The Value Of An Apology, At Least From A Republican's Perspective!!

"tony cooper" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 00:46:03 -0400, "Neil Harrington"
wrote:


"tony cooper" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 5 Oct 2009 13:14:07 +0100, Chris H wrote:




I do understand but having seem FOX news and many others the same
pictures with slightly different words can portray a very different
scene.

I recall during the floods in New Orleans there was a comment that there
were gangs of black criminals looting and white vigilantes trying to
keep the peace and get supplies for people.

I don't believe this either. The meaning of the word "vigilantes"
would be understood by any professional journalist, and not used to
describe "keeping the peace". A description using "vigilantes" would
be as negative as a description using "looters".

Not necessarily. "Vigilantes" implies a group of citizens that "take the
law
into their own hands," to use the common phrase. Sometimes that is the
necessary and proper thing to do.

The word "vigilantes" does not mean upholding the law. Vigilantes
operate outside of the law and contrary to the law. Any use of
"vigilante" has negative meaning and negative connotation.

It has that meaning and connotation for you, because of the way it is
generally used and because you presumably don't know how the term
originated.. But when there is no law organization doing the job the law
is
supposed to do, and peaceful, honest citizens are being attacked, robbed
and
worse -- as obviously was the case in New Orleans -- then the vigilante in
one form or another becomes necessary. What else can people do to protect
themselves? Remember that in New Orleans during Katrina, many of the
police
fled the city (two of them stole a police cruiser and were arrested in
Texas) and the mayor fled also. Whatever police remained seem to have been
absolutely useless.

Chris's comment was that Fox News reported that there were black
looters and white vigilantes keeping the peace. I flat-out don't
believe this. I think Chris is making up an example out of whole
cloth.

It's not that I don't believe that some citizens of New Orleans were
forced to act in their own defense absent authorized police presence.
What I don't believe is Chris's claim that Fox News reporting
portrayed black looters as the bad guys and white vigilantes as the
good guys. No journalist would use "vigilantes" with a positive
connotation. The origin of the word is irrelevant; the current
connotation of the word is all that is relevant when it comes to news
reporting.

I agree, I cannot imagine reporters using the word "vigilantes" in anything
but a negative way.


George Will or William Safire (may he R.I.P) may do a column exploring
English usage and the origin of words and phrases, but news
journalists deal with present connotation. They are not, for example,
going to use the perfectly legitimate word "niggardly" in a news piece
after the 1999 Washington DC flap.

guffaw!

I remember that well, though I didn't recall what the city was. You're
right, of course.