Another day, another cartoon riot

1. CNN explains itself - this time, with feeling.

On the day that Kathleen Parker rips on the U.S. media for worrying too much about offending Muslims - because some U.S. papers didn't mind showing "Piss Christ" - CNN.com changed its disclaimer.

For days, CNN stories about the situation carried this line, or something similar:

CNN has chosen to not show the cartoons out of respect for Islam.

Today's story has this line:

CNN is not showing the negative caricatures of the likeness of Prophet Mohammed because the network believes its role is to cover the events surrounding the publication of the cartoons while not unnecessarily adding fuel to the controversy itself.

Well! I bet the lawyers and managers spent an hour or two around a dry-erase board coming up with that one. I mean, it's a responsible stance, explained thoroughly, but I just find it interesting to see their explanation expand.

2. Bush speaks
It was good to see Bush speaking out in the above CNN article. He was in Jordan, with King Abdullah II, which adds some cred.

3. Applebaum opines
On another note, the Washington Post's Anne Applebaum addresses two of the points that I previously brought up: 1.) The U.S. has escaped criticism, rioting, etc. pretty unfairly and 2.) Hypocrisy on the left regarding "Piss Christ".

She also see hypocrisy on the right - comparing this situation to that with the Newsweek Koran abuse story. However, I find that a bit of a stretch. The Newsweek story, while having some basis in reality, was not verifiable. That's why they retracted it and ran a full-page apology.

4. I still prefer Jim Lehrer and PBS
As I pointed out in Friday's post, Jim Lehrer got away with broadcasting the cartoons on the evening news - because he did it in a responsible context. There has been no outrage.

What does this mean? We should all be more like Jim.