The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Guess Hu’s Coming to Dinner
“Guests Prepare for White House State Dinner With Chinese President”–headline, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 19
Blast From the Past
It took less than two weeks for the formerly mainstream media’s phony war on “violent rhetoric” to reach the point of self-parody, Byron York reports in the Washington Examiner:
CNN’s John King is attracting a lot of notice–and some ridicule–in the blogosphere for his on-air apology after a guest used the word “crosshairs” during a report on Chicago politics Tuesday. (The guest, a former Chicago reporter, referred to two rivals of mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel, saying Emanuel is “in both of their crosshairs.”)
“We were just having a discussion about the Chicago mayoral race,” King told viewers. “My friend Andy Shaw . . . used the term ‘in the crosshairs’ in talking about the candidates out there. We’re trying, we’re trying to get away from that language. Andy is a good friend, he’s covered politics for a long time, but we’re trying to get away from using that kind of language. We won’t always be perfect, so hold us accountable when we don’t meet your standards.”
This reminds us of the story–perhaps apocryphal–about the college resident assistant who set up dorm recycling bins for “white” and “colored” paper. A wag crossed out the latter and wrote in “paper of color.” The RA wrote her own note back: “If this is a serious complaint, please come see me. If it’s a joke, it’s not funny.”
It’s especially hilarious that this would happen on CNN, which used to have a program called “Crossfire” until the executives killed it.
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.”
