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Thurs: It ain't necessarily so
posted at 2008-09-12 01:04 | Last modified 2008-09-12 18:48
The N&O is opening up a great big can o’ worms with a new advertising gambit. Dome reports Sunday Saturday home-delivery subscribers can look forward to a different kind of insert -- a DVD of the controversial documentary “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West."
Jim McClure, vice president of display advertising for The N&O, said "there was discussion" about whether to accept the advertisement, but the "ultimate decision" was made by publisher Orage Quarles.
“Obviously, we have distributed other product samples, whether it's cereal or toothpaste," he said.
If you haven’t heard much about the film, here’s the website. It’s been pretty controversial since its release in 2005.
At the beginning, a caption states that most Muslims “do not support" terrorism: “This is not a film about them.” Ten minutes later, an “expert” tells the camera that “one out of ten” Muslims “around the world,” including in the US, is a jihadist are supporters of jihad. It also includes Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 speech about the Nazi threat intercut with video of Palestinian kids holding guns.
You can watch the whole thing at the film's website for $4.95, or for free in clips on YouTube here. Whatever your position on the film or its premise, it’s almost impossibly disingenuous to equate it to toothpaste or cereal -- especially during the anniversary week of 9/11.
Update: The source who gives the 10% figure in the film is Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, a non-profit, pro-Israel think tank. His exact quote: "I would estimate that some 10 to 15 percent - and let me stress it's an estimate - of Muslims worldwide support militant Islam." (Click the link for his explanation of the term.) The Forum, as a non-profit, has no political affiliation. However, Pipes has written several articles arguing that Barack Obama is/was a Muslim.
CORRECTION: The DVD will be in Saturday's paper, not Sunday's. I apologize for the error.
Speaking of disingenuous…
ABC tonight started releasing bits and pieces of Charlie Gibson’s days-long interview with Sarah Palin. You can watch them online here.
Palin’s performance in the first clip was, well, probably not what many Republicans were hoping for. She downplayed her lack of foreign policy experience, insisting that "many" other VP candidates had never met a head of state, either. (ABC says that ain’t so, at least in the modern era.) And when Gibson asked her what insight on Russian politics she’s gained as governor of Alaska, she responded, “They’re our next door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.”
Gibson asked her three times whether she would support Israel if they bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities. Each time, her answer was some slight variation on “I don’t think we can second-guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend its nation.”
But when it came to another nation’s sovereignty, things weren’t so clear. Gibson asked Palin whether she would support military raids into Pakistan without the consent of Pakistan’s government. Palin said diplomacy would be her first choice, but
A lot of left-wing critics have already started lambasting Gibson, saying the campaign picked him because they thought he’d be nice to Palin. He wasn’t antagonistic, but he wasn’t deferential, either. I think he looks a little irritated. See what you think. 20/20 will air an hour-long interview special Friday night.
"Fibber" returns
The Dole campaign came out with another “Fibber Kay Hagan” commercial this week. Where the moniker comes from is still a mystery -– Greensboro's Mark Binker says no one outside of Dole’s own staff has been known to call Hagan that. They’re apparently operating on the premise that if you just say it enough, it’ll become true.
That seems to be the guiding premise for the ad, too. The oil well “ownership” allegations got a thumbs-down from Dome’s fact check. On the upside, terriers everywhere are relieved there’s no yapping dog non-sequitur in this one. Come on, folks. Hagan’s cast a whole lot of votes during her years in the State Senate. Is it really that hard to run against her record?
To be fair, Hagan hasn’t exactly been a stickler, either. Take the ad where she accuses Dole of helping to build the largest federal government ever. Well, obviously. The US economy and its population have grown over the past decade. Is it really Hagan’s contention that government shouldn’t be keeping up? Even my most diehard conservative friends aren’t making that argument. Dome puts the nail in the coffin here.
Comments? Drop me a line.
