|
Joe Katzman and other participants in the SFSU Blog Burst are proud – and rightfully so – of their working to publicize the anti-Semitic events of May 7. Sadly, there are others who are doing do their best to minimize these events. Shelly Powers of Burningbird is one of these. Her writings (which, in my opinion, barely skirt the First Commandment in her awe and respect for "journalists") denounce the Bursters for a lack of objectivity – which, she insists, is the mark of the true "journalist", a creature that she always refers to as "Journalist", with a capital "J".Of course, we know that the Journalist, subspecies Bayareaensis, is in fact renowned for his lack of objectivity (I daresay that we might blame this on the Evul Editors, who insist on hopelessly biased articles, which the Journalist, finding his godlike powers of no avail in this instance, supplies as reluctantly as a crack dealer trades his wares for mere filthy lucre). Even more to the point, is the truism that true objectivity is too much to expect of anyone, let alone a Journalist, and that all we can hope for is a declaration of the biases that the Journalist finds in herself. Of course, the Journalist, like Ms. Powers, does not perceive herself as "biased". Rather, she is certain that, by spiking a story where she cannot find something equally bad to say about the other side in the conflict, she preserves the appearance of objectivity, which hopes that others will confuse with the actuality of objectivity. Ms. Powers, however, is merely disturbed (not by anti-Semitism, mind, but by the public objections to it). Mike Golby of Page Count is hoping to bury it altogether, Golby loftily assures us that
As far as I know, no-one was killed. Nor did anybody sustain physical injuries of any consequence. From an international perspective, it was a non-event and its significance is therefore difficult to grasp. although it ought perhaps to be noted that U.K. bloggers participated. Golby’s contempt, though, it not directed at this wholly unjustified notice of anti-Semitism, but at the particpating bloggers:
I believe these people are seeking publicity and an outlet for their frustration, impotence, and anger. They are doing so inappropriately and are fostering discord rather than harmony. The rest of Golby's post, I fear, has little of substance to it -- most of it indeed, consists of quotes of the Bursters -- but he does seem to have a theme of "Why can't we all just get along?" and of answering his own question by saying, "We could, if only these damned right-wing egomaniacs would just not reveal anti-Semitic incidents." Both Powers and Golby seem to trembling on the left edge of the cliff of liberalism, threatening to dance off of it and fall into the maw of Chomskyism (Golby more so than Powers, since he repeats the long-discredited lefty myth that the War on Terror is merely a cover for allowing Unocal to build a pipeline through Afghanistan). Still, there may yet be hope for both. John "Akatsukami" Braue Thursday, May 30, 2002 |
|