Newsweek was right, but deserves it's lumps
Re. the Newsweek retraction: Spin, spin, spinny, spin spin.
- Newsweek caved to what had to be enormous pressure by retracting the story. They also have a more in depth story of how they got their facts, if not wrong, at least unconfirmed in this particular case.
- Chief of Staff Richard Meyers gave the most realistic assessment, saying that Afghan Riots Not Tied to Report on Quran Handling, General Says:
Air Force General Richard Myers told reporters at the Pentagon May 12 that he has been told that the Jalalabad, Afghanistan, rioting was related more to the ongoing political reconciliation process in Afghanistan than anything else.
- When I read the initial story I thought, well, that's old news. It is old news. It's beyond old news. Read the Nation's Newsweek was right. These kinds of abuses are institutional.
Does it really surprise anyone that, Newsweek or no Newsweek, some of our troops might have desecrated a Quoran? Why does it surprise anyone that released prisoners would feed this into the general population in their home countries?
C'mon right wing cheering squad, you don't honestly believe that Newsweek caused those riots do you? You don't really believe Newsweek's story was false, do you? You realize that a government source chickened out, don't you? You realize that if someone comes and tells you bad news and you shoot that person it doesn't mean the bad news never happened, don't you? For crying out loud, stop worrying about whether or not bad behavior leaks out and worry about demanding better behavior from your government. Recovery starts with honesty...You can do it.
[NOTE: I am not a fan of shoddy journalism. Newseek deserves to take it's lumps, just like Rather did. It doesn't affect the overall veracity of a story that has been independently confirmed since 2003.]
posted by Chris Dykstra @ 2:23 PM |
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5 Comments:
We agree!
Newsweek was wrong for publishing crap. They should and did retract it.
Publishing crap is no reason to riot and kill people. Should they have know that what they did was yelling Fire in a crowded moviehouse? Not to me.
None the less, if I was at the white house I would savor this opportunity to beat on the MSM. By their own standards they got it coming.
-Censored
Publishing crap that's... probably true.
I think we should demand that "probably true" is not good enough, esp. with something so sensitive as this.
But yes, let's recognize that there's not a simple cause-effect relationship with Newsweek and riots. This is certainly not the first time Koran desecration has been reported -- it was cherry-picked to fan flames that are already burning.
Another great post, Chris.
Let's not forget too that the Whitehouse was asked about the story and said nothing. Effectively saying we don't care if you publish that story.
It kinda seems like they just sat back and waited for it to go to press and then acted all appauled and horrified.
Classic,
"Even though there is no evidence since someond didn't object it must be true!"
Its almost as good as the "fake but accurate" arguement.
I like how the whitehouse is behind it all too. That's funny.
Serious, the story is obviously wrong. (Hence the retraction.) Did the story cause riots? Who cares, if it did the rioters are still wrong.
Here's a question for y'all. Can I desecrate a koran? The implication is that "this sort of abuse is institutional." So, can I?
Do I owe some cultural sensativity in this case?
How about a torah, can I burn one?
Destroying a statue of the ten commandments?
Stuffing a crucifix in a jar of urine?
Burning a flag?
My impression is that all of these are fine (provided they are yours to start with, you don't get to mess with someone else's stuff or hurt anyone, feelings not included.)
So my question is, why not the free speech defense here?
Even if they did, what's wrong with desecrating a koran?
-Censored.
no more free speech in this country.
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