Sorry Charlie.

The terror attack in Paris today on the offices of satirist magazine Charlie Hebdo,  like every other terror attack, was a pointless, senseless tragedy. It was heartening though to see the French out en mass holding up pens in a tribute to free speech as much as in sympathy for those slaughtered by crazy jihadists.  But it brought to  mind another thought.

The pen is mightier than the sword.  Today, it wasn't exactly the case, but in general that;s a truism because the pen is a metaphor for an idea. An idea can survive a person being slaughtered because once ideas are born they cannot simply be killed out of existence.  There are still people who identify with Nazism and Hitler's ideas, and those were some really, really bad ideas.

The point is that while so many people are not on board for a holy war in the Middle East to eradicate radical Islam, they don't always realize that a war can be waged with a pen rather than a sword. Right now, an all out war on the evils of these radicals is what is needed.  These attacks will continue, and without a worldwide condemnation from the West, the East and from the Muslim world itself, they will continue.  The idea that this is pure evil must take root and it must be driven home around the world.  Jihadists should see themselves not as martyrs and heroes but as wrong.  That starts by spreading the word that that is what they are

I urge anyone out marching, holding a pen, to let it not be a simple vigil but also serve as a symbol of a future effort to truly share the idea that needs to be shared, and to educate the uninformed  - radical Islam is evil and will not be tolerated. Period.

Quick observation - NSA' scandal's biggest loser

I was reading Bob J's Rants moments ago and he made a point that I think encapsulates the entire problem that has bubbled to the surface since the 9-11 attacks.  The NSA's scandal's biggest loser is you.  Yes, you.

You have a segment of the global population - jihadists - intent on wiping out your country on on hand, and on the other hand you have a government not sophisticated enough to capture or monitor terror suspects without majorly eroding your personal privacy.  

The country the jihadists want to destroy might not be around for them to come after if they ever got aroud to doing it successfully.

Ironic.

Canadian Idol contestant a Jihadist???

Yeah, this is uber-cool.

But it's no Slavic disco.

Here's the kicker - this guy turned out to be involved in a terror plot to blow up Canada's parliament. And unlike his claim, he wasn't a recent immigrant at the time - he was home grown. Much like his dancing must have made viewers at home groan.

Awful, awful pun.  As a disciplinary matter for that pun, I will force my self to watch that video once more.

Barack Obama gets an 'F' for protecting Americans

Over in England, the Telegraph gets it - Barack Obama is failing in his duty to protect the citizenry of the United States.

Barack Obama gets an 'F' for protecting Americans

The two most salient points for me:

4. In his studied desire to be the unBush by responding coolly to events like this, Obama is dangerously close to failing as a leader. Yes, it is good not to shoot from the hip and make broad assertions without the facts. But Obama took three days before speaking to the American people, emerging on Monday in between golf and tennis games in Hawaii to deliver a rather tepid address that significantly underplayed what happened. He described Abdulmutallab as an “isolated extremist” who “allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device on his body” – phrases that indicate a legalistic, downplaying approach that alarms rather than reassures. Today’s words showed a lot more fire and desire to get on top of things – we’ll see whether Obama follows through with action. In the meantime, he went snorkeling.

5. There has been a pattern developing with the Obama administration trying to minimise terrorist attacks. We saw it with Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, a Muslim convert who murdered a US Army recruit in Little Rock, Arkansas in June. We saw it with Major Nidal Malik Hassan, a Muslim with Palestinian roots who slaughtered 13 at Fort Hood, Texas last month. In both cases, there were Yemen connections. Obama began to take the same approach with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. We’ll see whether this incident shakes him out of that complacency. Whether it’s called the war on terror or not, it’s clear that the US is at war against al-Qaeda and radical Islamists.

More American journalists better start understanding the diabolical nature of these jihadists and the insidious nature of Islamic self-tolerance, along with the reticence of the President to do something about it sooner than too late, or the too much of the public will be fooled into disinterest while time runs out on freedom.