"Something must be done!"

The longer Mitt goes on with this as Muslims riot helpfully in the background, the more the classe politique will come to feel that “something must be done.”

Recall the classic logic of the politician under fire.

Something must be done.
This is something.
This must be done.

The neocons remain firm, so far, vigorously blaming Islamic fanaticism and defending the free speech rights of all Americans, including crackpots, while aiming as much blame as possible at the Obama administration.

The liberals and, now, even mainstream Democrats are of course defending their president while selling out their secularist wing, directing as much of their anger as they dare – and no doubt they hope the anger of the public with it – onto the video maker and that silly old pastor who wanted to burn Korans.

As far as they can, they want to minimize the amount of public blame that is aimed at Islam in general, Muslims in general, Egyptians and Libyans in general, the new Egyptian and Libyan governments, or of course the Obama administration.

They have proposed prosecution of both the pastor and the video producer, and changing the law if needed to clearly deny cover of the First Amendment to speech dangerously provocative to Muslims.

No doubt many of them see this as a welcome chance to not only placate the ire of the Muslim street but generally improve our diplomatic standing with Muslim nations around the world and at the UN.

And others see this as a welcome opportunity to bash the Islamophobic right, including such special luminaries as Pamela Gellar and Robert Spencer.

Too, they might even seek to prosecute Geert Wilders, if he dares to come again to our shores.

Much will depend on where the Christian right, torn between its hatred of Islam and its hatred of anti-Christian irreverence in our culture, decides to come down on the question.

Will they join the Democrats in trying to undermine the First Amendment, provided it be undermined not only in favor of Islam but also in favor of Christianity?

Prosecute a pastor for threatening to burn a Koran?

OK, but then prosecute P Z Meyers for threats of host desecration.

(Google it.)

And tell the Saudis, the Pakistanis, and all others that they have to prosecute rather than encourage or officially condone Bible desecration, as they now routinely do.

Or will they join the neocons in defending blasphemy, ridicule, and unrestrained denigration of anybody’s religion in order to safeguard the work of the Islamophobic right and their alliance with the neocons?

Can’t wait to see, eh?

KOS says today new polls show women’s support for Obama over Romney has risen, though of course most women were already on his side.

This flap about the embassy in Egypt and the ambassador in Libya could easily have made Romney seem more bellicose and “shoot first, think later,” compared to Obama.

Do the new polls reflect any change in women’s support in response to this, I wonder?