Best of the Web Today - April 18, 2007
By JAMES TARANTO
Today's Videos on WSJ.com: Inside the Editorial Page--Paul Gigot & Co. discuss the Virginia Tech massacre. Plus John Fund on the politics of gun control and James Taranto on Imus and gangsta rap.
Try Not to Think of an Asian Elephant
The Asian American Journalists Association, an association of journalists, has issued the following statement in response to the Virginia Tech massacre:
Like the rest of the nation, we at the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) are stunned at the news of today's shooting at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families and friends as they cope with this horrific incident.
As coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting continues to unfold, AAJA urges all media to avoid using racial identifiers unless there is a compelling or germane reason. There is no evidence at this early point that the race or ethnicity of the suspected gunman has anything to do with the incident, and to include such mention serves only to unfairly portray an entire people.
The Asian American Journalists Association has a point. We are going to follow the advice of the Asian American Journalists Association, whose "mission is to encourage Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to enter the ranks of journalism, to work for fair and accurate coverage of AAPIs, and to increase the number of AAPI journalists and news managers in the industry," and avoid using racial identifiers.
Meanwhile, a Reuters headline writer engages in a bit of invidious stereotyping: "English Major Blamed for Virginia Tech Shooting." Where's the English Major Journalists Association when you need it?
Gun Foes Hold Their Fire
"After the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cautioned Tuesday against a 'rush to judgment' on stricter gun control," the Associated Press reports:
"I think we ought to be thinking about the families and the victims and not speculate about future legislative battles that might lie ahead," said Reid, a view expressed by other Democratic leaders the day after the shootings that left 33 dead on the campus of Virginia Tech. . . .
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., was one of very few lawmakers to defer pushing for gun control in the early hours after the shootings. "There will be time to debate the steps needed to avert such tragedies," he said on Monday, "but today, our thoughts and prayers go to their families." . . .
Overall, though, said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., "It is a tough sell" to pass gun control legislation.
McCarthy's throwing up her hands is especially telling in light of her history. She got into politics after Colin Ferguson murdered her husband, Dennis, in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road massacre left her a widow. She successfully challenged a Republican incumbent in 1996 by making gun control her signature issue. After 10 years in Congress, and with a new Democratic majority, the best she can do is issue a wan press release calling for "common sense legislation to prevent further acts of gun violence."
Homer nods: Contrary to our item yesterday, Virginia law does not prohibit firearms possession on the Virginia Tech campus. Rather, the prohibition is part of the university's Campus and Workplace Violence Protection Policy (PDF, see Rule 2.2 on page 2).
Trivializing Virginia Tech
Ben Smith of the Politico reports on a Milwaukee speech by Sen. Barack Obama that, as Smith remarks, "captures what moves a lot of people about Obama, and bothers others." Count us among the bothered. You can listen to the speech in MP3 format, and blogger Jon Sanders excerpts the bothersome part. Obama urges his audience "to reflect a little bit more broadly on the degree to which we do accept violence in various forms all the time in our society." When he says "broadly," he isn't kidding:
It's not necessarily physical violence, but the violence that we perpetrate on each other in other ways. Last week, the big news obviously had to do with Imus, and the verbal violence that was directed at young women who were role models for all of us, role models for my daughters. . . .
There's the violence of men and women who have worked all their lives and suddenly have the rug pulled out from under them because their job has moved to another country, they've lost their job and they've lost their pension benefits and they've lost their healthcare, and they're having to compete against their teenage children for jobs at the local fast-food place paying $7 an hour.
There is the violence of children whose voices are not heard in communities that are ignored, who don't have access to a decent education, who are surrounded by drugs and crime, and a lack of hope.
So there's a lot of different forms of violence in our society.
Let's try putting this in a slightly different way. According to Obama, it is a form of violence when a racist radio host insults college basketball players. It is a form of violence when people lose their jobs. It is a form of violence when people seek jobs that pay $7 an hour. It is a form of violence when the voices of children in ignored communities go unheard.
And oh yeah, by the way, when a lunatic murders 32 people in cold blood, darned if that isn't a form of violence too!
Anyway, we thought the real problem wasn't violence but cynicism. Or maybe cynicism is just another form of violence.
In the Name of the Law
From an Associated Press story on the Virginia Tech massacre:
A federal law enforcement official said Tuesday he had been told by other federal law enforcement officials that the two guns recovered in the shooting had had their serial numbers scraped off. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been announced.
Well, Mr. Federal Law Enforcement Officer, now that you've announced the information, how about telling us your name?
What Would We Do Without Experts?
"Taking a Break Between Shootings Is Unusual, but Not Unheard Of, Experts Say"--headline, New York Times, April 18
Botched Joke Brotherhood
Good news for Don Imus: Someone is finally coming to his defense. The bad news is who it is:
n an interview with NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter, Mass. Senator John Kerry says radio-show host Don Imus should not have been fired by CBS--and won't rule out appearing on a future program hosted by the controversial shock jock.
Kerry is the first high-profile Democrat not to support Imus' ouster -- who was fired last Thursday after making remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Here is a transcript of Kerry's remarks:
Kerry: "I think that the . . . you know the punishment has to fit the crime so to speak. I think a long suspension, or a strong suspension met with his appropriate level, given that the team forgave him. To me it was in the hands of the young women. They made the judgment that they thought he was genuine and they felt they could forgive him. And I think it was appropriate to pay a price on the airwaves but I'm not sure that it was appropriate to say you're off forever."
Actually, this is a pretty good standard, and we're going to apply it to Kerry himself. When the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth forgive John Kerry and make the judgment that he's genuine, we will agree that he does not deserve to be fired.
Pelosi's Dreams of Surrender
Not long ago, Democrats in both the House and Senate managed to win bare majorities for legislation that would tie funding for the troops in Iraq to a timetable for surrender. Harry Pelosi and Nancy Reid worked very hard to hold together their caucuses--but the votes are sure to be entirely symbolic. This Bloomberg dispatch shows why:
Representative Joe Donnelly, a freshman Democrat from Indiana, voted with his party last month to tie funding for the Iraq war to a timeline for withdrawing troops. Now, with President George W. Bush vowing to veto the measure, Donnelly is ready to compromise.
The Democratic-controlled Congress and Bush need to "try to find that middle place, work together, get the troops funded," Donnelly, 51, told constituents last week at a town- hall meeting in Logansport, Indiana. If the withdrawal timelines are waived or eliminated, he said, "so much the better."
Donnelly defeated GOP incumbent Chris Chocola last year, 54% to 46%, in a district where President Bush won 56% two years earlier. With the Democratic majority dependent on lawmakers who don't come from left-wing districts like Pelosi's San Francisco, it's hard to see how she can make her McGovernite agenda stick.
Hart of Darkness
Alan Hart, a British journalist whose blog identifies himself as a former correspondent for both BBC and ITN, weighs in on the kidnapping in Gaza of Alan Johnston, a BBC correspondent. Without any evidence, he speculates that the Jews did it:
There is a case for saying (repeat a case) that the party with most to gain from Alan Johnston's permanent disappearance was Israel. It would not be the first time that Israeli agents had dressed as Arabs to make a hit.
If Alan Johnston is dead, it's my hope that the BBC at executive management level will rise above its fear of offending Zionism too much and allow its reporters (Frank Gardner and Jeremy Bowen are second to none) to make a full, thorough and honest investigation.
Read the "brief biography" on the right side of the page and you'll get an idea where Hart is coming from: "President Carter had been prevented by Prime Minister Begin from involving the PLO in the peace process . . . the pork-barrel nature of American politics and the Zionist lobby's awesome influence . . . the truth about the miracle of Arafat's leadership . . . the difference between Zionist mythology and real history." Again, this is from his bio!
Clothes-Minded
"To Fight Global Warming, Some Hang a Clothesline" reads a New York Times headline. It is a touching first-person account by Kathleen A. Hughes:
As a child, I helped my mother hang laundry in our backyard in Tamaqua, Pa., a small coal mining town. My job was handing up the clothespins. When everything was dry, I helped her fold the sheets in a series of moves that resembled ballroom dancing. . . .
I remember this as I'm studying energy-saving tips from Al Gore, who says that when you have time, you should use a clothesline to dry your clothes instead of the dryer.
A clothesline. It strikes me that I haven't seen one since 1991, when I moved to Rolling Hills, Calif., a gated community about an hour south of Los Angeles. There are rolling hills, ranch houses, sweeping views of the ocean and rocky cliffs--plenty of room--but not a single visible clothesline.
I decide to rig a clothesline as an experiment. My mother died many years ago and the idea of hanging laundry with my own daughter, Isabel, who is 13 and always busy at the computer, is oddly appealing. I'm also hoping to use less energy and to reduce our monthly electric bills which hit the absurdly high level of $1,120 last summer.
Stringing a clothesline wasn't easy, but heroic Hughes got it done:
Clotheslines are still popular in Tamaqua, where the average home price is $64,400. . . . I seem to have the only clothesline in Rolling Hills. Maybe others will join. Meanwhile, my carbon footprint is shrinking and our clothes smell like the great outdoors.
She still lives in a gated community, of course, and it's unclear if her electric bill has dropped into the high triple figures. Still, it's nice to think that if we can't all hang together, at least we can hang separately.
Great Moments in Law Enforcement
"A U.S. Peace Corps volunteer was feared murdered in the Philippines after her body was found in a shallow grave in a remote, mountainous area on Wednesday, the police said," the Associated Press reports from Manila:
Soldiers uncovered her body close to the village after a 10-day search. Her feet were protruding from the soil.
"Theory is she was killed," Beth Cedo, a spokeswoman for the police, said in a mobile phone text message.
Well, let's not jump to any conclusions. We'd like to hear the competing theories.
It's a Small World
o "China Creates First Artificial Snow in Tibet"--headline, Reuters, April 18, 9:46 a.m. EDT
o "Artificial Snow Harms Alpine Water System: Scientists"--headline, Reuters, April 18, 10:07 a.m. EDT
Isn't This an Invidious Stereotype?
"Lipscomb Fees for Trailer-Park Trash Will Not Increase"--headline, Birmingham (Ala.) News, April 17
Doesn't Everyone?
"Person Wants State's Billions"--headline, Commercial Appeal (Memphis), April 18
Ah, They Were So Deer to Me . . .
"Natural Balance Recalls Venison Dog, Cat Foods"--headline, CNN.com, April 17
Shouldn't It Have Been on His Back?
"Large Stuffed Monkey on Atop [sic] Dashboard of Pickup Truck Leads Arkansas Trooper to Drug Arrest"--headline, OrangeCounty.cox.net, April 17
It's Rabbit Season!
"Duck Emerges Victorious From Car Incident"--headline, Metro Cafe (England), April 17
It's Duck Season!
"Hungarian Motorway Blocked by Escaping Rabbits"--headline, Reuters, April 16
Wild, Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Me Away
"Belgrade Horses May Be Drugged for Stones Concert"--headline, Reuters, April 18
Who Buys Vinyl Anymore?
"CVS Accused of Putting Records in Dumpster"--headline, Money.AOL.com, April 18
'Hey, Can't a Guy Have a Donut in Peace?'
"Calls to Surprise Police"--headline, Arizona Republic, April 16
Who Knew Stone Journalists Had Parents?
"Malawi Orphans Stone Journalists Covering Madonna"--headline, VOANews.com, April 17
Did They Roll Their Own?
"Japan Firm Apologizes After Toilets Smoke, Catch Fire"--headline, Reuters, April 16
World Ends, Etc., Etc.
"Council Hikes Bus Fares; Poor, Young Hardest Hit"--headline, LookOut News (Santa Monica, Calif.), April 12
News You Can Use
o "Spanking Fetishes Make Men Happier"--headline, Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Australia), April 16
o "No Quick Fix for Dirty Hands in Hospitals: Study"--headline, Reuters, April 18
Bottom Stories of the Day
o "Piniella Slightly Ticked at ESPN"--headline, Chicago Tribune, April 16
o "eBay Sale Didn't Go as Planned for St. Paul Woman"--headline, WCCO-TV Web site (Minneapolis), April 17
American Clippers
In an item yesterday, we called attention to John Edwards's $400 haircuts, and noted, "Meanwhile us ordinary Joes in America No. 2 spend 18 bucks at Supercuts." (Yeah, we know that was ungrammatical, but it's the way us ordinary Joes talk.) Anyway, this brought a wave of responses like these:
o John Williamson: $18!! Highway Robbery! More than $7.50 is too much (of course, I have less hair than you).
o Samuel Berger: 18 bucks at Supercuts? I spend nine at the Russian barber's in Brooklyn.
o Paul Smith: Well I only spend $4 at Duke Turley's Barber Shop in Anniston, Ala.
o Brian Clowe: Sorry James, we ordinary Americans don't spend $18 on a haircut at Supercuts. Supercuts is a high-priced place for yuppies. We ordinary Americans spend $10 at the local neighborhood barber shop. The $400 haircuts are for trial lawyers, politicians, Wall Street big shots, and Hollywood types. I wonder what Giuliani pays for a haircut. He would be getting ripped off even at the $10 price level we have here in Oklahoma.
o Matthew Crowley: I bought a pair of clippers from Target for $15 seven years ago and have not thought twice about it. My wife cuts my hair; a common approach for us follicly challenged.
o John Engel: You spend $18 for a haircut?!? I bet you also light your cigars with $100 bills, you rich snob. I spend 10 bucks at the barber, and I get to keep the bowl.
Very well, we stand corrected. There are three Americas.
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