Again on Facebook (where else?), Palin notes that one of the backers of the “Ground Zero Mosque” blamed America for inspiring Islamic radicalism. Let’s re-watch an ad put out by Republican Trust PAC, a Palin ally:
You know, Imam Rauf has a point. We can query his tact in making it, when he chose to, but at the point that we’re calling all Muslims terrorists, explicitly, we’re really not helping things. If we don’t let groups integrate into our society, when they ask to do so peacefully and on our terms, we can’t be surprised when radicals start to draw from their ranks.
I think, no; but because Sarah Palin’s dredging up this bit of ancient history, in light of recently discovered emails from top journalists hoping to bury the story before it broke, let’s examine.
Off the bat, note that it’s not like “liberals” and “media elites” were the only ones who wanted to move past Wright, and fight the election on ground that actually had some bearing on matters of policy. Palin’s boss did, too. On his say-so, the following ad never ran:
Consider, too, the only theory under which Wright becomes relevant. Despite Obama’s extensive public record on matters racial and political, Wright represented Obama’s only linkage to the more controversial elements of America’s black community, elements which, in all other respects, Mr. Obama had conspicuously avoided, for his entire life.
Wright was a weak way to make a weaker argument, one likely to inflame passions out of proportion with its merit, and otherwise distract the American populace from matters of grave importance — like the collapsing economy. If we conceive of journalism as a way to mediate the flow of information and the cultivation of an educated populace, and not as a campaign adjunct with a discrete agenda, then the journalist’s job is precisely to avoid these kinds of stories. Politicians may fire as they bear (and reap the consequences), but journalists should function as gatekeepers. Someone has to.
