Tom Kovach
Media maven makes Muslim mudfest meaningful
Terrorist training camp portrayed as wholesome retreat
By Tom Kovach
Left-wing lapdog newspaper the Press and Sun-Bulletin (which, about 20 years ago, I dubbed the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik), of Binghamton, NY, has hit a new low in "pink journalism." Some of us remember when the term "yellow journalism" was coined. That is when a media outlet twists the facts to make its target look bad. The target was often someone with conservative political views. But, as I recall, the term was not invented until a conservative media outlet did the same thing to someone with Left-leaning views. Regardless, I'm using the term "pink journalism" to describe when a media outlet intentionally overlooks the obvious in order to make the current object of its affections look good. The quintessential example of "pink journalism" would be all the media fawning over Cindy Sheehan — who used her own son's death in combat as a springboard for spewing her Communist political views across the country. (In an act of ultimate irony, Cindy is now biting the hand that fed her by running for Congress against a fellow Communist, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.)
The article that has earned my wrath is titled, "Women hone skills at Islamic retreat". It features kindly descriptions of women traveling from all over the country to attend a month-long training camp about self-sufficiency for Islamic women. Topics covered, according to the article, included "Islamic studies, cooking, knitting, embroidery, poetry, calligraphy, quilting and other skills." Conveniently overlooked in this list is the fact that there is no such thing as self-sufficiency for women under Islam. A woman that lives without a man is disdained in Islamic culture. Also conveniently overlooked is any explanation of how poetry or calligraphy contributes to self-sufficiency.
The most glaring omission of the facts, however, is that the place itself — Islamberg — has been a place of domestic terrorist training for more than a decade (scroll one-third down the linked page). I was told about the terror-training camp during my 1994 campaign for Congress. (Ironically, at that time, I lived in Binghamton, NY. The Pravda and Some-Bolshevik covered my campaign. Of course, they endorsed my opponent, Communist Maurice Hinchey.) Although I was told about the camp in 1994, and even the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik wrote about its nefarious activities in 1995, I did not obtain independent proof of its terrorist connections until 1997. In yet another irony, the proof came from a file stored on the servers of the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik.
In the Spring of 1997, I was studying to become a paralegal. The course was held on the campus of the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY-B). (The Left-tilting campus changed its name to "Binghamton University" in the mid-1990s, in an attempt to shed its image as a "state school." The change cost the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. But, the fact remains that it is still a state university. So, I continue to refer to it as such.) During my studies at SUNY-B, I was introduced to the Internet. Shortly thereafter, I learned how to research topics. In those days, file access was a lot easier than it is now. Using only a search engine, and without any attempt to hack, I discovered a Federal court document that was stored on the servers of my hometown daily newspaper. That document was a transcript of testimony by a member of the terrorist group Jamaat al-Fuqra. In exchange for keeping his own worthless skin out of Federal prison, he was telling all about his fellow terrorists. He described how money given to Islamic "charities" was used to pay for his (and others') trips to terrorist training camps in Pakistan. He described the network of safe houses across America (Colorado, Virginia, Michigan, Florida, and, of course, "Islamberg," NY), where wanted felons were shuffled around to keep them one step ahead of law-enforcement officers. He described the pilfering of explosives from mining and construction sites in Colorado, and how those explosives were transported to the then-new safe house in the DC suburb of Herndon, Virginia. I read the court transcript, and wondered why the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik had reported none of this.
But, now, the same newspaper that had the facts on this terrorist group — years before Fox News, or anyone else — has gone so far as to make the bad guys look good. I wonder if the reporter physically traveled to "Islamberg"; or, did she build the article entirely from text and photos provided by the PR Department of the terrorist training camp? And, of course, the irony that this Islamist haven should choose the Yiddish ending "berg" for its training camp went entirely unreported. (Could anyone imagine a Jewish camp named "Torah-Shahar"?! I thought not.) It seems that, in the eyes of the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik, the bad guys can do no wrong ... nor even anything self-contradictory.
media double standard
During the same time frame when the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik was suppressing the "public's right to know" about the hard-core terrorist connections of their neighbors to the east of Binghamton, that same newspaper was making wild reports about Christian "survivalists" and other "right-wing extremists." Interestingly, most of what motivated those groups was a desire for "self-sufficiency," because they did not trust the government under President Bill Clinton. Such groups were branded "anti-government." Why? Because they thought that Clinton and his administration had trampled upon the Constitution. So, they were preparing against a possible economic and societal collapse. In the minds of the MSM, it was somehow anti-government to expect the president to obey the Constitution.
how the times have changed
Back in the mid-1970s, just outside of Binghamton, there was another training camp. It taught survival skills, among other things. The property was owned by a long-time member of Civil Air Patrol. That group is the official, civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. The CAP conducts a high percentage of the search-and-rescue (SAR) missions across America. The camp was called Thunderbird Land-Rescue Training Center. The students at that camp were CAP cadets (teenage members). In its day, the training at "T-Bird" was considered some of the finest SAR training in America. Some people think that the CAP Ranger program was patterned after Air Force Pararescue training. Historically, though, it was the CAP Rangers that were the pattern for Pararescue training. (The CAP Rangers, originally founded by Pennsylvania Wing, and later copied by other CAP state wings, predated the founding of the Air Force by several years.)
Although all of the SAR missions conducted by CAP are supervised (both at base camps and in the field) by adult members, the bulk of the training is given to CAP cadets. The adults that go into the field on CAP missions are often former cadets. In the late 1970s, the T-Bird training camp was closed. Some say it was due to lack of funding. Some say it was because the training was too tough, and some parents (especially from the New York City area, who thought they were sending their teenagers "off to camp") complained when their kiddies were sent home on a bus for failing daily performance tests. (The fact that they would be sent home was in the information packages that each parent had to sign.) Regardless of the reason for the camp's closure, it was a positive influence on hundreds of teenagers and adults during the 20 years of its operation. The training program had a series of recognition levels for proficiency. In the 20 years of training, which sometimes included three-day survival hikes in the Adirondacks with only minimal ALICE gear, there were only six cadets that achieved the level of "expert Ranger." (I can name all of them. They were all my friends. My name was number six on that list.)
The reason for this sidetrack down memory lane is to make a comparison of how the modern news media would report such a story. Oh, did I mention that one of the requirements of attendance at T-Bird was participation in classes conducted by CAP chaplains? (There are a lot of moral issues that confront people being trained to respond to an aircraft crash scene.) And, did I mention that the training also included firearms familiarization? (In a survival situation, one AR-7 rifle and a supply of ammunition can feed a planeload of passengers for a surprising amount of time.) Nowadays, schools and parents seem to pride themselves on the weak and vulnerable state of their children. A generation ago, as teenagers, we were preparing to help plane crash victims, and fully expected to go off to war in Vietnam "when we grew up." The difference between the mindsets of then and now sets the stage for a hypothetical example of how the MSM would spin the positive example of CAP Ranger School in today's news.
hypothetical example
BINGHAMTON, NY (August, 1974): A secretive enclave in a remote location has been accused of abusing teenagers and fomenting extremism. Under the guise of preparing to help strangers, the extremists of the Civil Air Patrol — a group that masquerades in paramilitary uniforms, and claims to have official government approval for their abusive activities — screams at teenagers, and forces them to run grueling obstacle courses. Their version of "training" begins at 5:30am, when instructors blow whistles outside the tents of peacefully sleeping children, screaming, "Get up! Get up! Get up!" The abuse continues as they are expected to actually wake up immediately — without the half-hour period that all government experts agree is necessary for teenagers to adjust to gradually increasing degrees of visual and auditory stimulation. Not only that, but the abuse continues, as the children are expected to stand in formation — in full uniform, including boots — within ten minutes of the whistle.
By modern education standards, this would be considered enough abuse for an entire week. But, their day is only beginning. These poor children are then required to run — without making noise — up a winding footpath through the woods to the "staging area." There, anyone that made noise must do pushups. Then, another whistle is blown, and the entire group of fifty cadets must run, uphill, to the parade field. There, they are subjected to the archaic and demeaning practice of saluting the flag in formation. Then, they must run (again) through a circuit-training course, which includes instructors shouting about their performance of various calisthenics. As if that were not enough abuse, the entire formation then goes out to a country road and runs at least a mile — while being forced to sing patriotic and "motivational" songs and "Jody calls." Upon return, the students must march to breakfast — which they must cook themselves, over a campfire. Shockingly, the abuse continues after breakfast, when the students must run the obstacle course, which includes one structure called the "nut buster." Abusive instructors actually claim that these poor children will learn confidence by running across a series of logs — lashed to tree stumps at varying heights, turned at different angles, with the bark shaved off, and then water poured over the logs. Amazingly, these psychologically-brutalized students manage to run the obstacle — at full speed, in combat boots — without falling off. (This newspaper will continue to investigate, and has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see if instructors put glue on the bottom of students' boots, in an effort to fool this intrepid and award-winning reporter.)
Instead of teaching these traumatized teens to be afraid of firearms, as required by the expert founders of Outcome-Based Education, the abusers actually line the children up and teach them to fire weapons — accurately, without "wasting ammunition"! (Everyone — except their abusive instructors — knows that the students must be allowed to miss their targets, in order not to damage their self-esteem.) And, in violation of all modern educational standards, the children are given basic and advanced first-aid classes, which show gruesome photos of various types of wounds. (All government education experts agree that the only blood that a child should see before becoming of age to vote is that of the abortion of their own children at a school-based clinic. That way, they will enter college properly conditioned not to fight back if a gunman should rampage through their campus. Fighting back, as all reasonable experts agree, is an archaic notion; and, it would damage the gunman's self-esteem. We as a society must learn to understand his rage, as we are all responsible for it anyway.)
The abuse continues as the teenage captives — far away from any support systems, an ACLU office, or a cell phone [which hadn't yet been invented in 1974] — are then forced to sit through classes taught by Christian chaplains of the Civil Air Patrol. (Instructor staff did show this reporter an opt-out form, but claimed that nobody had asked to be excused from the "moral education" classes. All reasonable people know that this would be impossible. So, this reporter will continue to investigate.) The students actually sit peacefully, and even seem to be paying attention. (A separate FOIA request has been submitted for a chemical analysis of the drinking water, which is trucked in via a military "water buffalo" tanker, because the location is so remote.)
This reporter left the CAP training camp, and contacted a local judge in Binghamton. When asked if he would issue orders for the camp to cease and desist in this type of abusive "training," the judge amazingly refused. When asked the reason, Judge Patrick J. Hardnose replied, "Because, someday, I might be on an airplane somewhere. If it crashes, I would want a fully-trained and motivated team to come and rescue me." This reporter will investigate the background of the rogue judge, to see if he has any secretive background ties to that abusive organization.
had enough yet?
As I typed the above hypothetical example, I worry that our American society has already "devolved" to the point that perhaps nobody will see its irony. Perhaps people will think that our training really was abusive. (It wasn't. Nobody could've demonstrated more care for the people under their charge than our Ranger instructor cadre. There are so many examples that I could easily fill an entire column.) I did not make up one fact about the training, and I left out a lot. And, did I mention that CAP is all volunteer, and that people actually paid a fee to attend such schools (in addition to buying all of their own uniforms and equipment)?
Given the ridiculous double standard of our modern news media, the positive motivation and training of the Civil Air Patrol volunteers would be seen as abuse. But, the ongoing presence of a terrorist training camp (which purports to be its own separate "town," in stark violation of New York State laws) is reported as a peaceful exercise of "self-sufficiency" in a religion where women are not allowed to be self-sufficient.
Not only did the news report fail to mention the dismal record of women's rights under Islam, but also there was no mention of what the men were doing while the women were busy for a month learning pottery and poetry. While the women were getting their photos taken molding pottery, were the men in a room learning to mold C-4 explosive? While the women were writing poetry, were the men writing manifestos? While the women were learning about their "religion of peace," were the men learning how to use hostages as bargaining tools? While the women were making quilts with Crescents on them, were the men shooting at targets with Crosses on them?
Is this type of "pink journalism" the new standard of news reporting? If so, we can soon expect to be "enlightened" with the positive aspects of having illegal aliens in our midst. And, of course, anyone that dares to point out the facts will be dubbed an "extremist." (The precedent has already been set. Remember how much the MSM bandied that term about during the 1990s?) Examples of media double standards abound. When those double standards are "merely political," a lot of readers overlook them. But, when things degenerate to a point that a terrorist training camp is depicted as some sort of wholesome activity, then we as Americans had better learn to gather our own information. It seems that journalism has moved past "yellow," and into "pink." Perhaps, ultimately, it is on its way toward "red."
© Tom Kovach
Left-wing lapdog newspaper the Press and Sun-Bulletin (which, about 20 years ago, I dubbed the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik), of Binghamton, NY, has hit a new low in "pink journalism." Some of us remember when the term "yellow journalism" was coined. That is when a media outlet twists the facts to make its target look bad. The target was often someone with conservative political views. But, as I recall, the term was not invented until a conservative media outlet did the same thing to someone with Left-leaning views. Regardless, I'm using the term "pink journalism" to describe when a media outlet intentionally overlooks the obvious in order to make the current object of its affections look good. The quintessential example of "pink journalism" would be all the media fawning over Cindy Sheehan — who used her own son's death in combat as a springboard for spewing her Communist political views across the country. (In an act of ultimate irony, Cindy is now biting the hand that fed her by running for Congress against a fellow Communist, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.)
The article that has earned my wrath is titled, "Women hone skills at Islamic retreat". It features kindly descriptions of women traveling from all over the country to attend a month-long training camp about self-sufficiency for Islamic women. Topics covered, according to the article, included "Islamic studies, cooking, knitting, embroidery, poetry, calligraphy, quilting and other skills." Conveniently overlooked in this list is the fact that there is no such thing as self-sufficiency for women under Islam. A woman that lives without a man is disdained in Islamic culture. Also conveniently overlooked is any explanation of how poetry or calligraphy contributes to self-sufficiency.
The most glaring omission of the facts, however, is that the place itself — Islamberg — has been a place of domestic terrorist training for more than a decade (scroll one-third down the linked page). I was told about the terror-training camp during my 1994 campaign for Congress. (Ironically, at that time, I lived in Binghamton, NY. The Pravda and Some-Bolshevik covered my campaign. Of course, they endorsed my opponent, Communist Maurice Hinchey.) Although I was told about the camp in 1994, and even the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik wrote about its nefarious activities in 1995, I did not obtain independent proof of its terrorist connections until 1997. In yet another irony, the proof came from a file stored on the servers of the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik.
In the Spring of 1997, I was studying to become a paralegal. The course was held on the campus of the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY-B). (The Left-tilting campus changed its name to "Binghamton University" in the mid-1990s, in an attempt to shed its image as a "state school." The change cost the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. But, the fact remains that it is still a state university. So, I continue to refer to it as such.) During my studies at SUNY-B, I was introduced to the Internet. Shortly thereafter, I learned how to research topics. In those days, file access was a lot easier than it is now. Using only a search engine, and without any attempt to hack, I discovered a Federal court document that was stored on the servers of my hometown daily newspaper. That document was a transcript of testimony by a member of the terrorist group Jamaat al-Fuqra. In exchange for keeping his own worthless skin out of Federal prison, he was telling all about his fellow terrorists. He described how money given to Islamic "charities" was used to pay for his (and others') trips to terrorist training camps in Pakistan. He described the network of safe houses across America (Colorado, Virginia, Michigan, Florida, and, of course, "Islamberg," NY), where wanted felons were shuffled around to keep them one step ahead of law-enforcement officers. He described the pilfering of explosives from mining and construction sites in Colorado, and how those explosives were transported to the then-new safe house in the DC suburb of Herndon, Virginia. I read the court transcript, and wondered why the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik had reported none of this.
But, now, the same newspaper that had the facts on this terrorist group — years before Fox News, or anyone else — has gone so far as to make the bad guys look good. I wonder if the reporter physically traveled to "Islamberg"; or, did she build the article entirely from text and photos provided by the PR Department of the terrorist training camp? And, of course, the irony that this Islamist haven should choose the Yiddish ending "berg" for its training camp went entirely unreported. (Could anyone imagine a Jewish camp named "Torah-Shahar"?! I thought not.) It seems that, in the eyes of the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik, the bad guys can do no wrong ... nor even anything self-contradictory.
media double standard
During the same time frame when the Pravda and Some-Bolshevik was suppressing the "public's right to know" about the hard-core terrorist connections of their neighbors to the east of Binghamton, that same newspaper was making wild reports about Christian "survivalists" and other "right-wing extremists." Interestingly, most of what motivated those groups was a desire for "self-sufficiency," because they did not trust the government under President Bill Clinton. Such groups were branded "anti-government." Why? Because they thought that Clinton and his administration had trampled upon the Constitution. So, they were preparing against a possible economic and societal collapse. In the minds of the MSM, it was somehow anti-government to expect the president to obey the Constitution.
how the times have changed
Back in the mid-1970s, just outside of Binghamton, there was another training camp. It taught survival skills, among other things. The property was owned by a long-time member of Civil Air Patrol. That group is the official, civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. The CAP conducts a high percentage of the search-and-rescue (SAR) missions across America. The camp was called Thunderbird Land-Rescue Training Center. The students at that camp were CAP cadets (teenage members). In its day, the training at "T-Bird" was considered some of the finest SAR training in America. Some people think that the CAP Ranger program was patterned after Air Force Pararescue training. Historically, though, it was the CAP Rangers that were the pattern for Pararescue training. (The CAP Rangers, originally founded by Pennsylvania Wing, and later copied by other CAP state wings, predated the founding of the Air Force by several years.)
Although all of the SAR missions conducted by CAP are supervised (both at base camps and in the field) by adult members, the bulk of the training is given to CAP cadets. The adults that go into the field on CAP missions are often former cadets. In the late 1970s, the T-Bird training camp was closed. Some say it was due to lack of funding. Some say it was because the training was too tough, and some parents (especially from the New York City area, who thought they were sending their teenagers "off to camp") complained when their kiddies were sent home on a bus for failing daily performance tests. (The fact that they would be sent home was in the information packages that each parent had to sign.) Regardless of the reason for the camp's closure, it was a positive influence on hundreds of teenagers and adults during the 20 years of its operation. The training program had a series of recognition levels for proficiency. In the 20 years of training, which sometimes included three-day survival hikes in the Adirondacks with only minimal ALICE gear, there were only six cadets that achieved the level of "expert Ranger." (I can name all of them. They were all my friends. My name was number six on that list.)
The reason for this sidetrack down memory lane is to make a comparison of how the modern news media would report such a story. Oh, did I mention that one of the requirements of attendance at T-Bird was participation in classes conducted by CAP chaplains? (There are a lot of moral issues that confront people being trained to respond to an aircraft crash scene.) And, did I mention that the training also included firearms familiarization? (In a survival situation, one AR-7 rifle and a supply of ammunition can feed a planeload of passengers for a surprising amount of time.) Nowadays, schools and parents seem to pride themselves on the weak and vulnerable state of their children. A generation ago, as teenagers, we were preparing to help plane crash victims, and fully expected to go off to war in Vietnam "when we grew up." The difference between the mindsets of then and now sets the stage for a hypothetical example of how the MSM would spin the positive example of CAP Ranger School in today's news.
hypothetical example
BINGHAMTON, NY (August, 1974): A secretive enclave in a remote location has been accused of abusing teenagers and fomenting extremism. Under the guise of preparing to help strangers, the extremists of the Civil Air Patrol — a group that masquerades in paramilitary uniforms, and claims to have official government approval for their abusive activities — screams at teenagers, and forces them to run grueling obstacle courses. Their version of "training" begins at 5:30am, when instructors blow whistles outside the tents of peacefully sleeping children, screaming, "Get up! Get up! Get up!" The abuse continues as they are expected to actually wake up immediately — without the half-hour period that all government experts agree is necessary for teenagers to adjust to gradually increasing degrees of visual and auditory stimulation. Not only that, but the abuse continues, as the children are expected to stand in formation — in full uniform, including boots — within ten minutes of the whistle.
By modern education standards, this would be considered enough abuse for an entire week. But, their day is only beginning. These poor children are then required to run — without making noise — up a winding footpath through the woods to the "staging area." There, anyone that made noise must do pushups. Then, another whistle is blown, and the entire group of fifty cadets must run, uphill, to the parade field. There, they are subjected to the archaic and demeaning practice of saluting the flag in formation. Then, they must run (again) through a circuit-training course, which includes instructors shouting about their performance of various calisthenics. As if that were not enough abuse, the entire formation then goes out to a country road and runs at least a mile — while being forced to sing patriotic and "motivational" songs and "Jody calls." Upon return, the students must march to breakfast — which they must cook themselves, over a campfire. Shockingly, the abuse continues after breakfast, when the students must run the obstacle course, which includes one structure called the "nut buster." Abusive instructors actually claim that these poor children will learn confidence by running across a series of logs — lashed to tree stumps at varying heights, turned at different angles, with the bark shaved off, and then water poured over the logs. Amazingly, these psychologically-brutalized students manage to run the obstacle — at full speed, in combat boots — without falling off. (This newspaper will continue to investigate, and has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see if instructors put glue on the bottom of students' boots, in an effort to fool this intrepid and award-winning reporter.)
Instead of teaching these traumatized teens to be afraid of firearms, as required by the expert founders of Outcome-Based Education, the abusers actually line the children up and teach them to fire weapons — accurately, without "wasting ammunition"! (Everyone — except their abusive instructors — knows that the students must be allowed to miss their targets, in order not to damage their self-esteem.) And, in violation of all modern educational standards, the children are given basic and advanced first-aid classes, which show gruesome photos of various types of wounds. (All government education experts agree that the only blood that a child should see before becoming of age to vote is that of the abortion of their own children at a school-based clinic. That way, they will enter college properly conditioned not to fight back if a gunman should rampage through their campus. Fighting back, as all reasonable experts agree, is an archaic notion; and, it would damage the gunman's self-esteem. We as a society must learn to understand his rage, as we are all responsible for it anyway.)
The abuse continues as the teenage captives — far away from any support systems, an ACLU office, or a cell phone [which hadn't yet been invented in 1974] — are then forced to sit through classes taught by Christian chaplains of the Civil Air Patrol. (Instructor staff did show this reporter an opt-out form, but claimed that nobody had asked to be excused from the "moral education" classes. All reasonable people know that this would be impossible. So, this reporter will continue to investigate.) The students actually sit peacefully, and even seem to be paying attention. (A separate FOIA request has been submitted for a chemical analysis of the drinking water, which is trucked in via a military "water buffalo" tanker, because the location is so remote.)
This reporter left the CAP training camp, and contacted a local judge in Binghamton. When asked if he would issue orders for the camp to cease and desist in this type of abusive "training," the judge amazingly refused. When asked the reason, Judge Patrick J. Hardnose replied, "Because, someday, I might be on an airplane somewhere. If it crashes, I would want a fully-trained and motivated team to come and rescue me." This reporter will investigate the background of the rogue judge, to see if he has any secretive background ties to that abusive organization.
had enough yet?
As I typed the above hypothetical example, I worry that our American society has already "devolved" to the point that perhaps nobody will see its irony. Perhaps people will think that our training really was abusive. (It wasn't. Nobody could've demonstrated more care for the people under their charge than our Ranger instructor cadre. There are so many examples that I could easily fill an entire column.) I did not make up one fact about the training, and I left out a lot. And, did I mention that CAP is all volunteer, and that people actually paid a fee to attend such schools (in addition to buying all of their own uniforms and equipment)?
Given the ridiculous double standard of our modern news media, the positive motivation and training of the Civil Air Patrol volunteers would be seen as abuse. But, the ongoing presence of a terrorist training camp (which purports to be its own separate "town," in stark violation of New York State laws) is reported as a peaceful exercise of "self-sufficiency" in a religion where women are not allowed to be self-sufficient.
Not only did the news report fail to mention the dismal record of women's rights under Islam, but also there was no mention of what the men were doing while the women were busy for a month learning pottery and poetry. While the women were getting their photos taken molding pottery, were the men in a room learning to mold C-4 explosive? While the women were writing poetry, were the men writing manifestos? While the women were learning about their "religion of peace," were the men learning how to use hostages as bargaining tools? While the women were making quilts with Crescents on them, were the men shooting at targets with Crosses on them?
Is this type of "pink journalism" the new standard of news reporting? If so, we can soon expect to be "enlightened" with the positive aspects of having illegal aliens in our midst. And, of course, anyone that dares to point out the facts will be dubbed an "extremist." (The precedent has already been set. Remember how much the MSM bandied that term about during the 1990s?) Examples of media double standards abound. When those double standards are "merely political," a lot of readers overlook them. But, when things degenerate to a point that a terrorist training camp is depicted as some sort of wholesome activity, then we as Americans had better learn to gather our own information. It seems that journalism has moved past "yellow," and into "pink." Perhaps, ultimately, it is on its way toward "red."
© Tom Kovach
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