New York Times stuns even me with latest betrayal of the nation's trust

[dalem]

I am stunned.

I am flabbergasted.

And I am very, very angry.

Link to Hugh Hewitt's roundup of the latest NYT h@ndjob for terrorists.

I am now convinced that if it were 1943 this NYT would print a story about salvaged German Enigma machines and ULTRA.

Surely any honest-hearted government official source who normally blabs to reporters thinking his info will be safely washed by time and distance into some future book or general analysis must also now see the true dangers he or she is fomenting.

People like this are going to get us killed.

-dale

[Confed999]

People like this are going to get us killed.

They are getting us killed...

[ArmchairGeneral]

One quote I found insightful:

"What's interesting to me is that when you talk about military force, we're supposed to use law-enforcement and intelligence methods instead. But if you use law-enforcement and intelligence methods, people shout "Big Brother" and the Times runs stories exposing them."

[Bluesman]

Is there a reason I should NOT fire-bomb their offices and printing plants?

As they are now an enemy agent, I would think we would all have a positive duty to strike at the intelligence-gathering and propaganda organs of our foes, and the New York Times has, in their zeal to oppose whatever this administration does, placed itself in that camp.

If they want to play an active part in the war - and on the other side - then let's get it on.

[ArmchairGeneral]

Speaking of firebombing, experiences on my summer job have convinced me that if the carpenters ever decide to take over, they'll have no lack of weaponry. I was tending the fire barrel and a guy dropped an empty gas cannister from a nail gun in there. Boom! I fully believe that with what is currently on our work site you could take out an Abrams if you were lucky. We've got nail guns that fire modified .22 cartridges, gas cannisters that have got to be more powerful than a Molotov cocktail, gallons upon gallons of flammable and toxic materials, air powered nail guns with 50 round clips. Heck, the guy who blew up that cannister was describing some sort of gas powered glue gun with an 18 inch compressed gas can. He said when that thing blew, it shook windows a hundred feet away. It's pretty fun.

[Shek]

Speaking of firebombing, experiences on my summer job have convinced me that if the carpenters ever decide to take over, they'll have no lack of weaponry. I was tending the fire barrel and a guy dropped an empty gas cannister from a nail gun in there. Boom! I fully believe that with what is currently on our work site you could take out an Abrams if you were lucky. We've got nail guns that fire modified .22 cartridges, gas cannisters that have got to be more powerful than a Molotov cocktail, gallons upon gallons of flammable and toxic materials, air powered nail guns with 50 round clips. Heck, the guy who blew up that cannister was describing some sort of gas powered glue gun with an 18 inch compressed gas can. He said when that thing blew, it shook windows a hundred feet away. It's pretty fun.

I hope you have workers' comp insurance. Sounds like you'll need it.

[ArmchairGeneral]

Actually, today was the first time I needed a bandaid. Missed with the hammer. Ouch. We're quite safety conscious really; the possibilities, however, are endless.

[Shek]

Actually, today was the first time I needed a bandaid. Missed with the hammer. Ouch. We're quite safety conscious really; the possibilities, however, are endless.

You still use hammers? I'm just a DIYer, but I'd never use a hammer again unless I had to. Nail guns are just too damn easy!

[ArmchairGeneral]

When the hammer is no longer a useful tool, I'll be taking a ski trip in the hot place. For one thing, you only have so many nail guns, and sometimes they're all being used. For another, a hammer is used for so much more than driving nails. In this case, we were putting flooring in. To drive it home, we used a combination of hammers and crowbars. And the compressed air hose is an annoyance, and the cordless ones in my limited experience smell like a leaky gas oven. I have to say, though, a nail gun is blessed thing, as long as you don't put one through your thumb.

[Confed999]

Speaking of firebombing, experiences on my summer job have convinced me that if the carpenters ever decide to take over, they'll have no lack of weaponry.

Construction is one of the kewlest jobs ever. Got to work hard, but you get to hang with decent folks, talk constantly, fix AND break stuff!

I hope you have workers' comp insurance. Sounds like you'll need it.

Not me! As an officer of the company I was able to go with private insurace that excedes WC coverage and costs 1/2. I just wish I could do it for the rest of the guys.

[Bluesman]

Old thread about the press, perfidy of. I especially liked THIS entry (by ME ):

This enrages me. People DIED because of this!

And many more are yet to die. Our entire effort has been undermined; we won't know the full impact of this for years.

The writer's invocation of the memory of Ernie Pyle is very apt, and I wonder what a reporter/journalist of that era would make of his modern colleagues.

I remember something a reporter (and it may have been Ernie) from WWII said as he was leaving the briefing in which entire press contingent had been told the detailed plans for the invasion of Sicily by Eisenhower himself: "I'm afraid to take a drink now." No thought that someone would attempt to 'scoop' the story - total trust, because they felt they were all in this thing together.

No more. The media is the enemy of the American soldier, and it is no wonder at all that commanders are unwilling to be forthcoming to the press. I would no more tell a reporter what my plans were than I'd tell Zarqawi, because essentially, it'd be the same thing.

[dalem]

Any "reporters" here? Anyone know any? (I only know an "ex-journalist", myself.)

Any concern voiced by them that some folks (myself included) view them as, literally, the Enemy?

Do they care?

-dale

[ArmchairGeneral]

My sister is a reporter on a podunk town newspaper in Southern Georgia. To be honest, I don't think she gives a rat's bass what you or anybody thinks of her profession. That said, I expect she doesn't like what the Times is doing. She's pretty much a Libertarian of the shoot 'em if they hurt us school, I believe. And if you read this, Sis, what do you really think?

Something interesting I heard sometime. Maybe our British friends can tell us if it's accurate or not. I heard that the view of journalism in Britain is very different from opinions in America. In America, the movies seem to pretty much nutshell the American view. From the beginning of film, the reporters seem to have been represented as the prototypical honest citizen, searching for the truth and trying to let the American public know. This seems to be what Americans would at least like to believe about journalism, and it definitely seems to capture the views of journalists themselves, what with endless talk of the "high calling of journalism," the "Fourth Estate," the "public have a right to know," and other such bs.

OTOH, the British, from what I've heard, basically view journalists as scumbags who will do anything for a story that sells. And journalistic objectivity is viewed as a crock, with most papers having a generally acknowledged slant to one side or another. I have to say, it seems that this view, while perhaps depressing to some, is a little more realistic. And a safer view to have if you're talking to a journalist.

[bonehead]

Anti terrorist actions, and military actions should be classified for a minimum set time at least so the enemy can't get a "heads up". We don't get a special news report saying, " The local police have just left the station to serve a warrent on the residence of Joun Brown at 3456 SW Ash street. They should arrive at 4:17 with 8 officers (including two rookies) Their tactics will be as follows...." This would put officers lives at risk. Why in the hell does the media think it is ok for them to broadcast the military's actions to the enemy.? Why does congress allow this to happen. The American people have a right to know what is going on, but we can wait until the action is over or to the point where any info is useless to the enemy befor the details come in. If I had a child in the military who lost their life do to the NY Times arrogance, there would be hell to pay.

[dalem]

Hm.

-dale