Reader Mail
Looking for the Drawing
The missing Mohammed drawings. Stephen Labaton, lobbyist? Peggy Noonan and Catholic coverups. Financial reform, diagnosing racism, and more.
AFTER
THE TIMES
Re: The Washington
Prowler’s What
Lies Beneath:
Your item in Washington Prowler about my departure from The New York Times last December contains numerous inaccuracies that might have been addressed if your reporter had called me prior to publication.
Since leaving The Times last December I have not been hired by any companies to put them in contact with reporters from The Times or to lobby before any regulator, legislative or other government agencies. I would appreciate a prompt correction.
Thank you.
—Stephen Labaton
The Prowler
replies:
I stand by the item,
which nowhere says Mr. Labaton had been hired to put companies
“in contact with reporters from The Times” or to serve as a
lobbyist.
KNOWING LESS
Re: Robert VerBruggen’s Diagnosing
Racism:
Here is another question: Do the data show anything about the Tea Parties? We have a right to a good answer, because this research must be supported by public dollars both directly and indirectly. And even if the demographers were hobbyists who collected the data in their spare time, since they claim that their work is science, they should be expected to back up that serious claim. For their information, science is not data. Science is knowledge, or its functional equivalent. What knowledge does the Institute’s research produce?
Polling about attitudes is almost certain to be misleading, especially in the case of Tea Party participants. The one obvious thing about a Tea Party is that the people are there to express themselves: almost everyone is carrying a sign or wearing some garment or accessory with a message. A descriptive account of a Tea Party should say, “People came with such-and-such signs”. The polling work of this Institute obscures the most salient sociological fact: the Tea Parties are assemblies of citizens. Instead it elicits factoids about ethnicity and attitudes. Even assuming that these attitudes could be accurately determined, they are of no demonstrable consequence — in contrast to the public statements that the Tea Partiers themselves choose to make.
Ultimately this University of Washington Institute, like other
institutes conducting demographic research, justifies its work as
useful to society. In this case, it was only useful to
journalists seeking pseudo-scientific support for fake news.
These researchers who are paid for being scientists have a
responsibility to their employers, funders, and “Society” to
prove that they actually know more about society than an alert
participant does. I don’t think they can. Thanks to them, we know
less. That’s a bad job evaluation.
— Bruce Heiden
Professor of Greek and Latin
The Ohio State
University
Columbus, Ohio
WHERE’S THE PICTURE?
Re: Jeffrey Lord’s
Jon Stewart Flunks His Spartacus Test:
What a bizarre piece. Did your author watch the actual Daily Show segment that skewered the Muslims? I note, by the way, that the piece does not include a picture of Mohammed, with or without bear suit. Unlike the Daily Show. I guess you guys ain’t Spartacus, either.
Shame on you for the most disingenuous piece I’ve read on this
issue so far.
— Silke-Maria
How come no picture/drawing etc..of Mohammed along with the
article?
— Climb
As the writer notes in the beginning, everyone has his “Spartacus
moment” — maybe for reasons unknown to us, this wasn’t meant to
be Stewart’s moment. Maybe we should all stop criticizing each
other. When you feel like pounding someone into the ground, stop
and ask if it’s really necessary — how would that be for a
“Spartacus moment”?
— Kristin Pastore
Somerset, New Jersey
Bravo, bravo, bravo!!
Letter to the Editor View all comments (36) | Leave a comment
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Alan Brooks| 4.30.10 @ 4:48PM
Noonan stretches the "fact" below. The press is no more a friend of the Church than it was of Nixon's executive branch in 1973-4.
"Friend"? yeah, sure; right.
"the fact is that the press—the journalistic establishment in the U.S. and Europe—has been the best friend of the Catholic Church on this issue. Let me repeat that: The press has been the best friend of the Catholic Church on the scandals because it exposed the story and made the church face it. The press forced the church to admit, confront and attempt to redress what had happened. The press forced them to confess. The press forced the church to change the old regime and begin to come to terms with the abusers. The church shouldn't be saying j'accuse but thank you."
Alan Brooks| 5.2.10 @ 12:08AM
One more time:
if the Church hypothetically were to permit priests to marry--both straight & gay-- and some of the priests married 17 year olds, the press would be commending the Church for its "forward-looking", "open-minded", "21st century"... attitudes.
But as the situation stands today, if a priest fondles a 17 year old, the press wants the priest prosecuted; and the press wants the Church to fork over tons of dough in settlement.
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Alan Brooks| 4.30.10 @ 6:46PM
With friends like the press, the Church doesn't need enemies.
Alan Brooks| 5.1.10 @ 9:52PM
PS,
Noonan naturally meant it as an unintended consequence; yet the press is still no friend of the Church unless the Church would want gay marriage for all the clergy-- then a priest marrying a 17 year old boy might not seem so bad to the press.
Funny how the perspective can change, eh?
PCC| 4.30.10 @ 7:12PM
Mr. Labaton's 'non-denial denial' is laughable. We know a 'modified limited hangout' when we see one.
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Sorry to inform you, Steve, but adding salt is by far the worst way to address the taste issue of food. Salt added during cooking is by far preferable to adding afterwords, if health issues are a matter of concern. Any cook or chef can tell you that. The negative effect of salt - if indeed there is one for all people - is far worse when it is added after preparation.
Margie| 5.1.10 @ 5:38PM
Child molesters aren't born of God.
The press isn't supposed to be a "friend" of anyone.
Friends of God expose sin, not cover it up. Honest people, never mind supposed Christians, send child molesters to prison.
Jeremy Stevens| 5.2.10 @ 5:44PM
An author or website claiming "conservative" credentials is no guarantee of anything.
Case in point: Free Republic, where vitriolic anti-Catholic bigots like Alex Murphy and TSgt are allowed to post ANYTHING at ANYTIME, and Catholics who dare take them on have their accounts suspended or terminated.
A Catholic friend of mine had a "Religion Moderator" write: "Our 'supervisor' is Jim Robinson (FR's founder and boss). Go complain to him, if you want to. I dare you."
About as anti-Catholic as you could possibly imagine - yet self-identifying a "the premier conservative website."
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