Posted on 01/12/2015 4:39:50 AM PST by LeoMcNeil
Much is being made of President Obama’s failure to attend the Paris unity march yesterday. Apparently Eric Holder was sent but he was nowhere to be found when 40 world leaders locked arms in a show of unity against Muslim terrorism. This isn’t even a matter of Obama leading from behind, it’s a matter of him not showing up. On the other hand, wasn’t the Paris unity march sort of odd? Where was the unity march with world leaders when the US was attacked on 911? Where was it when London was attacked? Where was it when Australia was attacked last month? Where is the unity march for the 2,000 people murdered in Nigeria last week by the Muslim group Boko Haram? We could even make the argument that France wasn’t even united. How can a nation call itself united when the fastest growing political party in France over the last decade, le Pen’s “far-right” National Front, is banned from the unity marches?
Let’s be perfectly honest about the satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. This rag is disgusting and vulgar. They have depicted Jesus Christ in the most obscene ways imaginable, just as they have depicted the false prophet Muhammad. Does this mean they deserve to be firebombed and murdered? Of course not. It’s important to note that only Muslims attack over vulgar satire. Having said that, do we conservatives here in the United States really want to rally around Charlie Hebdo as the symbol of free speech in the west? This is an especially important questions for conservatives who are also Christians. While Charlie Hebdo may have the right to print their vulgar magazine, we do not need to rally around that magazine as a symbol of free speech in the west. Not rallying around Charlie Hebdo doesn’t mean we support barbarian Muslim terrorists. Quite the contrary, it means we’ve thought about the magazine and decided it isn’t worth rallying around even when we’re very much opposed to the Muslim terrorist attacks against it.
Obviously President Obama didn’t show up in Paris because le Pen’s National Front was banned from the unity march or because Charlie Hebdo is vulgar and not worth defending free speech over. He also didn’t show up because he found it odd that leaders from around the world showed up for a French unity march but did not show up after other terrorist attacks. He isn’t even playing the race card by either going to Nigeria or demanding everyone go there as an act of unity against Boko Haram. That leaves the question why he didn’t show up. One could reach the conclusion that because the administration has supported Muslim extremists like the Muslim Brotherhood in the past Obama is reluctant to push back against Muslim extremists even after a major terrorist attack. Considering that in Syria Obama has supported al Qaeda, perhaps he’s unwilling to oppose them publicly in Paris.
The more likely conclusion is that Obama is just lazy and didn’t want to go to Paris. Perhaps he thinks the United States had no interest in being represented at the unity march. Perhaps more likely, the President didn’t feel like going to Paris and his staff failed to grasp the enormity of what was going to happen. In doing so they missed the photo op of a lifetime for Obama, who surely would have been right in the middle next to French President Francois Hollande. Not even the Vice President showed up, which suggests that the administration really didn’t grasp what was going on in Paris. Or perhaps it suggests that they just didn’t care. After all, this is an administration that is very reluctant to call acts by Muslims terrorism. Perhaps the President didn’t really want to be associated with a demonstration against something he would likely call a local criminal act if it happened here in the United States.
No matter what Obama’s reason for not going to Paris is, the fact that he didn’t go isn’t something to get excited about. Nigerian Christians are being murdered by the thousand by Boko Haram, American Christians should be far more disturbed by those events. Charlie Hebdo is a vulgar, disgusting rag and isn’t the symbol of free speech in the west. If it is such a symbol, it’s only a symbol of how far we’ve fallen from our historic Christian roots. Why exactly does the world have to be unified against Muslim barbarians over Paris but not over Boston, London or Sydney? The answer of course is that the Paris attacks were an attack against free speech but again we’re talking about the most vulgar form of free speech. We can defend free speech without lowering ourselves to the level of Charlie Hebdo. Whatever Obama’s reasons for not going to Paris, he ultimately made the right decision. Our President does not need to participate in a unity day for the French people. Especially a unity day that explicitly excludes certain Frenchmen based on their political views.
Agree there’s something not quite right about an American president attending something like this. I also wonder if maybe the French themselves didn’t want him there. There was a report this morning that Hollande urged Netanyahu not to attend saying he would be a distraction. Seems possible he would have similar thinking about a prominent U.S. presence...and I can see Obama agreeing with him.
Must I mention every single act of terrorism at the hands of Muslim barbarians?
Unfortunately, terrorism in Israel is a regular occurrence and thus less shocking or surprising. Like it or not, when most people read of a terrorist attack in Israel they aren’t surprised. When Paris gets attacked, or London, New York, Sydney, Boston etc. it’s exponentially more shocking. As such, it shouldn’t come as a shock when people make a bigger deal out of terrorism that happens in places where it’s relatively uncommon and unexpected. It doesn’t mean that terrorism in Israel doesn’t matter, it’s simply less of a surprise.
It would have been more tactful than asking him not to show up. More likely both sides, neither of which wanted Obama there, would agree that some practicable matter like security not being in place on such short notice made it infeasible for Obama to attend.
Practicle
The author misses the whole point. It was because Charlie Hebdo was so relentlessly mocking Mohammed that they exposed the true mentality of Islam. They were slaughtered for this service to the West and all of mankind. It is entirely appropriate to stage the biggest demonstration in French history. Obama shoud have been there. He wasn’t because he does not oppose Islam and is really on the other side. So, the whole affair exposed Obama for who he is.
The question is whether this march for unity is one worth attending. I contend it is not. First of all, by definition France cannot be unified when the “far-right” National Front is banned from participating. Beyond that, we need to honestly ask ourselves whether the free speech pushed by Charlie Hebdo is worth rallying around? I understand the desire to defend free speech and in particular I understand the desire to oppose Muslim attempts to silence free speech. However, Charlie Hebdo is the lowest form of free speech and not worth holding up as an example of western free speech worth rallying for.
There is no such community as "the world".
The planet is inhabited by mutually incompatible races, tribes, and nations, who normally settle their issues by violence fueled by hatred and blood lust.
But, to the extent that an imaginary "world community" exists, one common bond it could have would be anti-semitism, so you wouldn't expect its members to give a flying f*** if Israel were attacked, since 1948 or since 1948 B.C., for that matter.
Israel's ally and defender is the G-d of Abraham, not some imaginary "world community".
There are ways to mock Muhammad without being crass and vulgar. Charlie Hebdo is little more than a crass and vulgar publication. Surely Muhammad can be mocked without cartoons depicting him having sex in graphic detail.
Well, there is no double standard. Perhaps, the appearance of lies- has made you doubt. FEAR- False Evidence Appearing Real
That same lackey who is releasing terrorists from Gitmo.
Who was the Master at your defined “FEAR” term? Pres. Clinton and Oslo...
...is G-D, on your side, or not? Believe, just believe- no matter what seems to be happening. All the best, to you and yours... and all of us
My family, and then, the rest of the world. Took me awhile, to grow out of such nonsense. How about you.
A silly March for unity, maybe. How about a show of symbolism for the THOUSANDS of Americans murdered by Islamic terrorists? Kobar, USS Cole, Mogadishu, 9/11, Daniel Pearl and others beheaded, Ft. Hood, the recent murders and attacks in America by “lone wolves.” And let’s not forget the thousands of troops who have given life and limb against terrorism. This is much deeper than just a silly March, he is a shame to these people. Does anyone think for one minute that the vast majority of surviving American families would not have been in Paris if they could have? THAT IS WHAT AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT DOES, HE IS A SYMBOL OF ALL THE PEOPLE.
Obama should have gone to Palestine with his Ferguson friends.
Then send Biden; that’s what vice-presidents are for. Or have Holder attend. Or Kerry. Don’t send low level flunkies. This was another screw-up for an administration that has been an endless chain of screw-ups.
What are the odds that one of the very people recently released from Gitmo had a hand in organizing these attacks? That would be truly damning, not that we would ever hear about it.......
Wow. Didn't know France was so anti-free-speech.
Beyond that, we need to honestly ask ourselves whether the free speech pushed by Charlie Hebdo is worth rallying around?
Absolutely. Free speech is free speech, and provided your speech does not commit fraud, should be protected. Always.
I may not have been enamored, for example, with the Maplethorpe "Piss Christ" so-called 'art', but I did not burst into his office with an automatic AK and slaughter 12 of his peers.
He has the right to be utterly offensive, and I have the right to be utterly offended.
End of sentence.
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