FIRST U.S. RESPONSE – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:  The White House has now responded to the Paris terror, although I wish the press secretary hadn't chosen the left-wing network, MSNBC, on which to do it.  From Fox: 

The White House is condemning the attack on a satirical Paris publication that left at least 12 people dead.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest, in an interview Wednesday morning, called it a "terrible act of violence" that the U.S. government condemns in the strongest possible terms.

Speaking on MSNBC, he said U.S. security officials are in close contact with their counterparts in France. Asked if the U.S. Embassy in Paris might be evacuated, Earnest indicated he's not aware of any such plans.

The attack was carried out against the Charlie Hebdo weekly, the publication known for challenging Muslim terrorists with a 2011 caricature of Prophet Mohammed on its cover and which recently tweeted a cartoon of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Earnest also told CNN the French have been "stalwart allies" in the U.S. fight against Islamic State extremists.

"We know they are not going to be cowed by this terrible act," he said.

Earnest also said Washington will work hard to protect Americans at home and abroad.

COMMENT:  That's a pretty standard response.  Not much more they can say right now.  However, I would hope that the president himself would make a formal, in-person statement later in the day.  This is a particularly vicious terror attack, an attack on a free press itself.

January 7, 2015