Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Washington Post Backs Out Of 9/11 Event

Holy crap. Remember this creepy event?

Well The Washington Post has decided to pull its support for the event in the form of free advertising because:
"As it appears that this event could become politicized, The Post has decided to honor the Washington area victims of 9/11 by making a contribution directly to the Pentagon Memorial Fund," said Eric Grant, a Post spokesman. "It is The Post's practice to avoid activities that might lead readers to question the objectivity of The Post's news coverage.".

Good for them. This is clearly a political event and, not only that, it is one that would serve to reinforce the disproven myth of a connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

"The Post has a code of conduct that says employees should avoid a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest," said Rick Ehrmann, a Local representative for the Washington-Baltimore newspaper Guild. "In this case The Post was sponsoring the Pentagon's Freedom Walk, which ties the attack on Sept. 11 to the Iraq war, and of course, The Post's reporters have proven ... that there is no connection between the two, that that link is false."
I mean, come on, Clint Black, the headliner for the DOD event, is known for his pro-war anthem "Iraq & Roll," essentially a neo-con fight song:

YOU CAN WAVE YOUR SIGNS IN PROTEST
AGAINST AMERICA TAKING STANDS
THE STANDS AMERICA'S TAKEN
ARE THE REASON THAT YOU CAN

IF EVERYONE WOULD GO FOR PEACE
THERE'D BE NO NEED FOR WAR
BUT WE CAN'T IGNORE THE DEVIL
HE'LL KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE

SOME SEE THIS IN BLACK AND WHITE
OTHERS ONLY GRAY
WE'RE NOT BEGGING FOR A FIGHT
NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY

I RAQ, I RACK'EM UP AND I ROLL
I'M BACK AND I'M A HIGH TECH GI JOE
I PRAY FOR PEACE, PREPARE FOR WAR
AND I NEVER WILL FORGET
THERE'S NO PRICE TOO HIGH FOR FREEDOM
SO BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU TREAD

I wouldn't exactly have expected the Pentagon to book Joan Baez but whether you agree with the war or not, there is no denying the blatant politicization of 9/11 that this event represents.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Post has dropped its sponsorship, but the Freedom Walk has already found a new sponsor.

8:16 AM  

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