The NYT's definition of blinding American exceptionalism (Greenwald / Salon)

[struggle4progress]

Friday May 8, 2009 09:48 EDT

There's been a major editorial breach at The New York Times today, in this obituary of an American fighter pilot who was captured by the Chinese:

Harold E. Fischer Jr., an American Flier Tortured in a Chinese Prison, Dies at 83 ...

... using the editorial standards of America's journalistic institutions -- as explained recently by the NYT Public Editor -- shouldn't this be called "torture" rather than torture -- or "harsh tactics some critics decry as torture"? Why are the much less brutal methods used by the Chinese on Fischer called torture by the NYT, whereas much harsher methods used by Americans do not merit that term? Here we find what is clearly the single most predominant fact shaping our political and media discourse: everything is different, and better, when we do it. In fact, it is that exact mentality that was and continues to be the primary justification for our torture regime and so much else that we do.

Along those same lines, I learned from reading The New York Times this week (via The New Yorker's Amy Davidson) that Iraq is suffering a very serious problem. Tragically, that country is struggling with what the Times calls a "culture of impunity." What this means is that politically connected Iraqis who clearly broke the law are nonetheless not being prosecuted because of their political influence! Even worse, protests the NYT, there have been "cases dismissed in the past few years as a result of a government amnesty and a law dating to 1971 that allows ministers to grant immunity to subordinates accused of corruption." And the best part? This: "The United States is pressing the Iraqi government to repeal that law" ...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/05/08/torture/index.html

[angstlessk]

1. the new meme " if Nancy Pelosi knew about it, it's not a crime"

never mind if the president does it...it only depends on if Nancy Pelosi was briefed!!!

But what's the point of all of this? Secretly telling Nancy Pelosi that you're committing crimes doesn't mean that you have the right to do so. And the profound failures of the other institutions that are supposed to check executive lawbreaking during the Bush era -- principally Congress and the "opposition party" -- is a vital issue that demands serious examination. This dispute over what Pelosi (and Jay Rockefeller and others) knew highlights, rather than negates, the need for a meaningful investigation into what took place.

[bertman]

2. Somebody gimme an "H". Somebody gimme a "Y". Somebody gimme a "P". How about an "O".

"C" maybe.

You get the gist.

It's the golden rule. They who have the gold make the rules.

And it really sucks!

Recommend.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

3. Exactly right.

American exceptionalism at its best. They don't fuck around when it happens to one of ours. It's fucking torture, plain and simple. They don't bullshit it. But when we do it....

[Hissyspit]

4. K&R nt