Michael Kelly, R.I.P.
Michael Kelly, the Atlantic Monthly editor-at-large and Washington Post columnist who abandoned the safety of editorial offices to cover the war in Iraq, has been killed in a Humvee accident while traveling with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.
Kelly, the first American journalist killed in the war, had also served as editor of the New Republic and National Journal. But his decision to join up with U.S. forces marked a return to his reporting roots, since he covered the first Persian Gulf War as a magazine freelancer and turned his observations into a book, "Martyrs' Day." While one Australian and two British journalists have been killed covering the war, Kelly's death is the first among the 600 correspondents participating in the Pentagon's embedding program.
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Anti-War Post of the day:
http://dc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=62086&group=webcast
“WP Nazi columnist bites the Iraqi dust”
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RE: The above post.
Real nice. No s***. shows what the anti-war crowd is really about.
Steve is absolutely right. One asshole’s post on an antiwar website sure does discredit the entire antiwar movement.
On the other hand, no racist rant on Little Green Footballs *ever* discredits the entire pro-war movement.
It’s just one of life’s little mysteries.
Now more than ever, folks:
http://www.theanticmuse.blogspot.com/
“this is not the left I signed up for”
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That Indymedia post is stupid, and so are most of the responses to it. A few sensible comments are mixed in, however, including one by someone called Sexy Anarchist Bloc:
“Does anybody else see a double standard here? All of a sudden, a bunch of folks start visiting Indymedia DC, with visions that the leftists here are celebrating the death of Michael Kelly. When they don’t find what they wanted, they post a few insults anyway.
“Of course, anything a few leftists post here about Michael Kelly will absolutely pale in comparison to the nasty jokes and slurs that were posted about the death of Rachel Corrie on right wing websites a few weeks ago. You remember, guys, like the comments about how Rachel can now ‘rest in pieces’? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more disgusting display of inhumanity when I read all of the nasty posts made about Rachel Corrie’s tragic death on right wing and Indymedia websites. Rachel died while trying to stop a bulldozer from demolishing the home of a Palestinian family. Her tragic act was a more serious version of that incident in China in 1989 when that lone guy stared down a column of tanks. Michael Kelly, on the other hand, made a living writing essays that served the interests of the powerful. He died in a car accident.
“Now, go back to your blogs.”
What does Steve think about Rachel Corrie?
i think she was a stupid dupe for terrorists.
but i am still sad she died.
Sexy Anarchist Bloc is so typical of the Leftist archtype. First of all there ARE comments there celebrating his death on the thread. Second, the “double-standard” is non-existant as there is no proof that those condemning the poster are the SAME that made negative comments regarding Rachel Corrie. Third, it shouldn’t matter that Kelly ” served the interests of the powerful.” To call the man a nazi and celebrate his death is STILL wrong.
Just more misdirection and dodging. Is it really that difficult to just condemn the poster for saying something very stupid and offensive?
Calling Kelly a Nazi and celebrating his death is wrong. I don’t think any sane person would deny that. But the real misdirection here is taking some reprehensible comments from the lunatic fringe and trying to pretend they apply beyond the lunatic fringe. And the point is not whether the posters decrying the treatment of Kelly are the same ones making fun of Rachel Corrie; the point is that virtually no one from the right — whether they’re posting now or not — objected to the way Corrie was treated. Where was the outrage then?
Come to think of it, where was the outrage against unpatriotic, opportunistic politicians who criticized our commander-in-chief about the war in Kosovo?
There’s no question that people all along the political spectrum are guilty of hypocrisy. It’s just that the conservatives get the chance to display more of it right now.
>>Calling Kelly a Nazi and celebrating his death is wrong.>But the real misdirection here is taking some reprehensible comments from the lunatic fringe and trying to pretend they apply beyond the lunatic fringe.>the point is that virtually no one from the right — whether they’re posting now or not — objected to the way Corrie was treated.>Come to think of it, where was the outrage against unpatriotic, opportunistic politicians who criticized our commander-in-chief about the war in Kosovo?
The far-left indymedia is taking entirely the wrong tack on this. They’d get much more mileage out of it by speculating on whether Mr. Kelly was killed for having information about the Army’s “Kill Every Civilian” plan.
“They”? You’re talking about one poster on an open site.
Referring to Indymedia as a single, united agent is like referring to Usenet as a single, united agent.
http://www.btnhboard.com/~scrub/corrie.htm
Kinda wierd isn’t it – left wingers dying in efforts to bring freedom to the Palestinians. The wierd part is not in trying to bring “freedom”, but the society the Palestinians would create would likely (I say without evidence) be a hard right-wing society that no good liberal would choose to live in. No freedom for those with minority or offensive viewpoints. (ie homosexuals, sexual deviants, drug/alcohol users, purveyors of fine pornography, Buddists, Christians, Jews, athiests, etc.) Or are Palestinians in general more moderate (and modern) than I’m thinking?
Palestinians are the most moderate (save Lebanese, perhaps) in the Middle East. Arafat’s crew includes christians, etc. As the violence has gotten worse, however, the islamic people have gained in power and influence. However Israeli society has also had an effect, and during the peace of 1994-1999 tolerance increased. It will take some time to come around to western standards, and there are many disparate groups. Most social scientists who have studied the area conclude that the longer war goes on, the harder it will be to create a unified, open society. Which is perhaps what Sharon, etc. are counting on.
Steve:
My first knowledge of Kelley’s death came from postings on the blogs of two antiwar libertarians, Jim Henley and Jesse Walker. Both were respectfully done.
Jack Shafer has a very nice tribute to Kelly here:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081167/
Where have you been, Kevin? I’ve missed your posts the past couple of weeks, since I get a lot of good information from them. It’s good to see you’re back.