Protests, ostensibly aimed at those offensive cartoons, continue across the Muslim world. Jonah Goldberg has the answer as to what this is really all about, and it ain't about a bunch of cartoons. Froma Harrop slams the response from the Anglosphere as cowardly. Daniel Pipes says it is about Islamic Imperialism, and he is right. Pipes says that

The key issue at stake in the battle over the twelve Danish cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad is this: Will the West stand up for its customs and mores, including freedom of speech, or will Muslims impose their way of life on the West? Ultimately, there is no compromise: Westerners will either retain their civilization, including the right to insult and blaspheme, or not.

Bingo. Some conflicts are not subject to compromise. Some are based on such fundamental disagreements that they can only be resolved through the submission of one side to the other. This, it seems to me, is one of those conflicts.

Finally, two totally unrelated matters. First, please read Jeff Jacoby's Boston Globe column about the fallacy of so-called "Life in Prison". Second, please read Robert Samuelson's Washington Post column about the unwillingness of our political leaders in both parties to play it straight with us regarding Federal spending, entitlement programs, tax cuts, and deficits.