Mainstream media 'stunned' that Obama admin wasn't in Paris march - Kerry says they're 'quibbling'

On Sunday, when more than 40 world leaders met in Paris to march in unity with the Charlie Hebdo victims and against extremist violence, one country was sorely underrepresented. Despite the fact that Eric Holder was actually there prior to the event, the highest ranking member of the United States government who would march was the US Ambassador to France. Holder left early, skipping the procession in favor of Sunday morning news show appearances. John Kerry was at a previously scheduled event in India, and the dynamic duo of Obama & Biden was just hanging around in Washington.

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Usually, this would be something only conservative bloggers would write about. We'd complain, and the mainstream media would try to educate us about our how our overreaction 'lacked nuance.' This time, however, left wing news sources have been the first to place a spotlight on the snub. Over on CNN, Jake Tapper wished "as an American" that the United States had been better represented at the historic event. It's nice to know that Tapper "doesn't mean this as a criticism" of the administration that failed to show up. Heaven forbid! Over at The New York Daily News, things were a bit harsher. Unlike Tapper, they were not afraid to criticize. Here's their front page: Ouch. Even Andrea Mitchell - one of MSNBC's most slavish Obama bootlickers - took the administration to task for its "stunning" and "ham handed" decision to ignore the Paris rally: As Mitchell points out, John Kerry is the only top U.S. official with anything approaching a legitimate reason for his absence. He's also the only one who's really commented on what is now widely being referred to as a major diplomatic blunder. According to Kerry, people who are pointing out the administration's decision regarding the march are simply engaged in petty "quibbling." He says that America's relationship with France "is not about one day or one particular moment." As Mitchell mentions in the video above, Kerry is now headed to France for a little damage control. ...Or, as he puts it: "That is why I am going there on the way home and to make it crystal clear how passionately we feel about the events that have taken place there. I don't think the people of France have any doubt about America's understanding about what happened, about our personal sense of loss and our deep commitment to the people of France in this moment of trial." ....And that's the rub. Kerry's at least partially correct. The world does, in fact, know that America "understands about what happened" to the staff of Charlie Hebdo. We know it all too well. However, after watching Obama spend six years equivocating, coddling, and apologizing to radical Islamists, the world has no reason to have believe that America's government shares that understanding. This weekend French Prime Minister Manuel Valls made it clear that his country was at war with radical Islam: “We are at war - not a war against a religion. Not a war against a civilization. ...But to defend our values, which are universal. It is a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity. We cannot let pass a single one of these messages - a single one of these acts. Our indignation must be clear, total and last long­er than three days. It must be permanent." Meanwhile, this was the U.S. response: When France is willing to identify radical Islam as its enemy, and announce that it is at war - but the U.S. is not - it's clear we're down a bizarre rabbit hole of political correctness. Couple that with a decision not to attend the march in Paris, and you've got just the latest example of a long, well-established pattern. The Obama administration's refusal to except the realities of the world in which we live will serve as a grave warning to any of our allies who might be hoping to count on our support. ....But then, at this point they really shouldn't be surprised.