The editorial drawing at right of Steve Jobs as a brush-wielding bowdlerizer appeared in Monday’s issue of
Ekstra Bladet
, a Danish tabloid with a sensationalist bent that likes to think of itself as a champion of the common man.

One of the paper’s most popular features is its “Side 9 Pigen,” the photo of a topless or totally nude woman that has graced the 9th page of every issue since 1979,

Because of the paper’s Page 9 Girl, Apple has refused to let Ekstra Bladet appear anywhere in its App Store, even the version seen only in Denmark.

Ekstra Bladet, for its part, refuses to remove its beloved pin-up, and has launched a series of increasingly strident attacks on Apple (AAPL) that culminated Monday in the drawing above and an editorial that reads, in part (Google translation):

No Dane has ever gotten the strange idea that Page 9-girl would be banned. But now, narrow-minded, American tasters from computer giant Apple tittet with through the keyhole, and decided that the sweet Danish girl is offensive – for the Danes in Denmark.This completely deranged assertion means that as long as we have a 9-girl side in Ekstra Bladet, we can not be allowed to sell the newspaper to the Danes — in Denmark — Apple’s iPad and iPhone.

It’s called ‘nanny state’ (paternalistic society), where otherwise intelligent and gifted people think it’s best for you and me that they control our lives down to the smallest detail.

Some might think this is a small matter, but it is very fundamental. Danish legislation becomes inoperative by a private American company. No matter what it is about, no one should tolerate it. We will certainly not.

Seems a lot of fuss over a little skin.

Thanks to reader John Strand for the tip.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]