Heartening.

Intuitive and conjecture only, but perhaps England having lucid, astute and trenchant public commentators such as Melanie Phillips and Richard Littlejohn vs. a country such as Austria lacking such forceful members among its own commentariat, accounts for much of the difference we're seeing. Other social, political, historical, etc. factors are certainly involved, but forceful and astute commentators among the public and outside of formal political circles serve to both reflect the broader culture and serve as articulate rallying points as well.

It's worthy of some emphasis in late-modern, "advanced" societies for a variety of reasons, not least of all because "public opinion" in technocratically advanced societies is so susceptible to manipulations that effective de-moralize social discourse (v. Jacques Ellul, Neil Postman).

The British people (unlike their government) have always had a reasonable sense of what's right and what's wrong. They've put up with so much nastiness from these Islamist groups for so long, probably in the name of tolerance. I was wondering what would be the straw that broke the camel's back. I guess the Islamist protest against the troops, calling them cowards, was just too much.

Now that they've crossed that line, I don't think they're going back. The British press is attacking some of the most egregious Muslim preachers, like Anjem Choudary. It's about time.