"A Truth-In-Broadcasting Statute"

A really good idea from Victor Davis Hanson in today's NRO:

.... We need legislation requiring journalists and reporters to publicly disclose the financial and political arrangements that they agree to in order to broadcast or write from belligerent regimes at a time of hostilities. Nothing in the recent war was more appalling or unethical than the censored reporting that emanated from the Palestine Hotel. Only after Baghdad fell did millions of listeners and readers discover that their purveyors of information had been semi-hostages, controlled by "minders" — and willing to pay daily bribe money for the privilege of divulging half-truths and releasing misleading accounts. Had their audiences known fully about all such concessions in advance, they might have been better equipped to assess the "truth." At the least, we can ask that American citizens not pay extortion money to enemy governments in a time of war. It is disturbing enough that none of our journalists in Iraq questioned Baghdad Bob's veracity in their nightly reports, but even more troubling to realize that their danegeld helped to subsidize his rantings....

(Thanks, Charles.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 05/09/03 09:02:56 PM
Categorized as Media.

"Frist To Seek Rules Change To End Filibusters On Judges"

Like the weather forecast... I'll believe it when it happens.

(Thanks, Bryan.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 05/09/03 08:44:06 PM
Categorized as Political.

Caligula and the Vortex

The Blog from the Core has been noticed twice lately at Catholic and Enjoying It!

• Gerry Powers Gets a Lot of Conservative Undies in a Bunch
• Another blogger sucked into the Dreher/Donohue/Havard Vortex o' Punditry

I'm sticking by my original blog on Gerry Powers' remarks. Except that I should make it more tentative, since I notice that the "Caligula" reference is not a quotation. And, as I have already said, we only have very brief quotations from a speech, and they may not accurately convey Powers' ideas — though I still fear the news article does convey them accurately. And I think "Let them hate us if they will" is not a characterization but a misrepresentation.

I don't know about any of the other bloggers, but I have no quarrel with Powers' calling this a strategy of fear. I have a problem with him objecting to it because it's a strategy of fear. And that does seem to be what he was doing.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 05/09/03 04:01:08 PM
Categorized as Religious.

Naval Clinton

A reader writes:

On the silliness of the attacks on Bush's "photo op", here is a picture of Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea all together on an aircraft carrier.

http:// pro . corbis . com / images / watermark / 67 / 12883113 / UT0034709 . jpg

When I was stationed on the U.S.S. Eisenhower (CVN-69), President Clinton came to visit. Luckily we were in port and I had duty the previous day so I was able to leave early. I would probably have become sick to have to see him in person wearing a Naval Flight jacket.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 05/09/03 07:43:53 AM
Categorized as Political.