Shutting Down Free Speech

TRIGGER WARNING:  In which I suggest that the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has sold out.
For John, BLUF:  We are lost, or nearly so.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Salon and Ms Anne Silman, we have "Charlie Hebdo will no longer publish images of the Prophet Muhammad".  It turns out "The magazine is changing its stance in the wake of January's violent terrorist attack".

The story lede:

Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French magazine that was the victim of a violent terrorist attack in January that left twelve dead, will no longer produce images of the prophet Muhammad, according to its editor Laurent Sourisseau.

Speaking to German magazine Stern, Sourisseau said that the magazine has "done its job" and "defended the right to caricature."

"We have drawn Muhammad to defend the principle that one can draw whatever they want.  It is a bit strange though:  we are expected to exercise a freedom of expression that no one dares to," Sourisseau said.

Still, he said he didn't want people to perceive the magazine as being "possessed by Islam."

"The mistakes you could blame Islam for can be found in other religions," he continued.

A friend of mine commented, sarcastically,

No doubt, a triumph for responsible speech.

And the point of Charlie Hebdo is, from this point forward?

There is no point.  It is now another left wing publication that has only Christians and Jews to pick on.  And probably doesn't know an Evangelical from a Fundamentalist.

But, Mr Sourisseau has a point.  If no one else will stand up, why should they?  For example, Yale Press published a whole book on the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, but refused to reprint the cartoons in the book.  Weak.

Regards  —  Cliff