Jordanian public prosecutors have subpoenaed a Danish cartoonists who penned one of the famous and (to some) controversial Danish cartoons of Muhammad, as well as Danish editors who approved their printing. None of that conduct occurred in Jordan.

Under Jordanian law, reproducing images of the Prophet Muhammad inside — or even outside the country — is illegal under the Jordanian Justice Act, the newspaper wrote.

Before you get too outraged at that particular part, we've got laws that purport to criminalize extraterritorial behavior as well. They're not about hurting people's feelings, though. They're mostly about blowing shit up or bribing foreign officials.

A lawyer representing "The Prophet Unites Us," a Jordanian group angling for the prosecution, said that if the Danish journalists did not appear in Jordan for legal proceedings, the next step would be to inform Interpol and seek their arrest.

But the Danish foreign ministry said that the journalists would not be forcibly deported, as the printing of the controversial cartoons is not a punishable offense in Denmark.

Good for the Danes. Let's hope they keep that spine. Are you listening, Canada?

But before we get too proud of American freedom, remember that the vast majority of American media outlets were too indifferent or cowardly to print the cartoons — which, by any objective standard, were no more outrageous or offensive than any number of artistic depictions of Christianity.

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