So, Who Is The ‘Charlie’ In Charlie Hebdo?

Posted by | January 7, 2015 19:00 | Filed under: Contributors Opinion Tommy Christopher Top Stories

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It is tragic and sickening, yet in a way, fitting that the name “Charlie Hebdo” has been made world-famous by terrorist murderers who sought to silence the satirical magazine, whose headquarters was the site of an attack that claimed 12 lives. In “avenging” the offense committed against them, the publication of cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad, the gunmen succeeded only in multiplying it exponentially. The name Charlie Hebdo (as well as the phrase “Je Suis Charlie) has become a defiant rallying cry against the enemies of free expression who carried out the attack, and the magazine’s work is being seen by millions more people than otherwise would have.

The canonization of Charlie Hebdo‘s writers and cartoonists is completely understandable, given the nature and extent of their sacrifice. There is no other side of the argument between free expression and murder. They weren’t saints, though, and nothing is more illustrative of that than the story behind their name.  If you’re going to be Charlie, you might as well know who Charlie is.

The magazine began life as a proudly “stupid and nasty” monthly named Hara-Kiri in the 1960s, which spun off a weekly version in 1969. Hara-Kiri Hebdo (“hebdo” is short for “hebdomadaire,” which means “weekly”) would be more focused on current events, as it was on November 16, 1970. Jut two weeks earlier, on November 1, 1970, a tragic, disastrous fire at the 5-7 nightclub in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont caused the deaths of 146 people, and shocked the entire nation. When former French President Charles de Gaulle died suddenly of natural causes barely a week later, Hara-Kiri Hebdo announced the news with this cover…READ MORE

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Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher

Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

14 responses to So, Who Is The ‘Charlie’ In Charlie Hebdo?

  1. tracey marie January 7th, 2015 at 19:36

    the DB is making jokes and using sarcasm and being rude when they say it is “fitting”.

  2. tracey marie January 7th, 2015 at 20:36

    the DB is making jokes and using sarcasm and being rude when they say it is “fitting”.

  3. burqa January 7th, 2015 at 19:50

    Uh oh.
    Tommy Christopher’s column has been hacked.
    No way he could have written this. There’s no f-bomb in there……

  4. burqa January 7th, 2015 at 20:50

    Uh oh.
    Tommy Christopher’s column has been hacked.
    No way he could have written this. There’s no f-bomb in there……

  5. fancypants January 7th, 2015 at 19:59

    So you think WE have an immigration problem ?

  6. fancypants January 7th, 2015 at 20:59

    So you think WE have an immigration problem ?

  7. cecilia January 7th, 2015 at 21:43

    Satire is the highest form of humor.

    and it’s fun Because it can be “rude”….no holds barred.

    I’m proud to say Je Suis Charlie

  8. cecilia January 7th, 2015 at 22:43

    Satire is the highest form of humor.

    and it’s fun Because it can be “rude”….no holds barred.

    I’m proud to say Je Suis Charlie

  9. StoneyCurtisll January 8th, 2015 at 02:05

    So it’s the french version of Mad magazine?

    • rg9rts January 8th, 2015 at 08:10

      Looks a little more political

  10. StoneyCurtisll January 8th, 2015 at 03:05

    So it’s the french version of Mad magazine?

    • rg9rts January 8th, 2015 at 09:10

      Looks a little more political

  11. eyelashviper January 8th, 2015 at 10:01

    Thanks for the explanation of the title of the news weekly.
    Was curious, and the msm did not seem to cover the name, and its origins.

  12. eyelashviper January 8th, 2015 at 11:01

    Thanks for the explanation of the title of the news weekly.
    Was curious, and the msm did not seem to cover the name, and its origins.

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