CURRENT EVENTS
"Humanize" must be the staff buzzword at the Washington Post these days.
Amid the furor over earmarks, they took a compassionate look at a $1 million item to kill Mormon crickets, which had been blasted on both the Daily Show and Sen. John McCain's twitter feed (He wrote: "Is that the species of cricket or a game played by the brits?" I guess Congressional budgets don't include joke writers).
While everyone was denouncing the AIG bonuses, they huddled with the "most-talked-about employees in America" to learn that they were afraid of reprisals and felt "sold out" by Congress and Obama.
Now they're sympathizing Jay S. Bybee, federal judge and torture memo signee. (This being journalism, only three examples are needed to prove the trend). Like those preceding it, the Bybee article is an interesting look at a subject splattered in public bile. Unlike those preceding it, it gets the structure all wrong.
The long lede about a confession at a dinner does its best to demonstrate his regret, but the backing is thin. Of the 35 guests at the dinner, the Post can find just two people to say so--and they do so anonymously! Quoted up high is a "fellow legal scholar and longtime friend"--disconcertingly, the paper doesn't make clear whether this person is one of the two--whose blanket defense makes it seem suspect.
I don't doubt that he expressed some regret. And the piece, for its faults, is worth reading. But I shouldn't have to read three-quarters of the text to find out that friends and former roommates never heard him express regret.
Amid the furor over earmarks, they took a compassionate look at a $1 million item to kill Mormon crickets, which had been blasted on both the Daily Show and Sen. John McCain's twitter feed (He wrote: "Is that the species of cricket or a game played by the brits?" I guess Congressional budgets don't include joke writers).
While everyone was denouncing the AIG bonuses, they huddled with the "most-talked-about employees in America" to learn that they were afraid of reprisals and felt "sold out" by Congress and Obama.
Now they're sympathizing Jay S. Bybee, federal judge and torture memo signee. (This being journalism, only three examples are needed to prove the trend). Like those preceding it, the Bybee article is an interesting look at a subject splattered in public bile. Unlike those preceding it, it gets the structure all wrong.
The long lede about a confession at a dinner does its best to demonstrate his regret, but the backing is thin. Of the 35 guests at the dinner, the Post can find just two people to say so--and they do so anonymously! Quoted up high is a "fellow legal scholar and longtime friend"--disconcertingly, the paper doesn't make clear whether this person is one of the two--whose blanket defense makes it seem suspect.
I don't doubt that he expressed some regret. And the piece, for its faults, is worth reading. But I shouldn't have to read three-quarters of the text to find out that friends and former roommates never heard him express regret.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment