From the WSJ Opinion Archives
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News
by Stereotype--I
In his Sept. 11, 2000, column the late Bob
Bartley argued that the press tends to deal in stereotypes, which arise
"out of a tension between the ideal of objectivity and the reality of a
liberal background and environment." We were reminded of this observation
when we saw a piece posted on the BBC Web site yesterday, which exemplifies
just how blind journalists can be to their own prejudices--even when the stories
they are reporting run counter to those prejudices.
The headline: "US Detainee 'Mentally Tortured.' " The lead paragraph:
A Pakistani-born US resident detained at Guantanamo Bay has said he was "mentally tortured" there, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon.
It is true that the detainee, Majid Khan, claims to have been "mentally tortured." It is also true that the press stereotypes Guantanamo as a place where wicked Americans commit unspeakable atrocities against innocent terrorists. But if you read the BBC story to the end, you discover that Khan's claims actually refute the press's stereotype:
Mr Khan complained about how US guards had taken away pictures of his daughter, given him new glasses with the wrong prescription, shaved his beard off, forcibly fed him when he went on hunger strike, and denied him the opportunity for recreation. . . .
Later, Mr Khan produced a list of further examples of psychological torture, which included the provision of "cheap, branded, unscented soap," the prison newsletter, noisy fans and half-inflated balls in the recreation room that "hardly bounce."
The poor dear has half-inflated balls! Oh, the humanity! None of the inconveniences Khan describes even remotely qualify as torture, yet the Beeb accepts his characterization at face value. The stereotype prevails even though the facts make clear that it is false. This is journalism?
News
by Stereotype--II
Another example is a bit of "global warming" alarmism from LiveScience.com.
The headline: "California-Sized Area of Ice Melts in Antarctica."
The lead paragraph:
Warm temperatures melted an area of western Antarctica that adds up to the size of California in January 2005, scientists report.
But go a few paragraphs down, and you find that this is much less of a big deal than it sounds:
NASA's QuikScat satellite detected snowmelt by radar pulses that bounce off of ice that formed when snowmelt refroze (just as ice cream turns to ice when it is refrozen after being left out on the counter too long.)
Maximum high temperatures of 41 degrees Fahrenheit that persisted for about a week in Antarctica caused a melt intense enough to create an extensive ice layer.
In other words, a summer heat wave caused snow on the surface to melt for a week or so, but it froze again when the weather cooled down. LiveScience quotes Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado: "Increases in snowmelt, such as this in 2005, definitely could have an impact on larger scale melting of Antarctica's ice sheets if they were severe or sustained over time." Definitely! The only thing is, they weren't.
Religion
of Heat Goes Biblical
"Environmental activists are building a replica of Noah's Ark on Mount
Ararat--where the biblical vessel is said to have landed after the great flood--in
an appeal for action on global warming, Greenpeace said Wednesday," the
Associated Press reports from Istanbul:
Turkish and German volunteer carpenters are making the wooden ship on the mountain in eastern Turkey, bordering Iran. The ark will be revealed in a ceremony on May 31, a day after Greenpeace activists climb the mountain and call on world leaders to take action to tackle climate change, Greenpeace said.
Does anyone still doubt that global warming is a substitute religion?
The
Man They Loved to Hate
"Jerry Falwell's dead," announces Amanda Marcotte, the left-wing hate
blogress who briefly worked for the presidential campaign of the extravagantly
coiffed John Edwards. "Guess god [sic] liked the ACLU better after all."
Falwell, who died yesterday, was 73--not exactly hypergeriatric, but he beat the average life expectancy in Psalm 90:10:
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
It is a stretch, to say the least, to take Falwell's death as a sign of divine dislike, or preference for the ACLU, all of whose members will die eventually too.
Falwell wasn't our cup of tea--in particular, we took offense at his suggestion that America was to blame for 9/11--though in fairness we should point out that Falwell was quick to apologize, unlike most of those on the left and Ron Paul who have made similar comments.
But the hatred Falwell inspires on the left is quite something to behold. Here's a sampling (quoting verbatim except the redacted vulgarity):
- "tzs,"
on Marcotte's blog: "If Mr. Falwell had not used his life to spew hatred
at anyone who did not fit his narrow-minded, bigoted idea of who was a True
God-fearing American™, one might feel more willing to refrain from stating
what an absolutely putrid little excrescence of vomit he was. But I'm being
polite, so I won't say that. R.I.P., and after watching Falwell I know know
why the Romans threw the Christians to the lions."
- "Blue_In_AK"
on DemocraticUnderground.com: "he was such an unctuous, smug, obnoxious
blowhard that it's really difficult not to celebrate his death. I'm trying,
but it's .... so .... HARD."
- "andyesmysoulwillrotinhell,"
on TMZ.com: "First class a--h---..now worm food...the world finally makes
sense."
- "roewert," on WashingtonPost.com: "Good ridence. Jerry al Falwell was imbicile who thought that the whole world should think and believe just like him. Too bad there were so many gullible people in this country who fell for his nonsense and sent so much money to him. So does this mean that Pat bin Robertson moves up to the slot of chief idiot? The Christian taliban marches on...."
More high-mindedly, Alan Wolfe begins a Salon.com dyslogy, "One never wants to speak ill of the dead, but in the case of Jerry Falwell, how can one not?"
Curiously, one man who has kind things to say about Falwell is pornographer Larry Flynt. Access Hollywood quotes Flynt's statement on Falwell's death:
The Reverend Jerry Falwell and I were arch enemies for fifteen years. We became involved in a lawsuit concerning First Amendment rights and Hustler magazine. Without question, this was my most important battle--the 1988 Hustler Magazine, Inc., v. Jerry Falwell case, where after millions of dollars and much deliberation, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in my favor.
My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.
The most important result of our relationship was the landmark decision from the Supreme Court that made parody protected speech, and the fact that much of what we see on television and hear on the radio today is a direct result of my having won that now famous case which Falwell played such an important role in.
The Hustler v. Falwell case involved a gross ad parody, which Chief Justice William Rehnquist described in his opinion for the court:
Copying the form and layout of these Campari ads, Hustler's editors chose respondent [Falwell] as the featured celebrity and drafted an alleged "interview" with him in which he states that his "first time" was during a drunken incestuous rendezvous with his mother in an outhouse.
Since the fake ad was clearly labeled as parody and was obviously untrue, a jury rejected Falwell's claims of libel and invasion of privacy. The court held that he could not collect damages for "intentional infliction of emotional distress," because the parody was protected by the First Amendment.
This was the right decision, but Flynt is probably also correct in suggesting that it made possible "much of what we see on television and hear on the radio today"--which is to say, it contributed to the coarsening of our culture. That's one irony of Falwell's legacy. Another is that his foes portrayed him as a hater, in large part because of the hatred he inspired in them.
Pretty
Ugly--II
Yesterday we
noted that the lovely and talented John Edwards was urging his supporters
to appropriate Memorial Day as "a day of antiwar activism." We quipped,
"What'll he think of next, turning Christmas into a day of pro-abortion
activism?"
We had forgotten that Planned Parenthood already tried this. As CNN reported in December 2002:
A holiday card by the nation's largest abortion-rights group is under fire from some groups that say it is offensive and reflects an anti-religious bigotry.
The card, offered by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, features the words "Choice on Earth" against a blue backdrop with white snowflakes. Inside it reads, "Warmest wishes for a peaceful holiday season." . . .
"The group twists a well-known Scripture in which God offers peace on earth--not abortion--through the birth of his son, Jesus Christ," said a statement by Wendy Wright, senior policy director at Concerned Women for America. "Planned Parenthood officials are too hardened by their mission of profiting from abortion to see that Christmas itself flies in the face of all they stand for."
Planned Parenthood no doubt intended the card as an insult to conservative Christians, its rival in the culture war. Such tactics are to be expected from a single-issue advocacy group. But Edwards is a different story. If you want to be president, it's just plain foolish to flaunt your disrespect for veterans and those who have lost loved ones in war.
This
Just Makes Us Cry
From Fox News:
Several provisions in a Senate-passed lobbying reform bill were not included in the draft of a House version that Democratic leaders plan to unveil this week, a sign that some lawmakers fear the restrictions went too far.
The House draft would not require lobbyists to disclose "bundling" practices in which they solicit and deliver multiple donations for a congressional candidate, party leaders said. Nor would it require retired or defeated lawmakers to wait two years before becoming a lobbyist, party leaders said.
We're so disillusioned. We really thought the Democrats were going to be different!
Zero-Tolerance
Watch
KLBJ-AM of Austin, Texas, reports that "7th grader Derek Jackson says he
is back in his normal classes today following his placement in in-school-suspension
for having a haircut that was too short; something the school says was both
a violation of the school dress-code and a distraction":
Leaders of Austin's NAACP are convinced the suspension of Derek Jackson is racially motivated. Nelson Linder with the NAACP says there's no other reason he can think of why a 7th grader would get in-school suspension for having hair that's too short.
"We think that Derek is just a metaphor for how people are treated," he said. "For whatever reason, African-Americans are put under very high scrutiny . . . gang issues, all kind of what I call 'racist projections.' So I think when a black kid has a haircut that they might think is inappropriate, you're seeing phobias from people.
Linder makes two demands: "Number one, revoke the suspension for this kid and apologize to the family. Number two, hire people in the district who respect black people and who understand them has [sic] human beings."
We're with him on No. 1, but Linder does himself no credit by throwing around unsubstantiated charges of racism and then using them to demand what amount to patronage jobs. Everyone involved here is behaving shamefully, except Derek himself.
Could
It Possibly Get Worse?
"Reuters Trustees Say Sale Won't Hurt Journalism"--headline, New York
Times, May 16
No
Gravlax for Oil!
"Norwegian Company to Pump Iraqi Oil"--headline, Financial Times,
May 15
What's
Wrong With His Office?
"O'Malley to Sign Smoking Ban in Bars, Restaurants"--headline, Washington
Times, May 15
YouTube
Defense: 'We Thought He Was Still Dead'
"Former Dead Musician Sues YouTube Over Unauthorized Videos"--headline,
Associated Press, May 15
'Makes No
Difference Where You Are'
"Teacher Suspended for Taking Students to Disneyland During STAR Testing"--headline,
MediaNews, May 15
Don't
Try to Take His Candy
"Baby Gets Gun Permit"--headline, Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia),
May 16
News You Can Use
- "Bit of Exercise Helps Overweight Women Improve Fitness: Study"--headline,
CBC.ca,
May 15
- "The herpes family of viruses can have a surprising upside--it can protect against the bubonic plague and other bacterial contagions, at least in mice."--LiveScience.com, May 16
Bottom Stories of the Day
- "U.S. Healthcare Expensive, Inefficient: Report"--headline, Reuters,
May 15
- "Hamas Blames World, Israel and Arabs"--headline, Jerusalem
Post, May 16
- "FSC Paper Won't Print Unsigned Apology"--headline, Boston
Herald, May 11
- "Halifax Airport Knocked for Poor French Services"--headline,
CBC.ca.
May 16
- "Roger Hadley, II Plants First Corn on Sunday"--headline, Brownfield,
May 15
- "Hagel Demands Gonzales' Resignation"--headline, Associated
Press, May 16
- "Nutter Wins in Democratic Primary"--headline, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 16
Friendly
Fire
"Hamas gunmen killed five of their own combatants in an ambush on a Fatah
vehicle that had been carrying Hamas detainees, Fatah officials said Wednesday,"
reports Khaled Abu Toameh of the Jerusalem Post:
Also killed were two members of the Fatah-affiliated Preventive Security force that had been guarding the detained Hamas members, the officials said.
Amid all the usual stories of innocent Arabs and Jews getting killed, it's nice to hear some good news for a change.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Michael Ellard, Torsten Trowe, Charlie Wolfe, Ed Lasky, Thomas Haight, Michael Segal, Brad Wilcox, Nathan Wirtschafter, Eileen Jarrett, Carl Stritter, Frank Russo, Chris Niedner, Thomas Dillon, Bob McMillan, Rod Pennington, Evan Slatis, Martin Johnson, Janet Flatley, Jim Kermott, Howard Green, Thomas Mayer, David Hanig, David Hyman, Dan Kelly, John Williamson, William Derryberry, Gary Steichen, Steve Karass, Bob Tufts, Daniel Foty, Jim Tierney, Scott Yates, Jeff Touchet, William Hoyt, Paul Giansante, Joel Goldberg, Stuart Creque, Steve Edwards, Jim Miller, Ron Mitchell, Sid Knowles and Scott Wright. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Today on OpinionJournal:
- Bernard Lewis: Islamists always believed the U.S. was weak. Recent political trends won't change their view.
- Holman Jenkins: What do Rupert Murdoch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have in common?
- Herb Berkowitz: Roll over, iPod: There's nothing like a genuine jukebox.
