What was the massive march that happened yesterday in Paris about? What were the protesters demanding? And who exactly were they sending a message to? Islamic terrorists? Nearly 4 million Europeans were standing up against this form of fanaticism? But not too long ago, a certain Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 people, most of whom were teenagers, for clear political reasons. He was on the extreme right of the European political spectrum, and many of the people he killed were on the left. He also challenged cherished European freedoms. He was white. But where were all of the millions we saw in Paris yesterday when that act of terrorism happened in 2011? Why wasn't there a massive march against white supremacists? Yes, there was a big "protest against the right-wing fanatic" in Norway, but nothing of the scale of Paris (some reports even say it was the largest march in the history of France). Nor was Obama criticized for not attending the Norway protest. Nor, for that matter, was Obama criticized for not flying to Kenya after Islamic terrorists murdered 67 people in an upscale mall in Nairobi. But he was criticized for not showing up in Paris. All of this is telling us something.

What the march exposed is the weakness of the secular left. It is forced into a political world that only begins with the likes of Merkel (indeed, a leader who is basically squeezing the life out of Greece for bondholders and banks, and is apparently happy to see the country collapse if it does not pay back its debts) and ends with extremists on the right.

This attack must continue to prompt free speech in the face of Islamic fundamentalism. We must not stay silent. And we must say what happened. This is a terrorist act committed in the name of radical Islamism.

That was not moderate Merkel. That was Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front. She also participated in one of the marches that happened around France, though she did want to be a part of the main march in Paris (tellingly, France's socialist leader, François Hollande, spent a great deal of energy banning the extreme right from a march they were very attracted to, that spoke to them directly). Recall Le Pen's "deafening silence" in a matter relating to Breivik. She is not so silent now.

But what should the left do? It should not demonstrate with Le Pen and Merkel, unless they want to demonstrate against the extremists who spring so easily from the political and religious right. This is the pattern we have seen from Oklahoma to Paris. And it's a pattern that's bound to intensify, as serious secular leftist alternatives are further weakened, compromised, and excluded from politics. There was no march to protest the Oklahoma City bombing.