Well, me, je suis me.
I’m glad I’m not Charlie, I have an aversion to being shot (and for the record, decapitated as well).
The barbarity exhibited in Paris in recent days has brought a massive response. Consciousnesses have certainly been raised.
The people, the politicians and the cartoonists have led the way.
Let’s have a look at them in a slightly different order. Monsieur Hollande has been quick to reassure France that the French way of life will endure and that this is nothing to do with Islam. Mark Steyn was not impressed …
Yeah, right. I would use my standard line on these occasions – “Allahu Akbar” is Arabic for “Nothing to see here” – but it’s not quite as funny when the streets are full of cowards, phonies and opportunists waving candles and pencils and chanting “Je suis Charlie.” Because if you really were Charlie, if you really were one of the 17 Frenchmen and women slaughtered in the name of Allah in little more than 48 hours, you’d utterly despise a man who could stand up in public and utter those words.
The louder the perpetrators yell “Allahu Akbar” and rejoice that the Prophet has been avenged, the louder M Hollande and David Cameron and Barack Obama and John Kerry and the other A-list infidels insist there’s no Islam to see here. M le Président seems to believe he can champion France’s commitment to freedom of expression by conscripting the entire nation in his monstrous lie.
Is he just pandering? There are, supposedly, six million Muslims in France, and he got 93 per cent of their vote last time round. Or is he afraid of the forces that might be unleashed if the Official Lie were not wholeheartedly upheld? Stéphane Charbonnier said he’d rather die standing than live on his knees; M Hollande thinks he can get by with a furtive crouch.
Harsh words, sadly entirely fair. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the leader of the surrender monkeys, Barack Obama. Such were the forcefulness of his words I almost expected him to draw another line in the sand. Our very own Tony Abbott had a few platitudes to mouth. They ring hollow whilst section 18c remains on the books.
And the cartoonists and their employers, praising the courage of their fallen comrades, there were a couple I liked …
… and one that M. Hollande would have preferred, what we might call the ABC approach …
… it’s all about the backlash.
Guardian Australia cartoonist Andrew Marlton was in no hurry to offend his Muslim audience. As he explained last week …
I don’t depict Muhammad because it’s probably racist and also I don’t get to put my family and my coworkers at risk of being firebombed.
Tim Blair’s turn to be unimpressed …
Now, I’m not particularly against Marlton’s gutlessness over the non-drawing of old Mo, which regrettably has become an industry-wide standard – although his line about racism is interesting (what race is he talking about?).
Instead, Marlton is awarded the yellow sash for the second part of his statement – that he fears his family or the Guardian‘s office will be firebombed if Marlton upsets Muslims.
This is a fellow who makes his living frequently ridiculing what he depicts as an exaggerated fear of Islamic terrorism and who routinely describes as bigots and idiots those who condemn Islamic terrorism. While his leftist fans just lap that stuff up, it now emerges that Marlton himself believes he is just one cartoon away from the possibility of fiery death.
Notably absent from the main stream press were the Charlie Hebdo cartoons themselves. If you need to see what the fuss was about you can find a collection <HERE>. At least one of them would be truly offensive to Muslims, much in the way that putting a crucifix in a jar of urine would be to a christian.
The people’s response was spontaneous and in many ways quite nice. Je suis Charlie, we care, we stand united against barbarism. Charlie’s next edition will happen and it will be a sellout and that is all good. And then they will go back to work and to school and then … what?
Well we wouldn’t want to overreact. Here in Melbourne, Victoria we certainly won’t. Today’s news …
Khodr Moustafa Taha, 35, from Brunswick, allegedly tweeted Victoria Police with the chilling message: “I’m going to hurt your officers.”
Police raided his home and allegedly discovered ammunition and three swords.
Mr Taha, who is Australian-born of Lebanese heritage, was also accused of running several additional Twitter accounts posting material supporting Islamic State.
Another contained a profile picture of the al-Qaeda flag.
Police argued in Melbourne Magistrates Court last week that Mr Taha — suspected of brutally bashing his mother and attacking his ex-boss with a hammer — posed an unacceptable risk of reoffending.
But Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic let him walk from court,
“I’ve taken a view, on balance, that any risk can be fixed by the (bail) conditions.
There’s a bad day coming folks, wrap yourself in copies of the Racial Discrimination Act and have your bail conditions ready. Be prepared for the next time you are caught in an Islamic massacre …
bobmcgee 