Almost everyone has had their fill of Muslim violence. That's why the mob was so quick to rush to the defense of Charlie Hebdo. Had CH been shot up by gays for a homophobic magazine cover, there would have been no marches. The cops would have dealt with the issue and it would have faded from the front pages quickly.
The mob had no purpose other than defiance. That's why the cartoons were republished in so many places and why the mob became irate where they weren't. Defending free speech was the cause and everyone signed on.
Defiance is divisive. One side is defying the other. Divisive acts when violence is a real option is not a good idea. Mobs aren't good for much more than defiance, though. That's why we needed leadership. As far as I can tell, we didn't get any.
Leadership would provide a strategic goal. I'd suggest the strategic goal here is to get the French Muslims to feel French and defend French customs. Trashing their sacred icons may be a terrific act of defiance, but it's a lousy sales technique when you're trying to sell them on the idea of being French.
Imagine going into a shoe store where the salesman screams that he doesn't think you have the brains to pick out a pair of socks, much less shoes, slacks or shirt.
Leadership would have focused the protests on more than defiance. It would have used the energy of the mob defending free speech and channeled it into something more. The goal of assimilating the Muslims would have been front and center and this horrible incident would have been proof that assimilation was needed.
Instead, all we got were republished, blasphemous cartoons and an in-your-face march. Six months from now, those 6,000,000 Muslims in France still won't feel very French. Our political leaders failed us utterly.
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