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| 2003/2/22 [Politics/Domestic/RepublicanMedia] UID:27492 Activity:high |
2/22 http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/19/bubba All you academicians watch out! Suspected Terrorism >>> Tenure. \_ Who is this Bubba guy (Name sounds familiar)? \_ Ok, this ASSHOLE DJ used to be on live 105, and he did the "Charlies Pizza" sketch where he like basically makes fun of chinese accents. So he goes to florida, and tries the sketch there, and of course ppl there don't get it because they've never really seen a chinese person before. So now he's being mr. howard stern wannabee. \_ Googling for Sami Al-Arian brings up more info. \_ Computer Engineering Prof. \_ No shit sherlock. Would you whine if "Suspected Murderer >>> Tenure", too? Yeah, let him keep poisoning campus because ya know hey, he's got tenure so he can do anything! Just because he's helped known terrorist orgs, its ok, he's got tenure! Get out of the ivory tower before it's too late! \_ I would whine if "Suspected * >> Tenure". Why should suspician of anything get someone fired from their job? <insert comment about McCarythism here> \_ News says they got really good stuff on Al-Arian off phone taps using the Patriot Act. Racketeering/conspiring to murder/providing material support for terrorists. Not looking good for ACLU when you can bust a Real Kriminal with an Ashcroft/Republican measure. \_ noone in the ACLU ever said those tactics were *inneffective*!! The point is that they violate privacy and civil liberties of every citizen, including people "suspected" of anything. If sufficient evidence was gathered about this guy in legal ways (read: in a manner consistent w/ the Bill of Rights, etc) then of course he should fired, convicted, jailed, whatever. \_ Since I distrust the *liberal* news media, I would wait until I learn more about these evidence. There are 2 issues here. 1) Is a person sympathetic to a cause that is linked to violent struggles automatically guilty of a crime? Even though the U.S. criticizes other countries for doing that, it itself resorted to this whenever it perceives a threat, even though such threats had been rather minor compared to \_ Since I distrust the *liberal* news media, I would wait until I learn more about these evidence. There are 2 issues here. government. For some mysterious reason, the U.S. has almost unconditional and unrequited devotion to that government. 1) Is a person sympathetic to a cause that is linked to violent struggles automatically guilty of a crime? Although are many countries out there very willing to suck up to the the U.S. criticizes other countries for doing that, it itself resorted to this whenever it perceived a mortal threat, even though such threats had been rather minor compared to those facing other governments. 2) In this particular case, the cause and the struggle was directed against a foreign government. For some mysterious reason, the U.S. has an almost unconditional and unrequited a devotion to that it. There is nothing wrong with this necessarily, but it is so taken for granted yet both unspoken and unspeakable. There are many countries out there eager to ally themselves with the U.S. and this country is not even one of them. |
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| www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/19/bubba -> www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/19/bubba/ The prime-time smearing of Sami Al-Arian By pandering to anti-Arab hysteria, NBC, Fox News, Media General and Clear Channel radio disgraced themselves -- and ruined an innocent professor's life. USF administrators fired the Kuwaiti-born professor after he appeared on national television for five minutes of punditry last fall. Not telling viewers that his views did not necessarily reflect those of the school. It was a tortured rationale that all but guaranteed future litigation. But what's also important to understand is the crucial role the press played in the unfolding saga. The University of South Florida is ultimately responsible for firing Al-Arian. But equally culpable are Fox News Channel, NBC, Media General (specifically its Tampa newspaper) and the giant radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. The story went national when Al-Arian was invited on the Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" show back on Sept. Host Bill O'Reilly revived inflammatory charges against Al-Arian dating back, in some cases, 15 years. Those charges were that a now-defunct Islamic think tank Al-Arian founded and ran in conjunction with USF operated as a sort of home away from home for radical Palestinians and terrorists. The charges had been thoroughly investigated and rejected by USF, and an immigration judge; Not even his harshest critics suggest Al-Arian has done anything in the last five years that could be even remotely construed as aiding terrorist organizations. The entire controversy sprang from the fact that viewers became enraged after old allegations were re-aired, albeit often in mangled form, by O'Reilly. O'Reilly's accusatory and hectoring interrogation of Al-Arian, filled with false statements and McCarthy-like smears, climaxed in a chilling parting shot in which the host repeatedly told his stammering guest that if he were with the CIA, "I'd follow you wherever you went" -- clearly implying that he believed Al-Arian was a terrorist. Not surprisingly in the fearful and hysterical climate after Sept. Before firing him, USF placed Al-Arian on paid leave, saying his presence made the campus unsafe and pointing to an avalanche of hate mail and death threats. But the Gulf Coast hysteria was entirely created by the media. Without the Tampa Tribune, which undertook a dubious seven-year crusade against al-Arian, there would have been no story to begin with. Without "The O'Reilly Factor" -- a showcase for noisy right-wing ranting whose producers apparently didn't even know that Al-Arian had been cleared of charges before they handed him over to their equally ignorant hanging-judge host -- the controversy would never have been revived. Without incendiary, know-nothing Clear Channel radio jocks, led by a gentleman named Bubba the Love Sponge, there would almost certainly have been far fewer USF death threats. And without NBC's sloppy work on "Dateline" there would probably have been no firing. The Al-Arian story reveals what happens when journalists, abandoning their role as unbiased observers, lead an ignorant, alarmist crusade against suspicious foreigners who in a time of war don't have the power of the press or public sympathy to fight back. It's called a pile-on, and this game first began in Tampa, seven years ago. |