Guess whose fault that May 3 shooting in Garland, Texas, was?

Hint: It wasn't ISIS, which has claimed credit for the thwarted attack and called the the two Muslim gunmen (shot dead by an off-duty cop) "soldiers from the soldiers of the Caliphate."

Nooo–the guilty party was actually Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which had organized the contest to draw a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad that was the subject of the assault-rifle attack by the two would-be jihadists, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi.

Once again, in the eyes of the media elite, when an Islamic radical murders or tries to murder a cartoonist, it's somehow the cartoonist's fault–or in this case, the fault of the woman who commissioned the cartoons.

Let's see what the media are saying.

From NBC anchor Chris Matthews:

Regarding] the attack in Texas, we’re learning more about the gunmen who opened fire at an event where an anti-Islamic group held a contest on who could be the nastiest – draw the lastiest [sic] the nastiest cartoon of Mohamed. Do you believe that people set that kind of a mousetrap?

…I remember the old days when the Nazi Party and the Communist Party would sort of team up in a weird, sick, symbiotic way. One would have an event, and the other would attack it, you know? Well, I think she caused this trouble, and whether this trouble came yesterday, or it came two weeks from now, it’s going to be in the air as long as you taunt.

From CNN commentator Haroon Moghul:

But this isn't only about free speech — which, it should go without saying — is a right for all Americans. It's also about how some people use freedom of speech to subvert other American values.

***

There are other American values, too, which deserve mentioning: Exercising your freedoms with responsibility. Yes, we have the right to say things, even offensive things. But should we? Should we act with no consideration of the consequences? Should Geller have hosted an event she knew would draw a violent reaction? Should she put up advertisements in New York with the beneath-contempt claim that killing Jews is obligatory for Muslims?

From NPR's Eyder Peralta:

1. Anti-Islam or pro-free speech? The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, lists the American Freedom Defense Initiative as an "active anti-Muslim group."

The New-York-based AFDI says its goal is simply to "go on the offensive when legal, academic, legislative, cultural, sociological, and political actions are taken to dismantle our basic freedoms and values."

2. Pamela Geller is the group's executive director. Again, the SPLC describes her as "the anti-Muslim movement's most visible and flamboyant figurehead."

And when the Southern Poverty Law Center speaks, the liberal media fall right into line.

Yes, it's Garry Trudeau and the PEN literati all over again with Charlie Hebdo. The lesson to be learned: It's OK to "dismantle our basic freedoms" if the alternative is to stand up to a bunch of self-proclaimed victims who happen to be armed.