Fools

Publishing offensive cartoons of the prophet Muhommed was the foolish and thus right thing to do. We need fools, unwise people who behave as if there is nothing to fear. Look at the prophet Muhammed himself. He lived in Mecca, a polytheistic city. Common sense told you that rain and the fire were controlled by different gods. But here's Muhammed and his little band preaching this monotheism foolishness. Muhommed and his followers gang out of town. The same unwise abandonment of caution was true John the Baptist, Galileo, Bucky Fuller, Amelia Earhart and Chris Rock.

But without fools who go too far we'd never know how's far was enough.

It's why we pay fools to rush in where angels fear to tread.

And once a fool says the unspeakable thing it becomes fit for politie conversation. The foolish Danish publishers are the only reason the world is discussing Islam and art and humor and appropriate reactions. Other fools consecrate other discussions "Did you hear what that fool in Iran said about the holocaust?" or "Pat Robertson said something really foolish about Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez."

Fools know we risk our lives and livelihoods. Everybody saw comedian Bill Maher lose his network series because of a foolish comment about 9/11. Yet we still say what we say and draw what we draw. We don't do it because we're brave or even trying to make the world a better place. We persist in foolishness just to see what happens, because we're fools.

We laugh at fools and that is the fools' greatest gift. Wise folks say comedy is a way of looking at life that makes happy endings seem inevitable. Only a fool would argue with that.