Some of the responses to the Charlie Hebdo shooting are predictable. The BBC wants to blame the victim, playing up their outrageousness, while others reprint their cartoons to give the middle-digit sal-oot to the would-be censors.
Here's part of this 2012 post when CH was in the news-
Teasing and mocking doesn't make for good rhetoric; it doesn't endear you to the target and makes you look thuggish. In this case, there seems to be little benefit from insulting Muslims other than a juvenile desire to make fun of others outside your in-group. We see that in politics, where liberals will make fun of conservatives for the amusement of their fellow progressives and conservatives follow suit.
Making fun of Mohammad's sexual habits isn't going to win anyone over to Jesus; making a negative case for another religion (and a lame one at that) doesn't make a case for yours.
There is reflexive "Oh-yeah?!" response to attempts to stifle expression. We saw that over the holidays with The Interview, where a lame comedy about trying to assassinate North Korea's dictator became a must-see item when Sony was hackmailed into pulling the firm. Likewise, some tacky cartoons become the cutting edge of freedom of speech when their editorial staff gets mowed down.
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Meanwhile, the authorities in France have three suspects named, two of them French-Muslims. One is a repeat customer-
Cherif Kouachi was convicted in 2008 of terrorism charges for helping funnel fighters to Iraq's insurgency and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Interesting, a guy who was pro-ISIS before it was cool. This really doesn't sound like a trio of lone wolves, like the Ottawa shooter who had an old non-automatic hunting rifle-
The gunmen moved with the skill and precision of highly-trained commandos, military experts told FoxNews.com.
Masked and garbed in black, the AK-47 wielding assassins appeared to be executing a well-coordinated plan in the late-morning raid, methodically seeking out and executing those targeted for death, and making a clean getaway -- all in the span of a few minutes.
Not a good sign, unless you're Marine Le Pen; nativism starts to look good after this morning.
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