No, Charlie Hebdo, “Nazis” Didn’t Drown in Houston
Shortly after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published this cover:
The caption reads, “God exists! He drowned all the neo-nazis of Texas!”
We should all know about Charlie Hebdo. The newspaper has a long history of attacking anyone they deem worthy, usually with crude and offensive cartoons. That wasn’t much of a problem until they published cartoons mocking the prophet Mohammed. Those cartoons led to a brutal jihadist attack on their office that left twelve dead in 2015.
To be clear, I supported Charlie Hebdo’s right to publish offensive cartoons in 2015, and I support it now. CH didn’t deserve to be physically attacked for their opinions about Islam and don’t deserve to be physically attacked for their opinions about Texas. However, they do deserve mockery, scorn and derision, for numerous reasons.
First, Hurricane Harvey primarily impacted Houston, which is in no way a nazi city. Houston is actually the the most diverse city in America, “where 51 percent of all those under the age of 20 are Latinos and 19 percent are African American.” A third of city residents over age five speak a language other than English at home, and according to census reports 145 languages are spoken in Houston. Over 15,000 Houstonians speak French. The city leans liberal and recently elected a black democratic mayor who replaced a lesbian democratic mayor, who replaced a white democratic mayor, who replaced a black democratic mayor, who replaced a white democratic mayor, who replaced a female democratic mayor (Houston has had democrat mayors since 1982). And while Texas voted republican in the 2016 presidential election, Houston itself went almost completely democrat (even if you ascribe to the incredibly shallow and unbelievably stupid belief that “republican equals nazi,” you can’t pin any nazi republicanism on Houston). And if being democrat isn’t enough, Houston also has a thriving gay community with the most gay-friendly employers in Texas, and hosts one of the oldest and largest gay pride parades in the American Southwest. Houston ain’t exactly the Third Reich.
Second, the drowning victims weren’t nazis. Six of the victims were from a single Hispanic family and included an elderly couple and four children. Another was a 60-year old Hispanic Houston police officer. Another was a nurse whose three-year old daughter was found clinging to her body. Another was an elderly woman drowned in her home, another was crushed by a tree that fell on her house, others included a clockmaker trying his save merchandise and a young man who foolishly drove around a barricade marking high water. There is no indication whatsoever any of the victims were “nazis,” and no reason to believe Hurricane Harvey just happened to strike an unknown nazi gathering. The storm killed dozens of innocent people, not dozens of nazis or any nazis at all.
Six members of the Saldivar family, who died together when their van was swept away by flood waters.
Third, over 22,000 Texans died fighting nazis or their allies during World War II. Approximately 750,000 Texans served in total, making up 7% of the entire American fighting force. Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Dwight Eisenhower was a Texan, as was our most-decorated nazi killer Audie Murphy. The Texas 36th Infantry Division – MY division, by the way – participated in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, and was even at one point attached to the French First Army. Charlie Hebdo and many others are seeing nazis under their beds and finding them under every rock lately, but when real nazis really invaded France and really needed to be defeated, Texans showed up to do it.
And fourth, French and Texan soldiers have gone into combat together during the ongoing War On Terror, so even if Charlie Hebdo is stupid enough to think Texans are all nazis, other French people know better. One would think at a serious newspaper like Charlie Hebdo (/sarc), journalists would do some in-depth investigative work like, oh, asking a French person who’s been to Houston if it’s full of nazis. CH apparently never bothered with such minor details.
Gasp! French troops posing with Texas nazis in Afghanistan!
Here in Texas we don’t even know how many we’ve lost. Victims probably haven’t even finished dying yet. Bodies will be recovered from flooded homes and overturned cars for many days to come. Families desperately searching for missing loved ones are dreading the tragic news they know is coming. One family is mourning the almost indescribable loss of beloved grandparents and four cherished children. Police officers all over the state are wearing badges covered with black bands to honor our lost sergeant. Texans and other Americans of many races, religions and political ideologies have spent the last week disregarding petty differences and coming together to help each other survive and recover. And for some unknown reason that’s sure to be incredibly moronic, Charlie Hebdo chose to slander the storm’s innocent victims as “nazis.”
When Charlie Hebdo was brutally attacked in 2015, millions of Americans, including me and many other Texans, stood against the jihadist attackers and for CH’s right to free speech. Whatever I thought of Charlie Hebdo’s politics or “art,” I argued that nobody deserves to be murdered for offending someone. I still believe that. Neither I nor other Texans will shoot up the Charlie Hebdo office, or demand their right to free speech be restricted.
I’ll simply point out that the surviving Charlie Hebdo staff presumably doesn’t believe their cartoonists deserved to be murdered for their opinions; one might think Charlie Hebdo would know better than to falsely accuse innocent people of being nazis, then suggest they deserved to die for it.
Chris Hernandez (pictured above) is a 23 year police officer, former Marine and retired National Guard soldier with over 25 years of military service. He is a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and also served 18 months as a United Nations police officer in Kosovo. He writes for BreachBangClear.com and has published three military fiction novels, Proof of Our Resolve, Line in the Valley and Safe From the War through Tactical16 Publishing. He can be reached at chris_hernandez_author@yahoo.com or on his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ProofofOurResolve).
Filed under: Uncategorized, Writing | 11 Comments
Tags: charlie hebdo, Hurricane Harvey, Texas
chrishernandezauthor 
I suspect they were going for the cheap (and safe) shock/laugh/ridicule. American=Texas=Trump=Nazis.
The few cartoons of theirs I’ve seen don’t seem to be trying for any deep insights or truths. It may be cultural, but even the old Mad Magazine seemed to at least try to include irony.
Glad you’re okay, Chris.
Been wondering all week.
CH is a Leftard den.
Hadji should’ve taken more ammo on the last trip.
But on the Left, they never confuse being true with their idea of “comedy”.
If it’s pithy, and also an outright lie, they think it’s a two-fer.
Which is why they’re confused they’re the only ones laughing at their little jokes.
I think they’re assclowns, but there’s no way I could ever justify the attack on them.
Thanks for checking up on me. 🙂
I was this close to sending an e-mail, but I figured you’d literally be up to your @$$ in alligators with more important things to do, so I’m glad you had enough downtime to post.
So the post was a two-fer.
Take care, and Semper Fi.
I agree it was in poor taste. But here’s the thing, if they can mock Mohammed and his followers then they can mock the people who drowned in Texas.
The difference is we believe we should cancel our subscriptions, write letters to the editor and post our opinions on line. Fundamentalist Islamist send shooters. I think our system is better because we want divergent view to insure the best ideas are presented and not a lock step society controlled by a handful of tyrants.
You know, even in France, we see CH as a disloyal, unfair, and stupid newspaper. It’s typically the scheme of thinking they use themselves that leads to racism. They saw a bunch of neonazis in Texas, so all of Texas must disapear… They wouldn’t let someone say that all arab-speaking countries must burn because a bunch of jihadists killed innocent people, but use the same scheme of thinking… Yeah, stupid leftards… That was not always the case, back in the 80′, when Choron led CH, it was far more better… Condoleances from France, guys.
The good news for CH is us Texans won’t be dropping by to shoot their offices up.
That’s the problem with the fact that Bush administration created french-bashing. French people don’t forget and now act the same bad way. Thanks to french people, Charlie Hebdo is a far-left wing magazine that don’t represent the main political views of France.
Hi Chris, hi everybody.
You must understand that Charlie Hebdo is a satyric newspaper well known for its excesses but very low draw because very few people buy it.
I repeat, it’s a satirical newspaper that has never claimed to have an informative vocation. moreover, it is 80% composed of boards of drawings. It tries to make laugh, always by the absurd, making a mockery of all the subjects, shocking if possible.
Personally, I do not read it.
What must be understood is that this newspaper is for us one of the markers of our freedom of expression: as long as bullshit like that will not be sensuous, then we will know that in France, our freedoms will be safeguarded.
Our honor is not what this paper contains; it is loved or hated; Our honor is that by provoking several fatwas, suffering 12 deaths of employees and draftsmen, the newspaper continues to express itself. Without changing the tone. Still so stupid. Still so shocking. Because to change in the face of terrorism is to let it win.
So no, I do not like Charlie Hebdo so much, but when I see designers who have lost 30-year-old friends, come back to drawing again, I’m proud.
When it comes to drawing the Houston Nazis, do not be shocked even if it’s normal for you to be. It’s their job.
Sorry for my poor english… 😦
Hi
I confirm the message of David ! and I will give some precisons on the problems that we meet in my country and Europe
(forgive me, also my english who dates from the colege 11-17)
Personally : I am French too, all the French are not leftist, gay …
I’m 40 years old, 190cm (75po) 105 kgs ( 240 pound)
right-hand, conservative, christian and married
However, I am not a puritan and not a hipocrite.
forgive me also in modest English that dates from college and my 12-17 years teeneger
I do not have a problem with Trump’s antics and jokes that make me laugh.
I also like to take women with my fingers in P….
If one calls it to the elite, the poilitic, the media, the political scientist, sociologist etc can be more on the left than your américan democrats,(have a tendency comunist.)
I think that we (right) (republican) still sum up today majority in the country (France), in the real people.
Personally, I am insensitive to the propaganda of the media.
I like Donald Trump! I have nothing against the American people. I even made American friends in Asia.
But I must admit that for a long time I was a fervent US detractor (your governments) (consider that the US was the cause of many instability in the world)
that said, with our French government that does not represent us (we French),
Consequently, I never amalgamated your government and the American people.
Since Donald Trump, I’m less an detractor,
Although I realize that your deep state prevents him from acting and doing her politics.
You must understand that even if:
There is a lot of filthy leftists in France, everyone is not. the problem being that the Americans stop in Paris
(The white Parisian citizens (20%) are mentally retarded who do not represent France and the French.
Everyone in France hates the Parisians.
It’s like the New York Yankee that does not represent the American White in their entirety.
And even among his leftists (ends with piss), can like charlie hebdo.
For me, Charlie Weekly is a comunist shit.
Charlie was created by Jews and Freemasons.
It is mainly a newspaper of propaganda and hate against France, the white men, and the catholics.
Charlie Hebdo insults all not jew religions and people. Especially Catholics (The Catholics are not just a Mexican religion, but half of the European whites.)
I am against terrorists and a fervent opener and detractor of Muslims.
(Mohamed was the first terrorist in history, a pirate of the desert, who cut his head and slaughtered the prisoner with his hand, source Muslim text, Sunna (the life of mohamed)
But I still feel the caricatures of their prophet.
I’m against irespet, even for our worst enemies
In fact, I feel everything that this shit of charlie hebdo does.
I’m not charlie (I’m not charlie)
I think it’s the same for most French people.
But as David says, the French people demonstrate for freedom of expression, not for charlie hebdo.
We must pay attention to our media as your media that often use the image for the purpose of ideological propaganda.
The leftists, and their activists are minority in France,
To give an example you always see the French on strike? do you know that less than 3% of French workers are sindicated ???
Everyone hates this comunist crap, snake basket what are leftist unions/syndicate.
The government protects the sindicate and militia of rioters.
They can all be allowed in France.
insult, aggression, sellalism, even murder oponent , etc.
It is a political militia at the service of the government and the Comunist ideology. but the governments being any right-wingers in prison, forbid political rallies etc.
As would say the writ writers dicident and anti comunist Russian
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, “the Iron Curtain did not disappear, it just changed sides”.
the right can not express itself.
We do not have the 5th amendment unlike you !!!
All of Western Europe is in a Marxist dictatorship…
Look at the UK, with Tommy Robinson screwed up at jail just for political reasons …
Leftist activists, be they socialist, communist, democratic, are generally mentally ill (Manichean)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manichaeism#Figurative_use
For those mentally ill, the simple fact that you do not behave like them. makes you an activist of extreme right. ( this is a mental cancerous of extreme left comunist)
Incidentally, for history, the Nazi party was a left-wing party!
National Socialism German (as the comunists was left-side too) They do not even have a problem to claim to be comunist (the comunist having killed 5 to 6 times more people than the Nazis)
but the leftists who call themselves humanist, are no difficulty with the contradictions, erratic or incoherent. (dumbass !)
It is always the leftists who are the most violent, the most hateful and those who kill the most people in history.
It must be understood, this movement of the left is already insulting nazi each of them. LOL!
So do not be offended, they are just competently fooled.
Like his leftist who calls himself for democracy and who protests against Donald Trump. democratically elected.
How do you say the Americans?
Do not feed the troll
Do not feed the leftists!
Friendly
Henri,
I worked closely with the French army in Afghanistan and know that Charlie Hebdo doesn’t represent all of France. I’m curious though, what does being Jewish have to do with Hebdo’s writing? Also, several very good French soldiers I worked with were Muslim. Do you see a different between any Muslims, or do you think they’re all the same?