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    Kenhe LoginJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 7:52pm

    This is tricky territory, the cartoons were definitely trolling Muslims, radical and otherwise. Supporting one's right to troll is quite apart from joining in. In any case the appropriate response to trolling is ignoring and not bloody vengeance.

    It wasn't just terrorists who were offended.

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      c'est-a-direKenhe Login
      1/09/15 8:04pm

      Meh. I can go either way - they're shitty but an integral, valid part of the story. I frankly don't care who publishes them or doesn't, as long as anyone who wants to can opt out.

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      Sean BrodyKenhe Login
      1/09/15 8:07pm

      The analogy is imperfect, but how does one handle Piss Christ, Westboro Baptists and other provocateurs?

      You let them print and you deride them.

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    WhileimonthejohnJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 8:05pm

    Some skinhead puts a swastika on a deli? We get pics. Some asshole burns a cross? Pics. Mohammad? Well, we don't want to offend. Cowards.

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      afterthegolddumpWhileimonthejohn
      1/09/15 8:16pm

      IMO if Muslims want their faith to "be accepted" by the mainstream in so-called "free countries", they'll have to grow thicker skin and cope with the reality that in a free society everyone isn't required to walk on eggshells around them.

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      TheHoopoeafterthegolddump
      1/09/15 8:38pm

      fancy words from s society where women are called names and worse for having abortion. There are plenty of factions on the U.S. that also get their thin skinned ness pandered to at the expense of the majority.

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    Jujymonkey3J.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 8:12pm

    Aside from the needless deaths (which is waaaay in front), the tragedy is they died over such fucking UNFUNNNY cartoons. Sorry, this is not satire; nothing clever here. Just really ham-fisted jokes that had no real wit. The French love to tout their sophistication, but this shit was so lame. The French embracing this as glorious kinda explains their Jerry Lewis fixation

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      chattygalJujymonkey3
      1/09/15 8:22pm

      the tragedy is they died over such fucking UNFUNNNY cartoons

      The tragedy is that they died because a bunch of thin-skinned whiners can't deal with being the butt of a joke ("funny" or not) in a free society. The tragedy is watching normally reasonable people do backflips to spin a justification for the grievance when - if we were speaking of any other religious fundamentalists - there's no question you'd be telling that side to suck it up and deal with it like civilized people.

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      TheHoopoeJujymonkey3
      1/09/15 8:35pm

      I agree. They really are crimes against comedy. The French have a lame sense of humor at best and this is nowhere near their best. So puerile and smug.

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    bassguitarheroJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 7:53pm

    Not publishing cartoons that show Mohammad is like not saying the n-word. You do it out of respect for the community asking you not to do it. Publishing a bunch of cartoons of Islam's prophet isn't "sticking it" to the extremists, who constitute less than 1% of the global population of Muslims. It attacks ALL Muslims, including the 99+% who did nothing wrong, with the intent of trying to provoke others into more violence.

    Compassion, understanding and respect are the solutions to extremist violence, not extremism on the other side.

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      Jim Harbaugh's Khakisbassguitarhero
      1/09/15 8:06pm

      Well many Christians find gay marriage offensive, so I hope you support a ban on gay marriage, because a lot of Christians are asking gays not to marry.

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      RBrianbassguitarhero
      1/09/15 8:07pm

      Here is where you are fundamentally wrong. Those cartoons are not an attack, they are cartoons. It's perfectly fine to call the cartoonists assholes or some such but to call it an "attack" strikes me as Muslims posing themselves as victims.

      Stop using Islam as a political ideology.

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    Leah FinneganJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 8:11pm

    I like this headline

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      Benevolent HoboLeah Finnegan
      1/09/15 8:34pm

      I know that my 4,000 followers on puts me de facto in a position of arrogance vis a vis the humble editor of the paper of record, but it is a professional risk I must take

      I love this line.

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      RogerAlliesLeah Finnegan
      1/09/15 8:42pm

      Are these cartoons that the Gawker readership would, if posted to Facebook by any fraternity in America, insist said Frat be expelled ? You all so sincere in your love of free speech.

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    UnderYetOverJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 7:49pm

    Conclusion: they're both assholes.

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      livingonvideoUnderYetOver
      1/10/15 1:12am

      Second conclusion: Both a university professor and the executive editor for the most prestigious paper in the free world say "fuck it" to grammar and punctuation, adopting the syntax of middle-schoolers.

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      BruinKidUnderYetOver
      1/10/15 1:28am

      Frankly, Arthur Chu had it right.

      Yes, I know that the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo identify as left-libertarian atheists, and that they're "equal-opportunity offenders" —the exact same background and mindset as Trey Parker and Matt Stone, as Seth MacFarlane, as your typical 4chan troll. I know that, ironically, the last issue printed before the shooting was mocking a self-serious right-wing racist doomsday prophet and his fear of a Muslim takeover, that they've mocked Socialist President Francois Hollande and National Front leader Marine La Pen and everyone in between.

      So what? There's no particular merit to being an "equal-opportunity offender"—indeed, it's lazy and cheap, a way to avoid being held accountable for anything you say because none of it is part of a moral worldview or to be taken seriously. (Something I've written about before and David Foster Wallace did much more famously and eloquently.)

      The whole reason the concept of responsible satire has been summed up as "punch up, don't punch down" is to acknowledge that not all your targets of satire start out on an equal footing. Francois Hollande is not on the same level as girls who have been kidnapped into sexual slavery, and having the same "no-holds-barred" attitude toward them both is not the same as treating them fairly.

      I mean, Muslims in France right now aren't doing so great. The scars of the riots nine years ago are still fresh for many people, Muslims make up 60 to 70 percent of the prison population despite being less than 20 percent of the population overall, and France's law against "religious symbols in public spaces" is specifically enforced to target Muslim women who choose to wear hijab—ironic considering we're now touting Charlie Hebdo as a symbol of France's staunch commitment to civil liberties.

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    bigbeatymeatybouncyJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 7:59pm

    I was sort of hoping that society would finally stop tip-toeing around Islam and the delicate feelings of Muslims, but I guess not. Apparently we're all obligated to adhere to interpretations of the Koran now thus we cannot print any imagery that might offend some deranged fundamentalist nut-job. Let's remember that the next time we encounter a joke about perverted priests, Mormon underwear or those orthodox Jews with the funny hats.

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      Jim Harbaugh's Khakisbigbeatymeatybouncy
      1/09/15 8:07pm

      Muslim feels are literally more important than the lives of 12(now 16...) innocent people.

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      Save Bandit!Jim Harbaugh's Khakis
      1/10/15 12:26am

      I'm not even convinced it's Muslim feels. I think it's white liberal cultural relativist feels gone haywire. I think Muslims can handle these images a lot more than the average co-op shopper. Muslims are, in fact, smart adults; we don't need to keep heroically shielding their eyes. It's paternalistic and unhealthy.

      I can't believe this has driven me to complain about white liberal cultural relativism. My people!

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    btveronJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 10:00pm

    Maybe he's not running the cartoons out of respect for American Muslims and not fear of radicals, Mr. Asshole Professor?

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      kate_smashbtveron
      1/10/15 9:21am

      No, respecting a deeply held religious belief that has zero effect on non-adherents is "walking on eggshells." Didn't you get the memo?

      That's the thing I can't understand. There are plenty of ACTUAL problems with Islam and how is practiced and interpreted. This? So far at the bottom of the list that it basically isn't ON the list.

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      btveronkate_smash
      1/10/15 1:07pm

      It's only because it's Islam. If it was Judaism and the cartoon had Elijah getting rammed up the ass with a swastika would people be up in arms for the NYT to publish it?

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    Ned FreyJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 8:44pm

    Marc Cooper is the father of author Natasha Vargas-Cooper, a widely respected journalist and former Gawker staff writer.

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      TurkishPepperNed Frey
      1/09/15 9:43pm

      Also the titular character of '90s sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.

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      J.K. TrotterNed Frey
      1/10/15 12:38am

      She was in the office on Friday!

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    Cam/ronJ.K. Trotter
    1/09/15 7:54pm

    I got a strange Pee Wee vibe from that argument.

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