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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (46451)	5/23/2004 10:13:13 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793955

If the police refused to take notice of Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer, while busting your son, wouldn't you have a legitimate gripe? The Constitution contains an Equal Protection clause for a reason.

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (46451)	5/23/2004 11:20:28 AM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793955

Mary, the discussion was about media emphasis on things and how what Arab governments to their own has been ignored by the media while our failings, which are picayune by comparison, are emphasized in a manner which is not proportionate to the offenses. The family analogy has some merit but would be more accurate if you had made the point that a newspaper reporting on your son's and daughter's peccadillos would make them red ink front page stuff while Manson's and Dahmer's brutality would merit a tiny report at the bottom of p. 18 of the Gardening section. That is exactly how the media have treated Arab-on-Arab brutality. The media has historically given such brutality a pass. It's not about what you think about your family's infractions, but how they are reported and emphasized under circumstances where others' crimes make those of your relatives pale by comparison. I'm certainly not suggesting that your son/daughter's crimes are insignificant or embarrasing or horrible to you and your family. In a political and societal context, however, it is clear that your son/daughter's offenses amount to a hill of beans when compared to Manson's and Dahmer's. Imagine if Dahmer or Manson were also your sons, and the joy riding miscreant got a lot more press for his joy ride than Jeff or Charlie got for their insane murders. Wouldn't you wonder whether something was wrong, whether the emphasis was a bit skewed?