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:: MAX BLACK ::

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." --C.S. Lewis

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:: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 ::

The Horse is Out of the Barn

Lee Cearnal of the Houston Chronical utters the magic words:

Where's my colleagues' interest in Kerry's war records?

Even when he's caught in a lie, media aren't scrutinizing him same way they did Bush

The same news media that demanded George W. Bush release his National Guard records--and went over them with a microscope--have shown an appalling lack of interest in John Kerry's military service. And as it turns out, there are far more legitimate questions about the latter than the former.

{...}

As to the truth of this tale, there is only Kerry's word, which the press seems quite willing to take, to the extent of not reporting on the controversy at all. It is not a trivial matter. Kerry has pimped the story repeatedly in an effort to paint himself as a stand-up eyewitness to events that were both illegal and, in his view, immoral.

And that's not the only issue that reporters are curiously incurious about. At least one of Kerry's Purple Hearts has been challenged by his unit's medical officer, who notes that the wound was barely visible and was treated with a Band-Aid. Some questions should also be asked about his Silver Star: Should shooting a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back--as justifiable as it was as an act of war--be worthy of the nation's third-highest award for courage?

{...}

Media's reluctance to follow up on Kerry's Great Cambodia Adventure is as bad for main-stream pundits and news sources as it is for their candidate. The horse is out of the barn and, at this juncture, shutting the door makes them all look foolish. Mr. Cearnal is one of a handful of journalists who understands persuing the horse is the proper course of action.

Via RCP [>]

:: Max 7:04 AM [+] ::
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