The Macho Naivete of Right Wing Desk Jockies

[paft.livejournal.com]

From Think Progress:

Marty Peretz, on pro-Mubarak mobs attacking foreign correspondents: Frankly, I thought that you guys were – and women – engaging in a little professional narcissism. Revolutions are not birthday parties. And what happened in Beijing, in Prague, in Budapest, in Berlin, uh, was about the same as what is happening now. And since the media has in fact made itself, by announcing its techniques a very legitimate target in a certain way. I mean, it’s cruel, but if you’re going after the regime, the regime will go after you. This regime is not a sweet regime. This regime is not tolerant…

Think Progress put together a video round-up of the right wing media reaction to the reporter beatings. What comes through is an apparent inability to grasp that covering dangerous situations is a reporter’s job. Denouncing a foreign correspondent for going in to report on a volatile situation is kind of like denouncing a fireman for heading towards a fire.

There’s also a thudding ignorance that conflates hard working reporters with cable anchors. Marty Peretz has the gall to pretend that correspondents like Amanpour need to be told that revoluations “are not birthday parties” and “this regime is not a sweet regime.” Especially offensive is Mike Gallagher’s rant about Amanpour and Anderson Cooper, where he implies that Amanpour is anti-American and says of Cooper:

Maybe that isn’t where you ought to go wandering around Anderson, all, what are you about 5’7” – 5’8”? What do you go Anderson about 160? With your little perfectly coiffed grey hair and your little delicate features you might not want to go over to Egypt and walk around the middle of a crowd that’s screaming 'death to America.'

The fact that you’ve seen Anderson Cooper or Christiane Amanpour being interviewed in a studio doesn’t mean they’re merely pampered celebrities. Cooper did on the spot reporting in Rwanda during the genocide. Amanpour has worked as a wartime journalist in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

It is beyond hubris for the likes of Gallagher and Peretz to paint either of these seasoned correspondents as fluffy-headed naifs.

Crossposted from Thoughtcrimes

Comments

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

You're complaining about other people complaining? I don't get your point here. Are you being offended because someone else is being insulted? Do you think that AC can't handle a little criticism on his own or something? Do you think that Ms. Amanpour is going to curl up into a ball and hide? What is your issue? It seems to be that some people are mean poopy-heads.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

It's not criticism, it's approving of a dictatorship roughing up foreign journalists pointing out that there is a man behind the curtain. Not that this point can or will matter to the Right because Mubarak is *your* bastard.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

Where is the approving?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Maybe that isn’t where you ought to go wandering around Anderson, all, what are you about 5’7” – 5’8”? What do you go Anderson about 160? With your little perfectly coiffed grey hair and your little delicate features you might not want to go over to Egypt and walk around the middle of a crowd that’s screaming 'death to America.'

Said, of course, from the jungles of the United States.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

I saw nothing approving of his beating or even supporting the guys who beat him up

like always, the lefts outrage is manufactured fiction.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

That would apply only if I were a Leftist which I have explained repeatedly that I'm not one. Why does the Right treat every little criticism like it must be Leftist in origin? The Left has plenty of issues with itself, but it doesn't have a major news network that preaches its message 24-7 or mistake failed reality TV stars who can't hack being governor of a huge, thinly-populated state where there are more rabbits than people for major political leaders.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

it doesn't have a major news network that preaches its message 24-7

Yeah, it has more than one.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I seem to have missed the American version of Pravda.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I don't see any indication of such approval.

[anosognosia.livejournal.com]

"You're complaining about other people complaining? I don't get your point here."

"Fuck [the other side]."

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Well, sure, but that's assumed for all of paft's posts. I was wondering if there was any other point than that.

[anosognosia.livejournal.com]

"I was wondering if there was any other point than that."

It's so endearing to see this kind of innocence.

[http://users.livejournal.com/-wanderer-/]

I think she's saying that there are certain media personalities that seem to have dismissive attitudes regarding violence against journalists. She finds this sort of opinion distasteful. Do you agree?

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I don't really care. I don't know them, they don't affect me and I don't affect them.

[headhouse.livejournal.com]

You're complaining about other people complaining?

Well, yes. It's friday.

I think that if we stand back and let her continue the cycle of meta, she might just implode.