It was bad enough that none of President Obama, Vice President Biden or Secretary of State Kerry attended Sunday’s Solidarity March in Paris, attended by dozens of world leaders.
It would have been the right thing for Obama to attend. There was enough security to protect obvious targets like the French President, the German Chancellor and the Israeli Prime Minister.
There is no indication that security kept Obama away. But what about Biden, Kerry, or some other very senior official?
France is a key U.S. ally. The attacks in Paris were carried out by followers of groups that also kill Americans. Having at least one senior official, even if not the President, in attendance would have been a no-brainer.
But not with this President. The attacks in Paris did not fit a narrative the administration wants to address.
The problem was not security, but that the Solidarity March was against not just terrorism, but radical Islam and its suppression of free speech and the press through ideological and physical intimidation. That apparently was too much for a President who considers that we are the source of the problem through past behavior.
Eric Holder was in Paris for a security conference. There were rumors that he would represent the U.S. at the march. Surely that would have been an easy, though imperfect, solution.
I watched the march online via live video stream while covering it for Legal Insurrection. I took numerous screen shots of the leaders lined up. I didn’t see Holder anywhere.
News reports confirm Holder did not attend.
Then I flipped channels on the TV to see who was covering the march, and found Holder being interviewed by Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.
I took a couple of snapshots at the time, including the Featured Image.
When people on Twitter wondered where Holder was, I had the answer (apparently no one else was watching Meet the Press):
Why wasn’t Holder there?
A piece of the interview may hold a clue. Holder refused to say that we are at war with radical Islam.
Priorities.
Update: At the end of this video, the State Department spokeswoman says Holder had scheduling problems on Sunday. Uh huh.
AND
Josh Earnest also evaded the question on Islamic extremism, then admitted someone with a higher profile should have attended.
Here’s the segment:
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY
