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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Charlie unimpressed by how many suddenly say "Je suis Charlie"

Because the answer is, no, you're not. Laura W. over at Ace spells it out for those who didn't understand the new Charlie cover (like me, yesterday):
It is also a big F*** YOU to the entire 'je suis charlie' movement, to the extent that it is a transient fad to most people.
All you have to do now to be one of the cool kids who REALLY CARES about a catastrophe is to post a picture of yourself making a super-sad face and holding a sign that says, 'bring back our girls,' or 'je suis charlie.' And hold the pose for one day.
The overwhelming outpouring of "support" for Charlie (tempered, of course by scolding Charlie for "going too far" and such) from people who couldn't be bothered to attend the rally in Paris Sunday against Islamist terrorism (looking at you, Barry) apparently sounds just a tad insincere to the Charlie survivors. The caption -- "all is forgiven" -- led me to the wrong conclusion, that Charlie was being big-hearted. They aren't saying they forgive the Islamist terrorists. Obviously, they find their johnny-come-lately supporters as believable as their cartoon Mohammed and his "je suis Charlie" sign:


So maybe the Obama administration's statement of support for Charlie following the terrorist attack was a little less convincing in light of the administration's statement on Sept. 19, 2012, questioning the "judgment" Charlie Hebdo editors for publishing the kind of cartoon that makes those Islamist terrorists so gosh-darn mad. (Hat tip to Gateway Pundit for that.) It's OK -- there's a lot of folks out there targeted by Charlie's latest cover, like all those press outlets that are 100 percent behind Charlie, but won't publish the cartoons in reporting on them, and all the previous targets of Charlie cartoons who condemned Charlie before but now claim to be besties. Lest there be any doubt, there's this:
A Charlie Hebdo cartoonist is speaking out against many of the people who he says are “suddenly” standing with the satirical magazine — the same people who are routinely “vomited” on by their controversial caricatures and cartoons.
“We vomit on all these people who suddenly say they are our friends,” Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Bernard Holtrop told Volkskrant, speaking particularly about Pope Francis, Queen Elizabeth, and Vladimir Putin. “It really makes me laugh. A few years ago, thousands of people took to the streets in Pakistan to demonstrate against Charlie Hebdo. They didn’t know what it was. Now it’s the opposite.”
I confess, I was not really aware of Charlie's existence prior to the attack last week. I knew that "a French satire magazine" was involved in controversies in recent years involving publishing cartoons mocking Islam. On the other hand, I feel like I've shown more support for Charlie by republishing some of the "offending" cartoons. That's more than most media outlets can say.

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