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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 13, 2006 Case In Point: Cartoons Double standard is no laughing matter By Chris Honoré Tidings Correspondent As we watch Congress spar with the White House over whether the president has the right to wiretap domestically at his discretion, we realize that what is at the heart of this debate is the issue of checks and balances. What are the limits to executive power, even in a time of perpetual war? The framers of the Constitution understood that too much power in the hands of any one branch of government can erode the essence of democracy and undermine our commitment to the rule of law. Because the current administration uses 9/11 repeatedly as its rationale for taking unilateral action, and because the president’s party controls all branches of government, the essential role of checks and balances, by Congress and the judiciary, has been weakened. But there is still the press, often referred to as the fourth estate, an institution that can and must play a most vital role in the equation of checks and balances. This is a moment in our nation’s history when it is essential that the press relentlessly pursue information from all sources in order to inform the public about issues that are paramount to the health of our republic. A free and robust media, meaning print and electronic, is of ever greater importance. Who else will tell the stories of lobbying corruption; the circumvention of the FISA courts in order to conduct wiretaps; probe the crippled response to Katrina; question the suspension of habeas corpus regarding detainees; and shine a bright light on the decision to rendition prisoners to foreign countries for interrogation? Understanding that there is bias in saying this, our citizenry should recognize that the press, in the current political climate especially, is an institution to be embraced and supported. Information is necessary for a free people to make informed decisions. And that information is never given up willingly by those in power. The antidote to the corrupting influence of power, especially excessive power, is the constant exchange of ideas and insights. Our form of government cannot survive behind closed doors or a veil of secrecy, no matter the patriotic patois offered as justification. As to the violent protests that have swept the Muslim world over the printing of what have been called defamatory cartoons, first in the Danish press, then beyond, it’s, well, puzzling. And disturbing. We hear that the West does not understand the cultural import of producing in any form the image of the Holy Prophet Mohammad. Publishing such renderings is regarded as a violation of Islamic religious tenets. Fine. But, have we not seen cartoons in the Arab press of president Bush that could be deemed to be defamatory? Did our religious leaders take to the streets after repeatedly hearing America called the “Great Satan”? Isn’t it true that Syrian newspapers repeatedly publish racist cartoons of big-nosed Jews? Last week, an Iranian daily proposed a cartoon contest to lampoon the Holocaust, and the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has questioned whether the Holocaust ever took place — while calling for the destruction of Israel. Clearly, there is something else in play here and it’s not the cartoons. How else to understand such vitriolic anger? How else to understand the surging crowds of Muslim men, their arms raised in metronomic protest, their faces distorted by rage as they torch the embassies of Denmark and Norway? Are we watching displaced anger unfold on the world stage, a deep and abiding frustration and discontent that are ever present in the Arab-Muslim world, a discontent which has as its wellspring far more profound issues than a few cartoons? Such as poverty, lack of education, jobs and essential freedoms, perhaps? And if so, what to do, how to respond? And then again, perhaps this is a culture war between the West and Islam. And perhaps Arab leaders and imams, their hold on power threatened by the seemingly libertine values of the West, by the juggernaut of entertainment and freewheeling ideas, have seized upon this opportunity to point to the cartoons and say, “See what comes of democracy, and the decadent freedoms that America and Europe wish to export.” Clearly, it isn’t just incumbent on the West to understand the meaning of this outrage; it should be the mission of all Muslim-Arab leaders as well. If a dialogue is to take place about these worldwide demonstrations, then it must begin with truths that may be hard to acknowledge — beginning with the view from the West that countries like Syria and Iran, and their clerics, have cynically used the cartoons to incite anti-West sentiments while declaring their commitment to fundamentalism. Case in Point is a weekly editorial column designed to provide in-depth commentary on current events. Responses should be less than 250 words and sent to [email protected] The Tidings gives priority to letters on local and regional topics of current interest. It seeks to encourage thoughtful, well-reasoned letters and to discourage personal attacks, repetitive messages and personal disputes. Form letters are not published in the Tidings, nor are letters identified as having been published in other publications. Contributions to the Opinion page should be e-mailed in text-only format to [email protected]. Please include your address and a daytime phone number where you can be reached for confirmation. Letters are limited to 250 words. 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