August 25, 2004
It's all fun and chains until the Nazis show up
OK, so this Sept. 29 march in Annapolis is sort of strange:
A "slavery reconciliation walk" on Sept. 29 will start at City Dock, where slave Kunta Kinte was brought into the United States and where a memorial stands in honor of him. Kunta Kinte's story was made famous by descendant Alex Haley's Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Roots" and a subsequent television miniseries.The unusual demonstration will include white marchers wearing chains and yokes while being escorted by black people, and everyone will wear T-shirts with a message of apology.
And apparently, it's being protested by the neo-Nazi National Alliance, who have been flyering the town:
The fliers, titled "Say No to White Guilt!" urged residents to speak out against Lifeline's march, which "has been shaming and humiliating White people" since it began in Europe four years ago.
There are two bizarre things about this event and the article worth mentioning. First, there's the march itself. How do black people leading white people around in chains for an afternoon help racial reconciliation? Does that make it even? Second, we have the AP's treatment of the Nazis. Replace "National Alliance" with "Chamber of Commerce" and you would essentially have the same story. Does it matter, just an eensie weensie little bit that the people complaining are, you know, Nazis?
This is to some degree related to the ongoing Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Bush quasi-scandal*. In order to seem as fair as possible, the media feel obligated to report any crazy allegation from any group, include the boilerplate denial from the victims of the attack, and call it a day without examining the veracity of the charges or using the least bit of discretion when choosing what to run and what to ignore as crazy drivel. The end result is this: we're listening patiently to the Nazis as they make their points.
*No, I am not saying there is any connection between the Swiftees and Nazis, so close the comment window and take a time-out.
Posted by rj3 at August 25, 2004 2:33 PM
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Comments
I don't understand. Are you trying to say that the slaves were Nazis?
Posted by: taleswapper at August 26, 2004 8:41 AM
No, that actual nazis were protesting the slave re-enactment.
Posted by: rj3 at August 26, 2004 11:44 AM
I'm confused. How do a bunch of veterans end up in Africa again? You see, this is why I refuse to leave DC.
Posted by: Chris at August 26, 2004 4:19 PM
OK, let's take this from the top. An oft-heard complaint about the media is that they simply repeat charges and allow for an official response without rendering any judgement or doing any investigation on the claims, leaving the viewer to conclude that since both sides got equal time, both claims are equally valid. In this case, said journalists have abrogated their responsibility to investigate and have in essence turned over their bandwith/column-inches/frequency to any wacky group that makes any spurious claim.
The Swift Boat group made charges that are contradicted by all documentary evidence, spread through what was basically a game of telephone between partisans and funded by a Rovian outside hatchet man. And because the media is so afraid of saying outright that there is no verifiable information to back up what the Swifties are saying, they gain credibility and Kerry is in the strange position of trying to re-prove all documented evidence of his activities.
So here we have a similar template. Nazis--NAZIS--complain about a march. We hear their complaints, we hear the retorts. Every wack-job with pocket change to use the fax machine at Kinkos can get in the media because the media is so damn lazy.
Posted by: rj3 at August 26, 2004 5:01 PM
Hang on, John Kerry was a Nazi slave? Dude, you ought to write a book about this.
Posted by: chris at August 27, 2004 11:02 AM
Oh, what a tangled web we weave. Don't you think Rove would have better spent time and dissecting Kerry's record as an inadequate, ultra-liberal legislator? I think you're honking up the wrong conspiracy tree with that analysis.
All of this would be/will be cleared up if/when he releases his military records and it showed what you are are saying. Remember, this issue WAS a loser for Republicans. Kerry's Vietnam service is laudable. However, he's made use of it like no other campaigner, in effect arguing that it makes him more qualified than the current guy. Therefore, it's on the table and open for scrutiny. No fair talking it back off after that horrible salute at the convention.
This has come to bite him the @ss, though. To this point we see a.) the campaign can't develop a cogent response, which lends creedence to the accusers b.) it's having an effect on voters and c.) the best explanation on why 250 of your former co-workers don't like you is because you told everyone they were chopping off people's ears when they really weren't.
Now, if you want the media to spend more time researching their case, I am all for it. Explore away.
Posted by: Chris at August 27, 2004 11:05 AM
Confuseder and confuseder. So does you mean that the people who worked with Kerry and are actually supporting him _really did_ chop people's ears off? And they were enslaved Nazis?
Posted by: taleswapper at August 30, 2004 3:10 PM