And as Long as I'm on a Roll...

Those of you who missed Ann Coulter's brilliant column last week on the Cartoon Wars owe it to yourselves to read all the way through it. You can find it here:

...But three cartoons made political points.

One showed Muhammad turning away suicide bombers from the gates of heaven, saying "Stop, stop – we ran out of virgins!" – which I believe was a commentary on Muslims' predilection for violence. Another was a cartoon of Muhammad with horns, which I believe was a commentary on Muslims' predilection for violence. The third showed Muhammad with a turban in the shape of a bomb, which I believe was an expression of post-industrial ennui in a secular – oops, no, wait: It was more of a commentary on Muslims' predilection for violence.

In order to express their displeasure with the idea that Muslims are violent, thousands of Muslims around the world engaged in rioting, arson, mob savagery, flag-burning, murder and mayhem, among other peaceful acts of nonviolence.

Yes, it's nasty in a way only Ann Coulter can be nasty, but the hard question remains — have we reached a point where it is institutionally prohibited from criticizing a religion if that religion happens to be Islam? I don't see Democrats laying off the Religious Right (which, in my opinion, roundly deserve all the criticism that has been directed toward them). There's a plethora of (well deserved) Catholic priest jokes floating around the Internet and the Real World. The essence of free speech is that people will be offended, but so what? Nobody ever died of "being offended."

And before you say anything, I have actually read the Holy Qur'an. Heck of a religion for warriors!