There has been a ton of negative headlines lately. Those negative headlines normally turn into a negatively charged rant by yours truly, but this time around you may be surprised to see less hostility. At least, for the most part.
It is definitely sad to hear about what happened to Charlie Hebdo. Terrorism is a terrible thing. I'm glad that there are enough countries out there that agree that terrorism should never happen, because sometimes it looks like the world is going to implode on itself with the amount of internationally recognized organized crime.
I'm also glad that a good majority of the world is joining around France to show that France has allies that will always stand against terrorism (along side them and hopefully any other country that gets terrorized). I'm NOT glad that our American leaders do not seem to be one of them (by action). I'd LIKE to believe that Obama and the others at the very least called and told French leaders that they can't attend the unity rally for some reason, but that they will always stand with them against terrorism. I'm not sure of that, but I'd really like to believe that. I'd also really like to believe that our American leaders aren't showing bitterness towards the WORLD with this action--by not attending the unity rally--because of the lack of koombaya-esque world-unifying unity rallies after 9/11. I really would like to believe that, but I know this is America and America is full of bitterness.
It's also strange looking at all of this from the outside looking in. It was almost 14 years ago that a monstrous terrorist attack occurred on American soil. In the first moments after the attacks, we likely felt like sheep. But after we realized what happened--that we were terrorized by Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden's henchmen--the country came together and realized we could take control back.
We did.
France has always been an iffy country to stand behind for Americans. I'm sure we all remember a few years ago when tensions were rising between France, America, and a few other allies to the point that we denounced the name of a McDonald's cornerstone: The "French Fry." Subsequently, we dubbed the fried potato slices as Freedom Fries! And then we all koombaya-ed again!
As an aside: Looking at this situation holistically as I (annoyingly) do all the time, it kind of bothers me a tad to see the majority of America being like, "Oh, yeah, we like you guys now!" after this attack. Why does it take a people to be terrorized to stand behind them? Maybe that's just me. I mean, don't get me wrong, the outpouring of support is awesome to see, it's just, I feel like we should be focusing on Charlie Hebdo and not necessarily France as a whole, yeah? No? I've seen a lot of people specifically supporting Charlie Hebdo and not necessarily France, but I guess one of the reasons people are upset with the Obama administration is because they didn't go to France to support France. I also think it's possible that the Obama administration was too afraid to send all of its leaders in a group with a lot of other leaders without a lot (enough) of security and potential chance for more terrorist threats. /rant
Ultimately, I really appreciate what I've seen. I appreciate that people can come together and support free speech. There were a lot of people who even wrote in saying that they don't necessarily agree with the message that Hebdo's comics were portraying, but that free speech should not be POD in any situation ever!
Let's end terrorism together!
- JeSuisCharlie
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