Having the Wrong Priorities
We may well have put an innocent man to death recently and what is the conservative website Newsbusters outraged about? Alec Baldwin said mean things to Michelle Malkin. Because that’s what really matters.
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture
Abby Normal:
September 30th, 2011 at 9:34 am
Ed, don’t you complain when people apply that formula to you, how can you write about x when y is so much more important? You make fun of Farah while ignoring the unjust sentencing Narges Mohammadi in Iran or the killing of Guinean protesters by police. What conclusions should we draw about your priorities?
danielrudolph:
September 30th, 2011 at 9:58 am
Abby beat me to the punch, but I believe this sort of thing can be valid if you take more time to establish what someone’s priorities are rather than grabbing one article.
jamessweet:
September 30th, 2011 at 10:26 am
+1 to Abby and daniel. There’s been a recent troll around Dispatches whose schtick is exactly this, hasn’t there been?
Infophile:
September 30th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
There’s a slight difference here: Baldwin’s words were specifically about the execution of Troy Davis, but Newsbusters ignored that part of the story entirely (well, aside from calling Troy Davis a “cop killer”) and instead just attacking Baldwin. So in this case, there is a link. Newsbusters is specifically not mad about Troy Davis’ execution, but they are mad about Baldwin’s words on the subject.
The Christian Cynic:
September 30th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
I agree with Infophile. This isn’t a case of “Hey, why aren’t you outraged about [other unrelated thing that I care about]?” but rather “Hey, why are you outraged about the least significant part of what is otherwise an extremely outrageous story?”
Abby Normal:
September 30th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
@Infophile
Fair enough. However, Ed does that too. Look at the countless articles in which he criticizes some right wing reaction to the Obama health care legislation without addressing the legislation itself, just as an example. A public figure freak-out is perfectly appropriate material for a blog post.
What’s more, plug “Troy Davis” into the site’s search and you’ll see they’ve published several articles about the case already. They come down on the other side of the issue, that the verdict was correct and the execution appropriate. But it’s not like they’ve been avoiding the issue. So I have no idea where Ed’s coming from with his “priorities” criticism on this one.
slc1:
September 30th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
Re Abby Normal @ #6
Excuse me, Mr. Brayton has commented several times on the Obama health care plan. His position is that he does not have the time or the inclination to attempt an in depth evaluation of it, given its level of complexity. Neither do I for that matter. Nor do most of the critics.
Abby Normal:
September 30th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
@slc1
Yep. How Ed explaining why he’s not addressing the legislation itself is important to this discussion I’m not sure. But he has certainly done as you say.
BV Cures:
April 6th, 2012 at 6:38 am
BV Cures…
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