Je suis Charlie

No, you are not. 

Not even close.

Here is how we know you are not Charlie Hebdo. Look, how wonderful you are all showing the exact same sign showing your unity in thinking. If you were all Charlie Hebdo your signs would all be different from one another. They'd all be cartoons. They would all be mocking the ridiculous parts of religious dogma. They would actually ridicule pompous attitudes of elected officials and others with power, and those with presumptive power, and none of yours do. No, you are not Charlie Hebdo. Not even close.

(Incidentally Hebdo is not a last name, it is abbreviated form of hebdomadaire meaning "weekly" indicating Charlie is published each week.)

Tomorrow, today actually, you will all be crowing about Islamophobia charging others with the affliction you suffer yourselves. You are afraid of Islamists and you are showing it here. Publish the cartoons or shut up. I don't want to look at you. Better yet, make new cartoons yourselves, or be quiet about being Charlie Hebdo. You disgust me.

Oh, you are being quiet. All of this is done in reverent silence. 

"We don't want to offend ten million muslims by publishing cartoons when we can discuss and describe the events with words." 

Such nonsense. You refuse to publish the cartoons as you do cartoons of Catholic pope for fear of being blown up or having your necks sliced through. You may indeed have ten million readers but do you imagine all ten million Muslims read your paper?  By publishing cartoons designed to ridicule Christians and designed explicitly to ridicule Jewish people, your gig is up on not wishing to offend people of faith. This isn't merely hypocrisy, you are lying, to yourselves first and to everyone else secondly. Your lies are rejected. 

‘Je suis Charlie’? No, You’re Not, or Else You Might Be Dead Reason.com where Matt Welch delivers the smackdown. 

Matt Welch points out that if you actually were Charlie Hebdo, there are things you would do.

* Not just take the piss out of Islamic-terrorist sensibilities with satirical cartoon, but do it six days after being firebombed for taking the piss out of Islamic terrorist sensibilities and do that in a manner that is genuinely funny, sometimes even touching, with the message "Love is stronger than hate." 

Now see, that there is funny! And kind of adorable too.

* Not just print original cartoons of the historical figure, he who must not be depicted, but also defending and winning when being charged with offensive speech.

* Not just survive such hardships but not allow them to consume you by becoming obsessive or even semi-apologetic as even Salmon Rushdie converted to Islam.

[This one stopped me. I checked. He was born into Muslim and Indian family but was never a true believer. He publicly converted to Islam thinking that would lift the death sentence. It didn't work. Khomeini didn't believe him. He publicly reverted a year later. So now he is back to being non-Muslim. The Strange Case of Rushdie Converting to Islam and then saying it was a Pretense. Filed by esperanto for Anti Sharia Freedom for the Nations.]

Nor go into hiding like Molly Noris. 

Matt Welch continues lauding Charlie Hebdo for continuing doing what they do, producing juvenile and amusing checks on power and authority and pomposity of all types. He suggests doing a search [Charlie Hebdo +Jesus] and ask yourself which media entity in this country with its stronger free-speech protections would have the courage and latitude to blaspheme both. 

Welch explains Hebdo didn't just run cartoons, it blasted authority and piety of all types including pompous asses who run France and equally pompous but more surbservient hacks in the national press. 

Welch notes Charlie Hebdo was started in 1970 after another publican was shut down for its disrespect of the funeral of De Gaulle. It published things most journalists know but are too afraid to stand by.

Contrary to fools on Twitter who insist the cartoonists were merely some kind of Andrew Dice Clay acts looking for vulnerable minorities to kick around, they were some of the most beloved figures in France.

Wolinski, Cabu, Tignous, Charb created characters such as Mon Beuaf to mock for being crude and bigoted toward minorities, as example of their range.

Welch demands we are not brave as these satirists. We who delete previously published Muhammed images as the Associated Press has. It is not just the media who failed to be Charlie Hebdo but every person in the West who thinks speech should not offend and thinks that artistic commentary can incite murderous violence are also contributing to worsening cultural climate of speech and freedom. 

And then there is Sally Kohn and others like her who will have us change the subject by comparing the attacks to all the Christians or Jews killing in the name of religion. For Sally Kohn's world is entirely relative where every event equates and comes out in the wash.

Why do liberals do this? 

Because it is the only means they have for processing. All events must advance their cause(s). When something happens that does not fit, it must be force-fitted. It appears to normal people they are changing the subject, performing a switcheroo, arguing like my little sister, tender little sister, incapable of thinking straightforwardly. Their thinking appears disjointed. No, all events must further their cause. The track-switch operator activates instantly and powerfully to keep them on track. Their track. All facts fit their track. And that appears as a bizarre computation to the outside world of sensible processing. 

Kohn made her processing known through a series of posts on Twitter, and I would swear I was reading my own  sister. Her posts are assembled on Twitchy run by Michelle Malkin's team, here. 

Related, Tameesh (good and soonish)  Business provides CNN presenters and common-taters. There is no point in arguing. The tracks are switched solidly and they will roll right down their predetermined track no matter the facts. Facts are for normal people. Please enjoy this example.