Charles Krauthammer: Obama: Charlie who?

A man sits atop the monument on Place de la Nation with a 'I am Charlie' sign as millions of people march against [radical Islam] in Paris, France, 11 January 2015.

Charles Krauthammer   "On Sunday, at the great Paris rally, the whole world was Charlie. By Tuesday, the veneer of solidarity was exposed as tissue thin. It began dissolving as soon as the real, remaining Charlie Hebdo put out its post-massacre issue featuring a Muhammad cover that, as the New York Times put it, “reignited the debate pitting free speech against religious sensitivities.”

"Again? Already? Had not 4 million marchers and 44 foreign leaders just turned out on the streets of France to declare “No” to intimidation, and pledging solidarity, indeed identification (“Je suis Charlie”) with a satirical weekly specializing in the most outrageous and often tasteless portrayals of Muhammad? And yet, within 48 hours, the new Charlie Hebdo issue featuring the image of Muhammad — albeit a sorrowful, indeed sympathetic Muhammad — sparked new protests, denunciations and threats of violence, which in turn evinced another round of doubt and self-flagellation in the West about the propriety and limits of free expression. Hopeless." 

 "As for President Obama, he never was Charlie, not even for those 48 hours. From the day of the massacre, he has been practically invisible." . . .

 This is serious. In both size and reach it is growing. Our president will not say it. Fine. But does he even see it?

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