonkette can't make racist sexist jokes about Michelle Malkin, the terrorist win.

I do love this argument that conservatives have become fond of lately- "Sure, in general we are pretty intolerant towards all non-whites, non-Christians, intellectuals, immigrants, dirty poor people, dirty French people, etc... But look at how intolerant all of them are towards us!" They then take the most outrageous liberal statement they can find, even if they have to scavenge for forum trolls and go through their anonymous hate mail, and then hold it up as the mainstream liberal view while ignoring anything approaching reasoned critique.

Hear that sound? That's the sound of democracy dying slowly and painfully. Thank you conservative punditry!

I wish I read Wonkette, so I could stop reading the site now, out of protest. "Moonbat," while a bit crude, is fundamentally different from a vulgar racial and sexual slur directed at a specific individual.

Imagine the outrage that would result if, say, IMAO or ScrappleFace made a similar "joke" about a liberal Asian-America woman.

As James notes, this is really just "another day in the blogosphere." That doesn't make it any less offensive, however.

I'm not sure what the "sarcasm" was aimed at. It was, frankly, rather lame.

"I don�t think one could argue that Malkin ISN'T successful"

I don't think one could argue that Malkin is successful, but I find it interesting that a day or two after you showed absolute indignation about somebody taking offense to the use of the word "tar baby" in a white house press conference you decide to take up the cause of Malkin. Whose takes offense to the phrase ping pong ball on in a clearly sarcastic non-offensive post from a widely recognized gossip and snark website.

99% of the time you come off as balanced James, but this seems weird to me.

According to SiteMeter, Glenn averages 124,620 daily uniques and Michelle 117,041, so he's a bit ahead. She had slightly more visitors than he did last month, though.

Certainly, she dwarfs his if one includes Hot Air, which is just a phenomenal start-up.