Gratuitous insults and a civil society

The NYT token conservative, Ross Douthat, on Comedy Central's decision to cave to death threats against South Park's creators. They were just following their tradition of mocking various religions (with one of their milder bits, on trying to portray Mohammed without picturing him):

This is what decadence looks like: a frantic coarseness that “bravely” trashes its own values and traditions, and then knuckles under swiftly to totalitarianism and brute force.

Douthat's statement puts things in perspective. The reminder about  "Cabaret" in the last link is interesting. This musical does make a distinct point about the relationship between decadence and the lack of resistance, or even attraction, to  totalitarianism.

James Taranto does not agree with the "everybody draw Mohammed" push-back to the Comedy Central decision to cave.

Our reflexive response to "Everybody Draw Mohammad Day"--which we too thought was serious, not having seen Norris's cartoon or her disclaimer--was sympathetic. But (Ann) Althouse prompted us to reconsider. Here is her objection:

Depictions of Muhammad offend millions of Muslims who are no part of the violent threats. In pushing back some people, you also hurt a lot of people who aren't doing anything. . . . I don't like the in-your-face message that we don't care about what other people hold sacred. . . .

Read the whole thing.  On  related notes,

1.  Watch Sonja Schmidt's dynamite video on Jon Stewart's gratuitously insulting depiction of black gospel music. A FABULOUS, finely constructed monologue. Worth signing up for PJTV.

2.  Taxpayer-supported NPR believes that gratuitous sexual insults are perfectly O.K. in political cartoons, as long as they are about the Tea Party Movement.

3.  Something else to think about.

4.  Support, sort of, for South Park, from The Simpsons. Tim Blair excerpts Douthat:

n a way, the muzzling of “South Park” is no more disquieting than any other example of Western institutions’ cowering before the threat of Islamist violence. . . .

But there’s still a sense in which the “South Park” case is particularly illuminating. Not because it tells us anything new about the lines that writers and entertainers suddenly aren’t allowed to cross. But because it’s a reminder that Islam is just about the only place where we draw any lines at all.

"Because people are physically scared."