The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
It’s Always in the Last Place You Look
“Rare Iguana Found on Loading Dock of Ford Plant”–headline, Associated Press, Aug. 25
Help Wanted
“Three People Wanted for Robbery in Marshall County”–headline, WTVA-TV website (Tupelo, Miss.), Aug. 25
Maybe We Should Call It a ‘Partial-Earth Construction’
We noticed an interesting locution in an early story on the Times website about the attack on Ahmed Sharif. It referred to the Ground Zero mosque as “Park51, the proposed Islamic center that some critics call the ‘ground zero mosque.’ “
You see what they’re trying to do here, and it’s not necessarily indicative of bias. “Ground Zero mosque” is the most recognizable appellation for the as-yet-nonexistent whatever-it’s-supposed-to-be, but it’s not the formal name, and the pro-mosque side of the debate would prefer to call it something less in-your-face. So the Times resorts to apophasis, calling it the Ground Zero mosque by telling readers it’s not calling it that.
It reminds us of partial-birth abortion, or what the Times calls “the medical procedure critics call partial-birth abortion.” Supporters of the Ground Zero mosque may be less than thrilled with that association.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.
