By
William L. Garvin
“The future must not belong to
those who slander the prophet of Islam.”
President
Barack Obama
The
nascent year of 2015 is already plagued with the continuing horror of Islamic
terrorists wreaking havoc and destruction.
They recently murdered ten members of CHARLIE HEBDO, a satirical magazine in Paris, and two police
officers. A synchronized Muslim attack
on a Jewish kosher market resulted in more innocents being executed and seems
to have galvanized an international spirit of resistance. However, there are underlying ripples of
concern. Overtly, millions have marched
in solidarity with France and nearly forty leaders of nations walked
point. This was the largest
demonstration in French history! Unfortunately
and conspicuously absent was the United States of America, the reputed leader
of the free world. Though he was already
in Paris, Eric Holder failed to make an appearance and the President and Vice
President remained safely ensconced in D.C. and Delaware undoubtedly performing
other functions of great import.
Responding to criticism about the lack of a senior official, Secretary
of State John Kerry huffed “I really
think that this is sort of quibbling a little bit,” and of course, they stand “four square”
behind the French in their fight against terrorism and in defense of free
speech. The optics declare they are
standing very, very far behind and the distinctions between “quibbling” and “quisling” become very blurred!
In
the midst of all this, Boko Haram, the Islamic terrorists in Nigeria
slaughter another 2,000 villagers. Their
barbaric activities have become so commonplace that they barely merit a terse
scrawl at the bottom of the newscasts. Correspondingly,
the American media continues in its complicit if not cowardly conspiracy to
minimize the obvious worldwide threats of radical Islam. Instead they speak in the “lone wolf” and the “not representative of Islam” and the “this is just a small group of extremists” motifs. How many dots need you need before there is
no need for connection because the entire picture is black and bleak? The Associated Press tries to link the
demonstrations in Germany with their Nazi past and Chris Cuomo on CNN thinks
the black terrorists in France are African-Americans! Repeatedly they warn of the backlash from “right wing extremists” replete with
their inherent Islamophobia. They are
much more concerned with the possibility of a hypothetical overreaction than
they are with the atrocities being committed right in front of their eyes. They seem ignorant to the fact that Jews are
much more likely to be the target of a hate crime than Muslims and synagogues
are more likely to be vandalized than are mosques in America. In a paroxysm of sophistry, CNN’s Sally Kohn
tweets “Since 9/11, right-wing extremists
(incl. anti-abortion, anti-gov) have killed more Americans than Islamic extremists--). This is as horrifically in error as is
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes phony photograph of the phony Colorado Springs bombing of
an NAACP office and his phony equivalency to the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Then
again, that’s what you can expect from MSNBS.
As
for the defense of free speech, remember this is the administration that
imprisoned a filmmaker who made a YouTube video critical of Islam. This administration not only keeps him incarcerated
but also blamed him for the murders in Benghazi. President Obama and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton made commercials apologizing for the movie trailer and assuring
the Muslim world that they were appalled by the “disgusting and reprehensible” depiction. This is the administration that will sic the
IRS on organizations that espouse conservative speech. This is the administration that spies on
reporters, hacks their emails and demonizes conservative news channels.
Subsequently
cowed and subservient, the mainstream media now cravenly forsakes its duty to
the American people. Where were they
when Sharyl Atkisson was stonewalled and subsequently fired for her
investigation of Benghazi? Where were
they when the fatwa was issued
against Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris?
Why did the FBI say it could not protect her? Why did she have to go off the grid? Why didn’t the American Society of News
Editors or the Society of Professional Journalists condemn this travesty? (Read Mark Hemingway’s great story.) Why aren’t newspapers, magazines, and
newscasts showing Charlie Hebdo’s
cartoons in an act of defiance? The New
York Times says it’s because of “sensitivity”
but in reality…it’s because they are cowards.
Satire
is effective when there is a barb, a biting edge, a bitter truth that is
readily apparent and with which one can identify or at least understand. Cartoonists frequently do this with a great
deal of skill. In a world of lies,
telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
“Avec solidarite, en verite…’je
suis Charlie.’”
