There’s a famous part of The Interpretation Of Dreams, where Freud talks about the structure of contradiction and denial:
[A man] was charged by one of his neighbours with having given him back a borrowed kettle in a damaged condition. The defendant asserted, first, that he had given it back undamaged; secondly that the kettle had a hole in it when he borrowed it; and, thirdly, that he never borrowed a kettle from his neighbour at all. So much the better if only a single one of these three lines of defence were to be accepted as valid the man would have to be acquitted.
So far the LA Times has come up with the following excuses for not releasing the tape showing PLO terrorist Rashid Khalidi toasting Obama:
(1) “We release the details by reporting what’s in the tape”
(2) “We can’t release the details because it’s unethical”
(3) “We’re not going to comment about how we’re not releasing the details”
Which means that not only is the Los Angeles Times in clinical denial about their breathtaking lack of ethics – they’re actually regressing. Their excuses are getting worse. They’re so bad now that Ben Smith is now just openly mocking them:
L.A. Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan wouldn’t discuss the decision not to release the tape in detail. “When we reported on the tape six months ago, that was our full report,” she said, and asked, “Does Politico release unpublished information?” The answer to that question is yes — Politico and most news outlets constantly make available videos and documents, after describing them in part, which is why the Times’ decision not to release the video is puzzling. My instinct, and many reporters’, is to share as much source material as possible.
This is a cretin who as recently as December 2003 was spreading anti-Semitic propaganda on Al Jazeera. Wouldn’t it be nice to know how Obama was reacting when Khalidi was toasting him with potentially similar rhetoric? Reports have already established that there were speeches comparing Jewish settlers – who, of course, have run airplanes into no buildings and beheaded no one – to Al Qaeda. It’s not unfair to ask what other vicious anti-Israel shibboleths were being bandied about that evening.
References:
* McCain Demands That LA Times Release Hidden Tape [LGF]
* McCain camp demands L.A. Times release video [Politico / Ben Smith]
* Rashid Khalidi Ranted About the ‘Zionist Lobby’ on Al Jazeera [LGF]
Previously:
* ABC News: McCain "Falsely Accusing" Obama Of Doing Exactly What The Crowd Who Heard His "Pig" Comment Thought He Was Doing (UPDATED: Ben Smith Wasn’t In The Room, Rhetorical Sophistication Invoked!)
* Spectacular Media Bias In Jerusalem Attack Coverage
* AP Headline: "Palin Adds To Wardrobe Before Reno Campaign Stop"
