Dec
2
2
Also, Is Obama Too Skinny To Govern?*
Shorter Editorial Board Member, Wall Street Journal:
Above: Wunderkind Bret Stephens on a wingnut welfare junket
- If not for the scheming mailmen, we would not have all these bills for so-called ‘barely legal Asian teen XXX,’ which I obviously could not have ordered because several of those girls were clearly in their 20s.
‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard. We are aware of all Internet traditions.™
* Cf.
El Cid said,
December 2, 2008 at 18:45
Clearly, newspapers and magazines were performing their best service to humanity when they kept stories silent as requested by the Bush Jr. administration.
It’s fine to have a ‘free press’, but it’s a better idea to check with right wing ideologues before publishing a story which right wing ideologues says makes the country look bad. Especially if the U.S. government actually did do something wrong, which is possible only because liberals exist to pollute the pure correctness of conservative government, then the media should work overtime to keep possibly angerful things secretated.
LittlePig said,
December 2, 2008 at 18:49
Aw, crap. El Cid has won the damn thread already.
sagra said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:01
Hey, did y’all hear that Creed is getting back together?
Lieutenant Pleexgeorgianne Natisha the Cinematic Saucier said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:03
The doctrine of preemption requires an air-strike on Creed.
fdc123 said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:13
creed must dance! dance! dance!
Uncle Avril Daria the Mouse said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:16
What is Stevens saying? That bad things never happen to Muslims? That if they do they shouldn’t be reported? That things terrorists say are not news?
Joe Max said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:17
Magnifying??? The worst of the photos of abuse at Abu Ghraib were never published, and by all accounts the ones that were published were the tame, PG-13 rated ones.
Actually, you brain-dead shit, those scandals were the literal equivalent of Abu Ghraib (and Gitmo), which likely killed as many Americans as 9/11.
See: http://tinyurl.com/5em62m
Clamping Tish the Meaningless Leatherer said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:21
Islamic Terrorism: The Hissy Fit Based On Nothing At All
Joe Max said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:26
Humph… I should have said “literal equivalent of 9/11″ but I haven’t finished my coffee yet.
And when I do, I’ll get REALLY agitated!
Gods, I hate people like Stevens. It’s like, “well, if we’d just covered up these scandals properly, there wouldn’t have been any problems!” Never stop to think, how about we just don’t have the fucking scandal in the first place!
Grrr… more caffeine… More! More!
Ted the Slacker said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:35
Uncle Avril Daria the Mouse said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:16
What is Stevens saying? That bad things never happen to Muslims? That if they do they shouldn’t be reported? That things terrorists say are not news?
Nah, he’s saying terrorists do bad shit because the media report it. And also because the media report on bad shit we do.
It’s like car chases, totally the fault of the teevee people and not some asshole trying to outrun the cops.
I Pity The Fool said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:39
Hey, did y’all hear that Creed is getting back together?
This is one of the few things in life that I would douse myself in gasoline and strike a match to protest.
Snorghagen said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:42
He seems to be demanding that the press refrain from sending out negative vibes, since all that bad journalistic energy has been causing emotionally underdeveloped Muslim types to get over-excited.
Five of Diamonds said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:42
WSJ editorial tells media to “shut up or the teeeehhhhuuurrrists are going to get you!”
GoatBoy said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:42
“The doctrine of preemption requires an air-strike on Creed.”
Now that’s change we can believe in.
GoatBoy said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:43
(sorry mikey)
Legalize said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:45
Chuckles Johnson called, Brett. He wants back every LGF thread posted between September 2001 and ????
DAS said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:47
The author, IMHO, conflates (probably on purpose) several distinct issues (and non-issues). One is the very real tendency of some in the ME to nurture a sense of grievance against the Israelis (in a manner eerily reminiscent of a GOoPer’s sense of grievance against Liebruls) and the media in some quarters of the world to repeat those grievances without any investigation as to their veracity (along the lines of some media outlets here repeating GOP propaganda as news).
Stephens here identifies here a very real problem. A problem which, of course, applies to his paper’s editorial page as much as the French media. But it is a legitimate complaint nonetheless: media nurturing of grievances, whether it is the French media nurturing Arab grievances, the Rwandan media nurturing Hutu grievances or the Ironically-Called-Liberal-Media nurturing war-fantasizing GOoPer grievances does help fuel (respectively) terrorism, genocide and stupid wars in Iraq.
He’s completely wrong about the BBC, though, for example — the BBC World Service is not nurturing terrorist grievances. The BBC World Service’s reporting can be summarized thus:
“The world is a silly, mad and even dangerous place. Things were so much better when we Brits were in charge of it”.
That message ain’t nurturing terrorists. That message (in a slightly different form) nurtures neo-imperialist neo-con fantasies amongst the twit-ocracy.
Of course, the idea that the media shouldn’t be so credulous when it comes to statements made by terrorists (or, pace Stephens, the GOoPers) doesn’t mean that the media should be more credulous about what the Brits, US or Israelis say. That is just a complete (and purposeful) non-sequitor on Stephens’ part.
DAS said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:51
BTW … who is the singer in that picture? She looks like a former East German pro-Basketball player that I happen to know professionally.
Dubious Efficacy said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:53
The greatest rock band name in the history of the world, Dubious Efficacy, wishes to say that the papparaz-apparatchiki is totally responsible for everyone learning about the bad stuff, because without them, no one’s cellphone camera’s would every download images onto the web in thousands of locations worldwide. In the words of Claude Frollo, let’s destroy the printing presses and hang the printers. Claude Frollo belongs on the editorial page of the WSJ. I can’t believe some idiot paid billions of dollars just to run it into the ground.
WCW said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:55
The effect of Murdoch’s ownership of the WSJ becomes more and more blatant lately. It’s conservatism used to be of the old-school set; now it’s becoming wingnuttish. How long before it’s just FoxNews with more econ?
actor212 said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:57
Wait….Jews give money to Israel?
Why woudl they do that????
Legalize said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:58
Speaking of great rock bands, are we gonna get a year-end thread for nerds to compose their lists of their favorite records of the year? It’s sure to keep trolls away because Ted Nugent didn’t release a record this year.
actor212 said,
December 2, 2008 at 19:58
The doctrine of preemption requires an air-strike on Creed.
Can we at least hold off until they conference with Avril Lavigne? We’ve got to save a few bucks and I figure one mission is better than two.
Tone in DC said,
December 2, 2008 at 21:55
The doctrine of preemption requires an air-strike on Creed.
________________________________________________________
Can we at least hold off until they conference with Avril Lavigne? We’ve got to save a few bucks and I figure one mission is better than two.
__________________________________________________________
Creed do not merit an airstrike.
On the other hand, interviews of political figures conducted by Charlie Gibson or Chris Wallace… send in the B-2s with missiles hot and take Chuck and Chris OUT.
Pere Ubu said,
December 2, 2008 at 22:01
Creed do not merit an airstrike.
Can we just use the Conspiracy’s Telsa Earthquake Machine to cause the earth to open up and swallow them?
bargal20 said,
December 2, 2008 at 22:17
Of course, DAS, realists like you and me know that any sense of grievance certain people in the ME may have towards the state of Israel is completely irrational.
RUGGED IN MONTANA said,
December 2, 2008 at 22:24
Can we at least hold off until they conference with Avril Lavigne? We’ve got to save a few bucks and I figure one mission is better than two.
Get Bloatie and the Hootfish in there to make it a trifecta.
Smut Clyde said,
December 2, 2008 at 22:36
a former East German pro-Basketball player
I hope this thread does not degenerate into a shouting match between pro-Basketball and anti-Basketball advocates.
DAS said,
December 2, 2008 at 22:40
Of course, DAS, realists like you and me know that any sense of grievance certain people in the ME may have towards the state of Israel is completely irrational. – bargal20
Actually, they are perfectly rational.
Of course, one could argue the grievance Joe Sixpack has toward liberal cultural elites is perfectly rational (so long as the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy is accepted as “rational”) given that (Republican caused) decline in Joe Sixpack’s socio-economic status immediately followed the civil rights revolution: of course, Joe Sixpack will begin to think civil rights are zero sum and buy into the GOoPer policies (the very same ones that actually screw him over) that dictate less freedom for thee means more for me.
But “rational” grievances” still need not be nurtured and magnified with all sorts of scare and rumor mongering.
Moreover, as much as we need to be less credulous toward, e.g., US claims, that doesn’t mean, for example, that the Israelis are believing so irrationally. The Israelis do the things they do not because they are evil
JewsZionists …DAS said,
December 2, 2008 at 22:42
I hope this thread does not degenerate into a shouting match between pro-Basketball and anti-Basketball advocates. – Smut Clyde
Matthew Yglesias and the like are pro-Basketball and point out Obama is too. FWIW …
Presumptuousness Aracelis the Gravedigger said,
December 2, 2008 at 22:44
The fact is that basketball is the greatest sport and the Final Four the best sporting event on Earth.
Barrayaran said,
December 2, 2008 at 22:46
Not even Irish ones?
Joe Sixpack said,
December 2, 2008 at 23:18
“Joe Sixpack will…buy into the GOoPer policies”
Hey, can you get those at Wal*Mart?
Snorghagen said,
December 2, 2008 at 23:36
Basketballs are the teeth of Satan!
tigrismus said,
December 2, 2008 at 23:43
Hey, can you get those at Wal*Mart?
Only in twelvepacks, alas.
Stephen said,
December 3, 2008 at 0:53
The Israelis do the things they do not because they are evil Jews Zionists
They do the things they do because their military is a bunch of assholes, not unlike the US military.