Glenn Reynolds writes that the Danish Embassy in Syria was torched.

Given the cause of the fire, one of Mark Steyn's best observations still holds very much true:

These days, whenever something goofy turns up on the news, chances are it involves a fellow called Mohammed. A plane flies into the World Trade Centre? Mohammed Atta. A gunman shoots up the El Al counter at Los Angeles airport? Hesham Mohamed Hedayet. A sniper starts killing petrol station customers around Washington, DC? John Allen Muhammed. A guy fatally stabs a Dutch movie director? Mohammed Bouyeri. A terrorist slaughters dozens in Bali? Noordin Mohamed. A gang-rapist in Sydney? Mohammed Skaf.

Jeff Goldstein has some thoughts on what this latest crisis portends for the future of liberalism worldwide.

And Eugene Volokh notices--surprise!--a double-standard at the Boston Globe, and Sissy Willis asks, et tu, Fox?

No doubt, the meetings inside the boardrooms of both CNN and Fox went something like this.

Finally (for now), Queen Margrethe II of Denmark sounds like she understands the enormity of the crisis--which is far larger than just this one story:

“We are being challenged by Islam these years - globally as well as locally. It is a challenge we have to take seriously. We have let this issue float about for too long because we are tolerant and lazy.

”We have to show our opposition to Islam and we have to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on us because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance.“

”And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction."

Indeed.

Update: Steyn's November 15th "Bicultural bye-bye" essay discussed the inherent conflict between the twin cultures of Europe, "aging native populations, and young Muslim populations, and that’s it", as opposed to the rich mosaic of America's diverse population. It's a rather timely reprint on his site today.

And Austin Bay has some thoughts on the torching of the Danish Embassy in Syria:

Thousands enraged, huh? More likely scenario: the dictatorship is using The Cartoon War as a convenient issue to deflect the anti-regime heat building inside Syria and shift media focus from the murder investigation.

Via Hugh Hewitt, who writes, "Time for the Assad regime to go".

Another Update: Michelle Malkin reminds us (and newspapers and television stations) that "It Is Not 'A Row'". And Ed Morrissey looks at "The Contrived Cartoon Network":

It appears that the controversy over the Prophet cartoons has been somewhat artificially enhanced by Muslim imams in Denmark, according to the London Telegraph. Numerous readers and commenters have pointed towards this article by Charles Moore, who reports that not only did these cartoons appear months ago, but the Danish imams included a few more than European newspapers never printed in order to fuel the outrage of their followers.

Imams fueling outrage? I'm shocked. Shocked!

And LaShawn Barber explains "Why Rolling Stone Didn’t Put Kanye West as Muhammad on the Cover":

Liberal editors are a lot smarter than they look. If Rolling Stone had put Kanye West posing as Muhammad on the cover, they’d be in hiding, too. Instead, they chose the safer route: West, a rapper and contributor to the cultural toilet, posing with a crown of thorns on his head.

Christ is fair game, isn’t he? Unbelievers, liberals, and other secularists make fun of him, mock him, scorn him, and curse him, yet they steer clear of doing the same with Muslims’ god. They know offended Muslims, unlike offended Christians, issue death threats.

Remember all the riots, looting and torching when Dogma and The Last Temptation of Christ played at your local multiplex?

Me neither.

Another, 'Nother Update: The The Only Republican in San Francisco (sadly, probably accurately named), explores "The Rovian view of the cartoon kerfuffle":

While unintentional, this is classic political rope-a-dope on the part of the West. Many people will draw the conclusion that Islamists are fundamentally and violently opposed to Western mores. Moderate Muslims do not make the headlines, and are unfortunately lumped in with the extremists. Remind you of a certain American political party?

As he writes--and I concur--"For the record, I’m not an advocate of mocking any religion. Until, of course, one is told that one can’t." (See also, Hubbard, L. Ron.)

And Sissy Willis explores a somewhat similar theme.