Some Critics = One Times Reporter - August 25, 2003
Times Watch for August 25, 2003
Some Critics = One Times Reporter
Southern-based reporter Jeffrey Gettleman follows
up on the Southern Gothic saga of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was
suspended from the state Supreme Court for refusing to take down a granite
monument of the Ten Commandments that hed installed in the courthouse lobby.
In Sundays Supporters of Ten Commandments Rally On, Gettleman claims (not
for the first time) Some critics
have compared Chief Justice Moore to George Wallace, Alabama's segregationist
governor.
In place of some critics, substitute Jeffrey Gettleman, whose first filing
on the monument controversy includes this line describing Judge Moore: His
obstinacy smacks of segregation-era defiance, of state rights versus the feds,
of George Wallace's notorious-and failed-stand in the school house door. But
many people like that.
For more of Gettlemans story on Judge Roy Moore,
click here.
Alabama
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Jeffrey Gettleman
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Judge Roy Moore
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Religion
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Ten Commandments
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Gov. George Wallace
Hamas Spells Hope to Destitute Palestinians
A front-page story by Richard Stevenson and Edmund Andrews, Bush Orders Move To
Freeze Assets Of Hamas Charities, again describes the anti-Israel terrorist
group as a charitable institution. The Saturday story claims: It is the first
time that the United States has gone beyond acting against the military wing of
Hamas and tried to shut down the political wing that provides social services
and relief assistance.In taking this action, Mr. Bush risks fueling
anti-American anger among Palestinians who not only depend on assistance from
Hamas but also see it as an integral part of their lives.
Europe remains cool to the
idea: The Europeans contend that the organization's charitable institutions
provide much-needed services-and hope-to destitute Palestinians. This marks
at least the fourth occasion the
Times has favorably described Hamas charity
work.
If Hamas (whose
charter states "Israel will
exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it
obliterated others before it") gives hope to Palestinians, one wonders why Bush
is bothering with peace talks at all.
For more on Bushs attempt to shut down Hamas charities,
click here.
Civil Rights Or Just Liberal Interest Groups?
Saturdays story by Lynette Clemetson on the 40th anniversary of the March on
Washington for civil rights opens: Under a thematic banner of jobs and justice,
a coalition of groups dedicated to civil, human and economic rights have
converged here this weekend to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the March on
Washington, the mass protest that helped bring about some of the most critical
social legislation in the nation's history.
But drill down to some of the actual groups involved, and that characterization
becomes a bit more dubious: Other major players, however, such as the
Arab
American Institute and the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force, show the expanding breadth of the civil rights movement. It
sounds more like the Times is trying to expand the appeal of liberal special
interest groups by co-opting them as part of an all-encompassing civil rights
movement.
For the rest of Clemetsons story on the anniversary of the March on Washington,
click here.
Civil Rights
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Lynette Clemetson
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Gay Rights
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Labeling Bias
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March on Washington
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NGLTF
Deregulation a Dirty Word in Times Land
The headline to Sundays front-page blackout story blares: New Kind of
Electricity Market Strains Old Wires Beyond Limits-Reliability Suffered in
Deregulation, Experts Say. The second paragraph of the story by Neela Banjeree
and David Firestone at first concurs: Deregulation increased the vulnerability
of the grid to failure, regulators and industry executives broadly concur.
But in the very next sentence, Banjeree and Firestone admit that what they term
deregulation really isnt: Deregulation is actually a misnomer for the
restructuring of the power industry, because only the generation of electricity
was freed from strict government controls, beginning in 1992. Apparently the
term deregulation is too convenient a whipping boy for the Times to give up,
no matter how misleading its use.
For more on the electricity market and the blackout,
click here:
Neela Banjeree
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Blackout
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Deregulation
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Energy
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David Firestone
Conservative California Cannibalism
Saturday front-pager by John Broder, Conservatives of Two Minds On Backing
Schwarzenegger, says rigid conservatism is to blame for Republican losses in
the state: Analysts say that the conservatives' customary ideological
rigidity-some call it Republican cannibalism-is the reason Democrats have won
every important statewide election since 1994. The state Republican party's
conventions tend to be bitterly tribal affairs, with the varying strains of the
party vying for supremacy. Hard-line conservatives have been winning these
battles-and little else-for the past decade.
For the rest of Broders story on the alleged conservative crack-up,
click here.
John Broder
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California
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Gov. Gray Davis
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Recall
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Arnold
Schwarzenegger
