Play the Marseailles

And so it becomes a question of who can out-shout the other. It a war with embassy burnings and public protests on one side, and cartoon contests (Warning: Some Images Not Work Safe) on the other, who wins? One wants to bet on the side that does the physical damage, but I don't know.

I keep thinking of the scene in Casablanca, when Paul Henreid instructs the band to play the Marseailles to counter the jovial Jerries then blaring their way through "Die Wacht am Rhein". The crowd all goes for it, even though only a minority are French. At first the Germans try to drown the crowd out, but eventually they toss in the towel and glower.

'Course, they proceed to shut the cafe down and do some other evil things, so its clear that protest has its limits. But I begin to wonder if saying the unsayable is going to become a habit.