The Periscope Post

Opinion-makers: Who to read today.

The war isn’t over
Contrary to what President Barack Obama says, America’s combat mission in Iraq is not over. That’s the word from the Associated Press’s standards editor, Tom Kent, who issued a memo to AP reporters Thursday warning them to avoid following the White House’s line. The memo, which turned up on journo site Poynter.org and was highlighted on The Atlantic Wire, explained, “The situation on the ground in Iraq is no different today than it has been for some months. Iraqi security forces are still fighting Sunni and al-Qaida insurgents. Many Iraqis remain very concerned for their country’s future despite a dramatic improvement in security, the economy and living conditions in many areas. As for U.S. involvement, it also goes too far to say that the U.S. part in the conflict in Iraq is over.”

Max Fisher, writing at The Atlantic, noted, “The Associated Press’s decision comes several years after the U.S. media’s controversial coverage of the Iraq war invasion, in which reporters uncritically repeated much of the Bush administration’s rationale for war, including claims of chemical weapons use that were later proven untrue.”

Jan Brewer in car crash… debate
Jan Brewer, Arizona’s Republican governor who signed into law the state’s controversial immigration legislation and is a kind of hero to the anti-immigration folks, has not had a good week. The governor, who face re-election this November, has been excoriated by the press for not one but two televised gaffes. One, during a candidates’ debate, saw Brewer seemingly unable to list her accomplishments as governor; the second was a run-in with reporters after the debate, quizzing her on her unfounded claim that the decapitated bodies of illegal immigrants have been found in the Arizona desert. That time, she opted to stay mum.
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Are politicians’ lives public property?
In the wake of Foreign Secretary William Hague’s recent public embarrassment – the Affair of the Special Advisor – The Guardian assembled a panel of notable thinker types to ask them their thoughts on public servants and private lives, asking, “Does it matter who William Hague shares a hotel room with?” Philosopher Julian Baggini was up first, countering, “Nothing matters, full stop.” Nihilistic shrugging aside, Baggini explained that it doesn’t really matter to the public whether Hague is a “love rat” or not, that’s an issue for his friends and family.

Stateswomen Shirley Williams hewed to the view that this episode is an example of “how obsessive and trivial some of our media have become”, but noted, “he should have been more careful about the opportunity he was giving to some parts of the media for a slur on his character.” Lefty spin doctor Alistair Campbell wondered, “[Y]es, seem a bit odd to share a room with a young male adviser, but really, why does he have to go into all this in such detail at all?” That said, he wished Hague the best. Historian Anthony Seldon responded, rather curtly, “It should not even be an issue. What matters is the integrity and competency of politicians.”

Journalist and gay man Matt Wells asked, “What is it about Tories, beds and homosexuality?” That aside, Wells continued, “So what of that press reaction? However much high-minded commentators puff that the Hague whirlwind is ‘not about homosexuality’ but public money and hypocrisy, it’s really about the simultaneous fascination and repulsion that gay sex still holds for the dirty mac brigade in the British press.” But PR guru Mark Borkowski argued that it does matter who Hague shares a room with, because the general public cares about “honesty and credibility”. “In an internet era where conspiracy theories breed like bacteria, stories have to be extinguished immediately or you end up with a forest fire,” he warned.

And finally, gay rights activist Peter Tatchell noted that the gender of the third party in this alleged affair matters very little in 2010: “It would be the act of betrayal, not the gender of his partner, that would generate the strongest public reaction.” Being gay and in public office is a non-issue.

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