Michelle Malkin notes that Comedy Central apparently censored a cartoon of Mohammed on a recent episode of South Park.

Now here’s the question (and I am not being sarcastic or really much of anything here): but should we care? I have never watched more than thirty-seconds of the show, and doubt I am going to start, so from a personal point-of-view it has zero direct influence over me.

Now, I can see the hypocrisy issue insofar as I am well aware that the show has traded in offensive images and jokes from the beginning, including numerous usages of Christian imagery, amongst other things, and Comedy Central has been fine with all of that.

However, in this case, they chose not to show the image, and presumably it is in response to possible violence aimed at CC in the post-Mohammed cartoon world.

The question becomes: should we care?

Is this a dreadful capitulation to threats by an American company? Is it simply a business decision? Is it rank hypocrisy?

Of the things to get worried/upset about, where should it rank?

I am having trouble getting past the fact that it is simply South Park on a cable comedy channel–and have a hard time mustering much concern.

But, perhaps all the grading has simply fried my brain.

Thoughts?

Update: James Joyner comments on the story as well, and calls the network (correctly): “gutless”. I still can’t decide if it matters, however.

Update II: Kevin Alyward thinks it is all a publicity stunt.