A couple days ago, I wrote about the brilliant new cover for the Charlie Hebdo magazine. I expressed my hopefulness that news outlets would recognize the newsworthiness of this defiant issue and demonstrate the same courage of USA Today by showing its cover.

Here’s an embarrassing Sky News clip that destroys their integrity:

Nonetheless, I had more hope for big boys like MSNBC, CNN, and Fox. Surely, they have the security available to protect their broadcasters, and world not cower in fear. Here’s a video from the National Review that reveals the cowardliness of the CNN and MSNBC and the bravery of Fox.

I’m sure pointing out Fox’s courage bothers some of you. Just do a search of my past articles and you’ll see I have bashed Fox many times. But, when they are right, they’re right. Perhaps some of you are correct by thinking that this should be expected from Fox since they are a rightwing, pro-Christian and anti-Muslim organization. I’ll leave that for you to decide.

However, I do want to focus on the words spoken by Joe Scarborough when he defends NBC’s prohibition of pictures of Mohammad:

“If showing a cartoon offends well over a billion Muslims—who are not violent, but who are just as offended by that as I would be offended by seeing a picture of a crucifix in a jar of urine—Why I guess, do it? Just tell people they can find it online.”

Scarborough is, of course, referring to Andres Serranco’s 1987 controversial “Piss Christ.” A photograph of a crucifix immersed in the artist’s own urine. But, that was a long time ago. Perhaps CNN and MSNBC currently have a consistent policy to avoid being offensive to the religiously inclined?

Nah. A quick search on CNN.com reveals that they still have no problem exhibiting “Piss Christ.” Here’s a screen shot:

I’m not even a Christian, but this is clearly much more offensive than a cartoon of mournful Muhammad saying “all is forgiven.”

This video from MRCTV has two parts. In the first half I really like how Rachel Maddow handles NBC’s double standard. She describes the Charlie Hebdo cover and then says:

“The reason I’m describing it to you rather than showing it to you is because we operate under NBC News rules and NBC News will not allow us to show it to you.”

The second half of the video is a clip from the April 18, 2011 Rachel Maddow show. She shows a picture of “Piss Christ” and then says:

“Museum officials say they will reopen tomorrow in order to put the destroyed pieces, still destroyed, on display so that people can see the damage that was done to them.”

Here’s the video:

Maddow’s final words are powerful, and should be restated by all when Charlie Hebdo’s Mohommad is shown to the world:

“Inanimate art cannot yell back, it cannot hit back. The only way art wins against force if you can put the attack itself on display. See how that looks in the bright light of day, see how that holds up to history.”

So will all of this focus on the media’s hypocrisy cause media outlets to stand up and proclaim to the world that they will not be silenced by those who reign by fear? I hope so, but not yet.

Last week, the Washington Examiner uncovered the hypocrisy of the AP for refusing to offer pictures of Mohammad, and posted this screenshot of the AP’s offering of a photo of “Piss Christ:”

Soon thereafter, Dylan Byers of Politico, reported that the AP pulled Piss Christ from their collections. And as Slate has pointed out, this is what you find when go to above link on “Piss Christ’s” AP page.

We can all proclaim that we are Charlie, and stand up for the necessity of mockery, but until we collectively demand, and choose to only support, media outlets who value a true free press, we are nothing but pretenders.

What do you think?

Brother Richard