In the Immortal Words of Jon Stewart...

So, I was unaware, until last night, of this huge mess with South Park and some Muslim extremist whackjobs.

Here's a link to an article on it on CNN, but honestly, if you google 'muslim death threats south park' you'll come up with a *ton*.

It basically breaks down like this: South Park did an episode that portrayed Mohammed appearing in a bear suit. And these nut bars got all pissed off about it and started levying death threats against the creators of the show. So Comedy Central edited the episode to remove 'Mohammed'.

Look, in the first place, these guys are fucking idiotic nut jobs. That's clear. They do not, in my experience, represent the majority of Islam. But here's the thing - you don't see the rest of the Muslim world standing up and saying, 'hell, no'. Why? Because they don't talk as loud as the crazy shit people. It's easy to get attention when you're threatening violence, *especially* if it's violence in the name of religion, and then even more especially if you're a Muslim. It's harder to get heard if you're not a crazy fucker.

These guys are sitting here, in the US, protected by our own laws, allowed to spew hateful shit, all the while they want to destroy our way of life. They're *free* to say this stuff. But the creators of South Park *aren't* free to express themselves? How does that work?

*Why* are we kowtowing to the nutbars? All it does is teach them that that's the way to get what they want. Freedom of speech has to work for all people, or it doesn't fucking work at all. I'm almost as pissed off at the people who decide not to air the cartoon in it's original form or who bow down and edit comic strips because of shit like this.

Look, I don't like Glen Beck or his ilk. I think they're right wing conspiracy nuts and I think it's *sad* that so many people believe every word that comes out of his mouth. But he does have the right to express himself. I find much of what he says offensive. Do you know what would happen if I made veiled or otherwise threats against him? I'd be in jail! But because these idiots are *Muslim*, all that happens is that the cartoon doesn't get aired.

Hell, *I* find South Park offensive. You know what, I JUST DON'T WATCH IT! There are ways to express yourselves that don't involved cries of 'Death!' every five seconds.

So, y'know what, to all the religious whackjobs out there who use violence and the threat of violence to spread their 'message', and to the assholes who infringe on free speech to placate these people who are the enemies of all that we hold dear:

GO FUCK YOURSELVES.