Step down, Fogh!

A still more vocal chorus of voices demand that Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen resigns. A mounting cartoons crisis that he has not been able to solve makes this the only possible way out of the crisis. He has antogonized large groups of immigrants. He is responsible for a far reaching polarization of the Danish population in a silly confrontation over how to interpret the words "freedom of speech". He is responsible for the losses of hundreds of jobs in export companies. It is so silly, because nobody seems to disagree on the importance of freedom of speech. It has turned into a ridiculous matter of principle.

"When I hear that Denmark is not capable of apologizing I get a sense of foolish stubbornness. It is lack of courage. I do not understand it at all. Do apologize," said Amr Khaled at at meeting arranged by newspaper Politiken Friday evening. Many of the muslims present at the meeting said they did not feel particularly welcome in Denmark, which made Sorens Espersen, foreign policiy spokesman for the Danish People's party, enumerate a number of "good" aspects of the Danish policy of integration. But there was nothing he could do in way of apology for the cartoons, and he did not understand the muslims on this point, he said.

"But if you can't apologize for what others have done, why was there a general clamour for Danish muslims having to stand up and distance themselves from the murder of the Dutch film director?" someone from the audience wanted to know. There was no reply to this question. The meeting left the impression that Danish society does not know how to heal itself from the deep wounds inflicted by the cultural chasms and misunderstandings. It is due to the fact that PM Rasmussen and his government have committed themselves to not only cooperation, but dependence on, a reactionary right wing political party. Fogh Rasmussen is sitting in Pia Kjaersgaard's lap and he is not capable of moving an inch. This is the malaise of Danish politics.