February 10, 2006
A selective willingness to offend (iii)
Hank Bradley posted a comment in an earlier entry reminding us that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer publishes the cartoons of Ted Rall. That jarred my memory of a column that Editorial Page Editor Mark Trahant wrote in November 2003 defending his publication of a Rall cartoon (this one) that was sympathetic to suicide bombers. "Cartoons draw forth strong responses"
cartoons should provoke discourse, and wild exaggerations do just that. Especially when they make us uncomfortable.
Compare Trahant's excuse for publishing Ted Rall with the P-I's excuse today for not publishing that Danish Muhammad cartoons. "
Not showing drawings responsible choice". The P-I's editorial judgments are not, as today's column argues, grounded in an abstract principle of weighing the likelihood that an image "will be offensive to segments of readers". They're about choosing the segments of readers the P-I wishes to offend and those it wishes not to offend.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at February 10, 2006
12:10 PM | Email This
1. As pointed out in BOTW by James Taranto, there's an essay by a guy named Arnold King that describes this as "folk marxism". Folk marxism is the moral relativity that defines the modern leftist.
2. Like most people, they do offend the people they don't like, and don't offend the people they do like.
3. Kind of ironic that one of Seattle's biggest liberal Rags, the Stranger has the chuzpah (whoops-used a Yiddish word there-hope I didn't offend anyone) to publish the cartoons and adhere to free speech. God knows that the Stranger is more than sympathetic to America's enemies. So PI? Whose side are you on anyway? And the Times? Clintonesque fence straddling! When will this country wake up to what we are up against out there?
4. dave, thanks for pointing out the Folk Marxism essay. That's dead on. There is a double standard in Marxism, one that true liberals, progressive and Demcrats live by. And that double standard is precisely what makes is possible for a newspaper to publish a Ted Rall cartoon but supress the Danish Muslim cartoons.
In fact, that double standard / moral relativism is the defining, underlying philospophical flaw of all things liberal, progressive, Marxist, collectivist, statist, Democrat, etc.
Do as they say, not as they do.
Look for Democrats to propose any and all bills that they can use to quash the blogosphere. That's their only hope. Ironically, given liberal mouthpieces like Kos, HA, etc. that will pit them against themselves.
5. Yes, I read both Seattle PI editorials - the recent one and the one from November of 2003. It does indeed appear to be inconsistent to print the editorial cartoons of Horsey and Rall, but then not to print a single frame cartoon that would potentially offend some Muslims. Sure, write articles that talk about the offensive cartoons, but don't dare print them.
We read about the Islamization of Europe and some of the challenges that European nations are facing. Now I am starting to wonder if our own country will progressively become more and more "politically correct" (I absolutely despise that concept) in how it relates to all things Islamic.
6. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me.
But if they don't like your words, they will break your bones, burn down your house, and kill your family by cutting off their heads with a dull knife.
But we should try to understand them better and not be so western-centric in our thinking. Maybe then they will like us and leave us alone. Don't forget to pay your dhimmi tax! Submit or die! Appeasement is the only answer. We don't really need our 1st amendment freedoms anyway. How bourgeois. Gotta go - which way is Mecca?
7. "Not showing drawings responsible choice"????? So publishing the offensive, tasteless drawings of Rall and Horsey are responsible?? Talk about double standards! Ken Bunting just has to be joking. Are you sure this piece wasn't on the comics page? It is precisely this mindset that allows reigns of terror to take root. Liberals will do anything to avoid having to defend the freedoms of this country if it means having to make real sacrifices and would probably have no problem with a change in government as long as they could maintain their jobs and lifestyle. This type of lame brained thinking allowed Hitler to murder MILLIONS and dunderhead Bunting would probably try to spend the rest of his life trying to think up reasons why we shouldn't consider him a socialist (or communist). The PI has no problem publishing anything against Bush, including making a huge deal out of Abrahamof (sp?) as though Clinton ran the most pristine government ever. I don't recall the PI putting Clinton's impeachment in bold headlines for days on end. I don't remember the PI doing a special report on how there were 61 indictments of various Clinton cronies. I didn't hear of the PI screaming about the wiretapping done by Bubba against members of the "vast right wing conspiracy". Hypocrites, the lot of them!!!!!
8.
9. It's simple, a 'no brainer' as they like to say.
There is an old saying that goes; the louder your dinner guests proclaim their virtue, the closer you had better watch your silver.'
I say the louder they proclaim their compassion, tolerance, diversity etc etc etc on into infinitum the more likely they are to
a) Erect a monument to one of history's most efficient engines of human suffering in Freemont
b) Slander, offend and defame decent God fearing people by supporting the likes of Andres Serrano, and others too numerous to count, while overlooking if not actively defending the filth and depravity that is a certain misogynist religion’s ‘stock in trade
c) Shut off debate with those they disagree with by putting in place PC ‘speech codes’ at our universities (that’s when they are not threatening dissenters from the ‘party line with bodily harm)
etc
etc
etc.
Hypocrisy on parade, the one thing that I like about this whole issue is how it has unmasked them.
10. I said it before, and I'll say it again.
If a christian extremist blows up an abortion clinic, nobody in the press asks for a toning down of pro choice rhetoric. They just want to see people that blow up buildings arrested. It is the same case here. It doesn't matter why you blow up a building. You should be arrested and brought to justice, no matter what your religion, and no matter what newspapers print.
11. Howuesdoing, I find the Seattle P.U. offensive to just about all segments of the readers. When I send dead fish wrapped in the P.U.the paper stinks up the fish!
Forgetaboutit
12. They're about choosing the segments of readers the P-I wishes to offend and those it wishes not to offend.
Or...they are confirming their belief that George Bush is a greater threat to America than militant Islam.
13. I know that Rall cartoon you linked to was meant to be a sarcastic jab at Bush -- but it fell flat. He didn't give us any idea what he thinks motivates these suicide bombers, only a twist on what he thinks Bush thinks. Yawn. Responsible publishers shouldn't publish cartoons that are so lame.
14. Folk Marxists are a dangerous sect in the vast array of LEFTIST PINHEADS.
Washington would not be in such a snarl....
If Marx had been Groucho instead of Karl!
15. I learned that the PI has discontinued Ted Rall. I didn't know that. It is amazing that he finally went over the line, even for them.
16. Horsesa$$.org is a haven for folk marxists. However, if the Dems try to pass a bill to delete the blogosphere, these folk marxists will also have a diminished voice and pollute cyberspace less with there psychotropic bilge !
These leftists in the State Legislature redefine paranoia !
17. Gary (and others),
You might want to check out this editorial in the Washington Post (via Powerline) by Diana West: http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/dwest.htm
It's quite sobering and worth reading.
18. Apologies! It is in the Washington TIMES not the Post.
19. Diana West is absolutely correct!!
20. I think it is quite obvious by now that most of the MSM including the Seattle Times and P-I are managed by dickless wimps. Their capitulation to the cartoon jihadis is going to destroy the last of their credibility. They are more worried about offending the mob than informing their readers.
This is a self-imposed death sentence for a free press.
21. World War III started in 1979 with the radical Muslim takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran. If we hadn't had a wimp for a president we wouldn't be facing a Middle East and segments of Europe held hostage. The seizing of our embassy was an act of war and should have been dealt with as such. The first retaliation to Iran should have been bombing our own to take away their leverage. Now we have to deal with governments that use "cartoons" to fan hatred against civilization.
22. Trahant has no credibility, especially peering from behind those goofy Harry Potter glasses. He's especially incredible when he attempts to write about economic issues.
23. JDH: I agree--the MSM is unmasked. Completely and utterly paralyzed while the whole (free) world watches. It's like they've been caught in a Dateline NBC on-line predator sting, and don't know what to say or do (although like the nabbed sickos, they are making unbelievable and/or feeble excuses).
24. Diana West is spot on ! When the circulation of the PeeEye and Times get down below the critical level, then maybe they will wise up and reform themselves or in reality, the existing editors/writers will be fired and replaced with new ones until they are able to bring back more readers. Until then, many people will be able to spot a deadfishwrapper by merely looking at the headlines.
We can only hope that spineless goofballs like Trahant will eventually be swept by the wayside.