Rumsfeld to United States: "We are all in danger of failing as Good Germans."
O.K.; Rumsfeld didn't say that exactly. What he did say was, "If I were grading, I would say we probably deserve a 'D' or 'D+' as a country as to how well we're doing in the battle of ideas that's taking place in the world today." CNN reported that it was also suggested that reporters "get out and see what's going on." Word that White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan suggested that Helen Thomas "go first" could not be verified. With 80+ journalists killed or missing in Iraq since 2003, one probably shouldn't really be blamed for not wanting to get too close to "what's going on."
Apparently, the Western press is failing to report on the many significant, positive changes in the Middle East thatwe've instigated since beginning the War On Terror. For example, if the Taliban were still in control in Afghanistan, Abdul Rahman would have been executed on the spot for possession of a Bible; under the new regime, he was simply indicted for a death penalty offense, stirring the country up in a frenzy of Christian blood lust. Ah, progress!
Today, from the AP: "Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it," said senior Cleric Faiez Mohammed, from the nearby northern city of Kunduz. "The Christian foreigners occupying Afghanistan are attacking our religion." Several Muslim clerics have threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.
Larry King and Paula Zahn, incidentally, both receive 'A's for the week due to their ignoring the non-tabloid-worthy news of Bush's most likely impending censure and written, official notes outlining his 7th grade social studies-level schemes designed to lead us into Iraq if, as was suspected, no non-conventional weapons were found there. Instead, both choose to devote the majority of their respective programs' alloted time to the Matthew Winkler killing, which occurred last Wednesday. It's true that some important questions were raised on the air:
"Have the kids visited mommy in jail?"
"Will the kids get to attend daddy's funeral?"
"Was Mary Winkler a victim of post-partum depression?"
"Can we expect to see more white-on-white crime, or was this just another isolated incident?"
Mr. Winkler is apparently the second caucasian (following Imette St. Guillen's murder in Manhatten) since Natalee Holloway's disappearance to become a victim of a violent crime. It's wonderful that at least two respected journalists in the liberal, anti-Bush, left-wing media--so used to falsely reporting daily setbacks in Iraq-- have to courage to commit to truly newsworthy stories, such as this murder where the confessed killer is in custody awaiting trial.
Satire aside, I feel for these victims and their families--make no mistake about that. I do doubt that, except in the case of Ms. Holloway's mother, neither of these victim's families are begging for the media spotlight that these crimes have inexplicably illuminated. Any of these crime stories are definitely local news, but nothing more.
O.K.; Rumsfeld didn't say that exactly. What he did say was, "If I were grading, I would say we probably deserve a 'D' or 'D+' as a country as to how well we're doing in the battle of ideas that's taking place in the world today." CNN reported that it was also suggested that reporters "get out and see what's going on." Word that White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan suggested that Helen Thomas "go first" could not be verified. With 80+ journalists killed or missing in Iraq since 2003, one probably shouldn't really be blamed for not wanting to get too close to "what's going on."
Apparently, the Western press is failing to report on the many significant, positive changes in the Middle East thatwe've instigated since beginning the War On Terror. For example, if the Taliban were still in control in Afghanistan, Abdul Rahman would have been executed on the spot for possession of a Bible; under the new regime, he was simply indicted for a death penalty offense, stirring the country up in a frenzy of Christian blood lust. Ah, progress!
Today, from the AP: "Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it," said senior Cleric Faiez Mohammed, from the nearby northern city of Kunduz. "The Christian foreigners occupying Afghanistan are attacking our religion." Several Muslim clerics have threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.
Larry King and Paula Zahn, incidentally, both receive 'A's for the week due to their ignoring the non-tabloid-worthy news of Bush's most likely impending censure and written, official notes outlining his 7th grade social studies-level schemes designed to lead us into Iraq if, as was suspected, no non-conventional weapons were found there. Instead, both choose to devote the majority of their respective programs' alloted time to the Matthew Winkler killing, which occurred last Wednesday. It's true that some important questions were raised on the air:
"Have the kids visited mommy in jail?"
"Will the kids get to attend daddy's funeral?"
"Was Mary Winkler a victim of post-partum depression?"
"Can we expect to see more white-on-white crime, or was this just another isolated incident?"
Mr. Winkler is apparently the second caucasian (following Imette St. Guillen's murder in Manhatten) since Natalee Holloway's disappearance to become a victim of a violent crime. It's wonderful that at least two respected journalists in the liberal, anti-Bush, left-wing media--so used to falsely reporting daily setbacks in Iraq-- have to courage to commit to truly newsworthy stories, such as this murder where the confessed killer is in custody awaiting trial.
Satire aside, I feel for these victims and their families--make no mistake about that. I do doubt that, except in the case of Ms. Holloway's mother, neither of these victim's families are begging for the media spotlight that these crimes have inexplicably illuminated. Any of these crime stories are definitely local news, but nothing more.
posted by Woof at 9:57 PM
1 Comments:
We've asked ourselves this question before: "What determines which crime/story makes national news?"
It's a mystery to me. It may depend on how many hits it gets on Google...who knows?
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