Not liking an offensive movie is not an excuse to riot and kill people.

[starroute]

134. This is about power relationships -- not hurt feelings

That's the point I see almost everyone missing. It's a standard factor in human societies that the dominant group gets to lord it over the members of subordinate groups -- insult their manhood, call their women whores, trash their property -- as a way of reinforcing the power disparity between them.

If you're a well-educated, white American, you don't tend to be in the receiving end of that sort of shit. But anybody who has been in the inferior position knows what it's like.

And the sorry truth is that there's no way out of it except rising up and kicking ass. Putting a scare into the people who have been rubbing your noses in the mud. Making it clear you're not going to take it.

This is why poor people riot. This is why Middle Eastern countries want nukes.

The film causing all this ruckus is not an example of free speech. It's not about insulting someone who has equal power to insult you back. It's the equivalent of Gitmo guards throwing Korans in the toilet as a form of psychological manipulation. It's saying "we can spit on everything you hold dear and you can't do a thing about it."

And though we oh-so-superior members of the ruling class may get the vapors over it, the only effective answer to that kind of provocation has always been "Oh yeah? Eat lead, muthafucka."

Because it's all about power -- and particularly the power to protect yourself and yours.