Thursday
Nov272008
Journalism 101: Today's Awards for Incisive Comment
Thursday, November 27, 2008 at 14:51
HONOURABLE MENTION: THE ALL IS WELL IN IRAQ COMMENT
Marine Captain Giles Clarke writes in The New York Times of running a half-marathon in Baghdad:
As I sprinted across the finish line, though, I knew it was all for a greater good. I knew that I was contributing to something much bigger than myself. How did I know this? I just ran a half-marathon in Baghdad.
Totally Irrelevant Fact (1):
Three bombings targeting Iraqi government employees and the U.S.-fortified Green Zone killed at least 20 people and left scores wounded Monday.
Totally Irrelevant Fact (2):
Number of US military personnel who ran the half-marathon: More than 200
Number of Iraqis who ran the half-marathon: 0
BRONZE MEDAL: I LOVE YOU, YES, I DO COMMENT
David Ignatius gets misty-eyed over Condoleezza Rice in The Washington Post:
Condoleezza Rice may be the most disciplined person in this town of workaholics. She has always been the perfect young woman, pleasing and impressing others.
Dave's Afterthought:
Now the issue of U.S.-Iranian relations will be handed over to the Obama administration. "We ran out of time," says one administration official.
The Question Dave Did Not Ask Condi:
Why?
SILVER MEDAL: THE BETTER LATE THAN NEVER COMMENT
The Washington Post celebrates Presidential justice:
THE BUSH administration acted fairly and responsibly this week in deciding to release Osama bin Laden's former driver from the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and return him to his home country of Yemen.
Suggestion made by The Post:
The White House has another opportunity to do the right thing, this time in the case of 17 Chinese Uighurs held at Guantanamo.
Suggestion not made by The Post:
Anything to do with the other 235 detainees at Camp X-Ray
GOLD MEDAL: THE TRIBUTE TO CONSERVAPEDIA COMMENT
In The Washington Post, George Will joins Conservapedia's vigilant defence against Dangerous Professors, reviewing Stanley Fish's book, Save the World on Your Own Time:
Fish's advocacy of a banal proscription -- of explicit political preaching in classrooms -- may have made him anathema to academia's infantile left. The shrewder left will, however, welcome his book because it denies or defends other politicizations of academia that are less blatant but more prevalent and consequential -- those concerning hiring and curricula.
For those who can't quite make it through that paragraph, here is Conservapedia's translation:
Professor values are currently one of the most prevalent forms of Liberal indoctrination.
Marine Captain Giles Clarke writes in The New York Times of running a half-marathon in Baghdad:
As I sprinted across the finish line, though, I knew it was all for a greater good. I knew that I was contributing to something much bigger than myself. How did I know this? I just ran a half-marathon in Baghdad.
Totally Irrelevant Fact (1):
Three bombings targeting Iraqi government employees and the U.S.-fortified Green Zone killed at least 20 people and left scores wounded Monday.
Totally Irrelevant Fact (2):
Number of US military personnel who ran the half-marathon: More than 200
Number of Iraqis who ran the half-marathon: 0
BRONZE MEDAL: I LOVE YOU, YES, I DO COMMENT
David Ignatius gets misty-eyed over Condoleezza Rice in The Washington Post:
Condoleezza Rice may be the most disciplined person in this town of workaholics. She has always been the perfect young woman, pleasing and impressing others.
Dave's Afterthought:
Now the issue of U.S.-Iranian relations will be handed over to the Obama administration. "We ran out of time," says one administration official.
The Question Dave Did Not Ask Condi:
Why?
SILVER MEDAL: THE BETTER LATE THAN NEVER COMMENT
The Washington Post celebrates Presidential justice:
THE BUSH administration acted fairly and responsibly this week in deciding to release Osama bin Laden's former driver from the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and return him to his home country of Yemen.
Suggestion made by The Post:
The White House has another opportunity to do the right thing, this time in the case of 17 Chinese Uighurs held at Guantanamo.
Suggestion not made by The Post:
Anything to do with the other 235 detainees at Camp X-Ray
GOLD MEDAL: THE TRIBUTE TO CONSERVAPEDIA COMMENT
In The Washington Post, George Will joins Conservapedia's vigilant defence against Dangerous Professors, reviewing Stanley Fish's book, Save the World on Your Own Time:
Fish's advocacy of a banal proscription -- of explicit political preaching in classrooms -- may have made him anathema to academia's infantile left. The shrewder left will, however, welcome his book because it denies or defends other politicizations of academia that are less blatant but more prevalent and consequential -- those concerning hiring and curricula.
For those who can't quite make it through that paragraph, here is Conservapedia's translation:
Professor values are currently one of the most prevalent forms of Liberal indoctrination.