Buzzfeed has published a shameful piece by Rosie Gray equating critics of LAPD corruption with being fans of Dorner and endorsing cop-killing. Gray attacked Salon’s Natasha Lennard for writing “a couple of stories sympathetic to Dorner’; accused Marc Lamont Hill of defending cop-killing; and says Vice portrayed Dorner as a hero. Of course none of these things are true. It seems Lenard, Hill and Vice made the mistake of reporting honestly on the LAPD’s culture of corruption, racism and brutality.
I recognize this tactic because it’s been used against me since the manhunt for Dorner began. I’ve received emails and tweets accusing me of encouraging the murder of police officers simply because I reported on stories of racially targeted violence by southern California police departments. I’ve also been labeled a Dorner fan for highlighting his accurate critique of the LAPD. And no matters how loudly I condemn his killing rampage, the accusations don’t stop.
Contrary to what Buzzfeed might think, it is possible to acknowledge the many truths in Dorner’s manifesto while also denouncing the murder of police officers and their families. People like Gray, who claim otherwise, are just trying to silence people like me and Lennard and Hill. Nice try, but it didn’t work.
these naysayers seem to forget Dorner was a ‘cop’ exposing cop racism and corruption..
February 14, 2013 at 12:02 amInvoking false dichotomies is a pervasive practice in the realm of politics. I wonder what the breakdown is between those dolts who unwittingly commit the above fallacy because their brains are incapable of processing more nuanced positions vs. those people who knowingly use it as a cheap rhetorical attack? Another prime example is the contention that opposition to draconian U.S. sanctions (e.g., Iran), NATO-backed regime change (e.g., Libya), or U.S. destabilization of sovereign states by proxy (e.g., Syrian “freedom fighters”) necessarily entails one’s fervent support for dictatorial or theocratic heads of such nations. The notion that one cannot decry U.S. neo-imperialism and contravention of international law without simultaneously endorsing the nature of the states it victimizes is every bit as fallacious as the claim that one cannot acknowledge Dorner’s charge of systemic LAPD corruption and racism without simultaneously sanctioning his violent response.
February 14, 2013 at 2:07 amNothing disgusts me more than to know human waste / yellow “journalists” like Rosie Gray take poisoning people’s minds, with a grain of salt. And for what, for the paycheck at the end of the day. That parasitic marketing mouthpiece wouldn’t survive in the loss leading/fairness doctrine week of real reporting. These days any lying scum can write mind poison and pass it off as “credible.” Why? Because they’re working for lying corporate monsters and not real news houses anymore. And I can’t understand how anyone can actually consciously do what she does so I suspect the only way Rosie Gray can live with herself is due to the fact that she really just too stupid to see, or comprehend, the damage she causes and how it ruins lives. There’s a special place in hell for Rosie Gray and her ilk. She’s not even close to a real journalist. Ironically – she is the “Teresa Evans” of social information.
February 14, 2013 at 2:24 amThoroughly Disgusted EX Jourmalist:
Don’t forget two things. The Buzzfeed politcal section is run by Ben Smith. Smith worked at Drudgico(aka Politico) before Buzzfeed hired him. He’s also, though unrelated to this story, an AIPAC tool. They say jump and he asks how high.
February 14, 2013 at 1:58 pm