Cartoonist Traitor

A Canadian cartoonist is participating in an Iranian anti-semite cartoon contest (obviously, it's not me).

Remember the big fuss over the Danish Mohammed cartoon? At the time, the Iranian government had organized a cartoon contest on the theme of the Holocaust. The Islamists wanted to answer the critics who said some Muslims we're taking these cartoons too seriously. So like all fundamentalist dumbasses, they thought, if we went apeshit, the Westerners will go apeshit too if we do the same thing. That's moral relativism. But anyway, who gives a shit about their stupid contest, right? Who is going to enter a contest aimed at testing the boundaries of Freedom of Speech, organized by a regime that kills, tortures and jails people who express free thoughts and dissent.

Well a Canadian named Marc Pageau entered the contest. He's the only Canadian cartoonist who participated and is now getting shit over it. I will let my bias be shown from the start, I think he's an idiot. But it gets worse when you look into his motivation.
Quoted here are Marc Pageau's own words, from this Sequential interview.

"I wanted to be part of it for sure! And I sincerely thought a lot of Canadian cartoonists would enter it. You can't imagine how surprised I was to realize, seeing the list of participants at the end of last May, that I am the lone Canadian to participate! Even some United-staters enter it!!!
Why not Canadians? What's wrong? Negative prejudices?"

Jeez, ever get that weird feeling when you jump off a bridge, turn around and notice nobody's jumping with you? If you're bright, that's when you realize you just fucked up. If you're not, you'll just go in denial and ask yourself "why aren't they jumping too? That means they're all wrong and I'm right!" And let the denial begin!

Some will say I am stupid, because Iran is the #1 enemy of the United States! Come on! Since the beginning of the Iraq war, everybody is the enemy of the United States, even Canada!

The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Is that it? Just because Bush fucked up with his War on Terror doesn't mean every enemy regime is a product of American propaganda.

When people get angry at me for a cartoon, I'm sure that is because they recognize their own stupidity in it and they don't like it! And when they are angry enough to [notify me], the most often message is insults and personal attacks, always done anonymously! They usually don't have the balls to sign it with their true name... How courageous!

Here Pageau tries to smudge the debate, because he just doesn't get it. He thinks we are angry because of his cartoon. This isn't about his cartoon. It's a pretty shitty cartoon anyway.
The problem is his participation to the contest. A contest held by the Iranian regime. He entered a contest that is really a propaganda coup by a bunch of Islamist totalitarians. Either Marc didn't understand what he was doing out of ignorance, or he thinks he's smarter than he really is and thought he could play with the Iranians. Or both...

And the reason why I think he's ignorant is again from his own words.

It seems that it is almost criminal these days in America to express publicly sincere opinions about the forever war in the Middle-East...

Seriously, as much as I've criticized the American government, that is simply not true. Just the other day, Joe Scarborough, popular conservative pundit was asking on MSNBC if Bush is an idiot.
More of the same bullshit:

So, anti-Semitic, a cartoon contest organized by Arabs? They seem to be Semites themselves.

The Iranian regime cannot be anti-semite because the Iranians are semites themselves??? This is one of the most retarded excuse I've ever read. Is he that naive? The KKK is Christian, but that doesn't prevent them from hating Catholics. Does he really doubt the fact that the Iranian government is anti-semite? He doesn't have to buy the neo-con argument that Iran represents our doom (I sure don't). But realistically, how can anyone outside Iran claim that they don't hate Jews? The same goes for all the Islamist fundamentalist. An Egyptian tv station even made a docu-drama on the Protocol of the Elders of Zion, as if it was historically true. Practically all extremists hate Jews, all of them. You don't have to be an historian to know that.

If I draw a cartoon mocking or criticizing the stupidity of the Foreign Policy of the United States, I am anti-American. If I draw a cartoon mocking or criticizing the stupidity of Foreign Politic of Israel, I am anti-Semitic.

Here the problem is nobody called him an anti-semite. That's a strawman. Marc likes to play the victim card. He's not an anti-semite, but he entered a contest held by anti-semites, on a subject that is really close to anti-semitism. Dude, if you don't want to be associated with the KKK, take off the fucking hood! Bitching about how you're not racist does nothing when you're giving these guys legitimacy. If he wanted to draw his cartoon, he was free to do so, publish it on his website. But he didn't have to enter the contest. THAT's where he crossed the line.

Can you imagine if you were an Iranian cartoonist, not allowed to speak your mind against the government? Then come this Canadian, who enjoys more freedom than you, and enter a contest wily-nily organized by your government, the same government that oppresses you. A contest this government will use to oppress you even more.
Marc Pageau doesn't want to be subject to personnal attacks. But you know what this Iranian cartoonist would tell you?
FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!