Blackout

I will be writing soon about the breach of etiquette which is still quite noteworthy, but two things have come to my attention that I feel compelled to briefly mention (and rhyme about).

1.) Our mainstream media are refusing to report a mass slaughter - including the beheadings of children - by al-Qaeda in a village in Iraq. Michael Yon is a freelance reporter in Iraq who has documented the atrocity which took place only 3.5 miles from where he and other reporters are located. So far, he is the only one to investigate.

I've read Michael Yon. He has always been more than fair when it comes to the media, giving them credit where there is little to be had, and defending them when they report something unfavorable. But in this case he is baffled by their unwillingness to report on this horror, and offers them free use of his photos and findings so far. But so far, crickets.

UPDATE: Michael Yon has a new post up that ought to be read and posted daily everywhere on the internet. It details rumors of further AQ atrocity, but it also answers a lot of questions with firsthand knowledge.

Glenn Reynolds threw that question out there, and got a response from a reporter whose name we'd apparently know:

Yon's story doesn't get attention because it is humiliating.

It is humiliating because it is obvious that we media – and our allies in the state department, the legal trade, the NGOs, the Democratic Party, the UN, etc., - can’t do squat about such determined use of force.

Our words, images, arguments and skills can’t stop the killing. Only the rough soldiers and their guns can solve the problem, and we won’t admit that fact because the admission would weaken our influence and our claim to social status.

So we pretend Yon’s massacre – and the North Korean killing fields, the Arab treatment of women, the Arab hatred of Israel, etc. - doesn’t exist, and instead focus our emotions and attention on the somewhat-bad domestic things that we can ‘fix’ with our DC-based allies. Things such as Abu Ghraib, wiretapping, etc. When we ‘fix’ them, then we get status, applause, power, new jobs, ego, etc.

Please don’t be surprised. We media are an interest group not much different from the automakers, the unions, and the farmers.

[all emphasis is mine]

H/T: Protein Wisdom, Michael Yon, Glenn Reynolds.

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2.) Britain's Brave New Prime Minister has finally gone and banned the use of the word 'Muslim' to describe terrorists. Now if he can just convince the terrorists...

My sputtering indignation at this tortured bit of logic was calmed somewhat by Iowahawk's ridicule. I can't recommend a better piece of satire, much less write one, so I suggest reading it with all due haste. And read his previous entry if you want insight into the inner machinations of a failed suicide bomber, who couldn't even light himself on fire long enough to catch a glimpse of his dirty, dirty virgins.

H/T: The Daily Gut via Jim Treacher, Protein Wisdom