Salon is a website for those who want their news with a decidedly leftist slant. Indeed, its reports usually makes MSNBC look moderate. Today, Salon has a piece from someone named Irin Carmon who is billed as a "staff writer" about the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell and the lack of media coverage of it. For those of you who do not know, Dr. Gosnell is on trial for seven counts of murder for babies who were born alive and then allegedly killed by the doctor at his abortion clinic. There are also two mothers who died allegedly due to Gosnell's activities. The testimony coming from the trial has been horrifying; tales of babies cringing as their spines were "snipped" and the like. Yet, in all the many weeks that this trial has continued, there has been not so much as ten seconds of coverage on CNN, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, or CBS. Indeed, there has been no coverage of the trial at all. In the last weeks, other media like Fox News has given the trial major coverage and they are now also covering the story as to why the mainstream media is ignoring the story. In some places, the news have broken through and articles acknowledging the importance of this story have now appeared at The Atlantic and even at Slate.
Irin Carmon at Salon, however, takes a new tack in the discussion. First, she claims that the story has been extensively covered. Of course she follows that up by explaining that the media never covers stories about crimes that affect "the poor, immigrants and other marginalized people". Let's stop there; she cannot have it both ways. Indeed, she manages to get it wrong both ways. Let's start with stories about "the poor". Maybe Irin Carmon missed it, but I seem to recall more than a few stories about a poor youth named Trayvon Martin. For a while, it was the biggest story in America. Well how about Casey Anthony? She was hardly wealthy or even middle income. Her story too was plastered everywhere. Have you read or seen stories about gang violence in Chicago or Los Angeles? These are not kids home for spring break from Exeter or St. Albans. The gang members are poor, immigrant and marginalized, but they still get covered. Okay, not ever crime committed by or to gang members is reported, but there is a steady stream of coverage nevertheless. The trial of Dr. Gosnell has had no stories on CBS, no stories on ABC, no stories on NBC, no stories on CNN and no stories on MSNBC. So it seems that Irin Carmon must be hallucinating when she wrote about the extensive coverage.
Ms. Carmon does not stop with just reporting her delusions. Next she says that Dr. Gosnell and his alleged activities are the result of anti-abortion restrictions. These restrictions kept poor women from being able to get abortions and so they ended up at the clinic run by Gosnell. But then comes the clincher from Carmon: she reports that "Gosnell’s willingness to break the law was what made him their last chance. ...What he did was already illegal."
So Ms. Carmon understands that what Gosnell allegedly did was completely illegal. One would think that she would then ask how it was possible that the state of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia let it continue for so long. Why did governor Ed Rendell who was in office when all these crimes were allegedly committed not bother to have the relevant laws enforced? Why did Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia not have them enforced? The answer, of course, is that the pro-choice forces go ballistic whenever any restriction on abortion is enforced and Rendell and Nutter would not take on their backers.
Ms. Carmon and others of her ilk do not help their cause with dishonest and delusional writing. Gosnell allegedly is a mass murderer who was allowed to carry out his "work" and get rich doing so because the government refused to enforce its own laws in the face of strident protest from the abortion at any cost crowd. Just for once, it might be nice to see one of these people understand the horror of what happened here. It might be nice, but after reading what Ms. Carmon wrote, I doubt the day will ever come when it happens.
Irin Carmon at Salon, however, takes a new tack in the discussion. First, she claims that the story has been extensively covered. Of course she follows that up by explaining that the media never covers stories about crimes that affect "the poor, immigrants and other marginalized people". Let's stop there; she cannot have it both ways. Indeed, she manages to get it wrong both ways. Let's start with stories about "the poor". Maybe Irin Carmon missed it, but I seem to recall more than a few stories about a poor youth named Trayvon Martin. For a while, it was the biggest story in America. Well how about Casey Anthony? She was hardly wealthy or even middle income. Her story too was plastered everywhere. Have you read or seen stories about gang violence in Chicago or Los Angeles? These are not kids home for spring break from Exeter or St. Albans. The gang members are poor, immigrant and marginalized, but they still get covered. Okay, not ever crime committed by or to gang members is reported, but there is a steady stream of coverage nevertheless. The trial of Dr. Gosnell has had no stories on CBS, no stories on ABC, no stories on NBC, no stories on CNN and no stories on MSNBC. So it seems that Irin Carmon must be hallucinating when she wrote about the extensive coverage.
Ms. Carmon does not stop with just reporting her delusions. Next she says that Dr. Gosnell and his alleged activities are the result of anti-abortion restrictions. These restrictions kept poor women from being able to get abortions and so they ended up at the clinic run by Gosnell. But then comes the clincher from Carmon: she reports that "Gosnell’s willingness to break the law was what made him their last chance. ...What he did was already illegal."
So Ms. Carmon understands that what Gosnell allegedly did was completely illegal. One would think that she would then ask how it was possible that the state of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia let it continue for so long. Why did governor Ed Rendell who was in office when all these crimes were allegedly committed not bother to have the relevant laws enforced? Why did Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia not have them enforced? The answer, of course, is that the pro-choice forces go ballistic whenever any restriction on abortion is enforced and Rendell and Nutter would not take on their backers.
Ms. Carmon and others of her ilk do not help their cause with dishonest and delusional writing. Gosnell allegedly is a mass murderer who was allowed to carry out his "work" and get rich doing so because the government refused to enforce its own laws in the face of strident protest from the abortion at any cost crowd. Just for once, it might be nice to see one of these people understand the horror of what happened here. It might be nice, but after reading what Ms. Carmon wrote, I doubt the day will ever come when it happens.
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