As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting my own post, Are we already at war with Iran?, for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.
This week’s Carnival of the Liberated, a sampler of some of the best posts from Iraqi bloggers from the preceding week, is now available on Dean’s World. This week we’ve got Friends of Democracy, friends of democracy, and others—not so much.
There’s an article by Howard Kurtz in today’s Washington Post on Eason Jordan’s claim that the American military had targeted journalists in Iraq:
What CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan said, or didn’t say, in Davos, Switzerland, last month has become a burgeoning controversy among bloggers and media critics.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who attended the World Economic Forum panel at which Jordan spoke, recalled yesterday that Jordan said he knew of 12 journalists who were killed by coalition forces in Iraq. At first, said Frank, “it sounded like he was saying it was official military policy to take out journalists.” But Jordan later “modified” his remarks to say some U.S. soldiers did this “maybe knowing they were killing journalists, out of anger. . . . He did say he was talking about cases of deliberate killing,” Frank said.
Jordan denied that last night, saying he had been responding to Frank’s comment that the 63 journalists who have been killed in Iraq were “collateral damage” in the war. “I was trying to make a distinction between ‘collateral damage’ and people who got killed in other ways,” Jordan said last night. “I have never once in my life thought anyone from the U.S. military tried to kill a journalist. Never meant to suggest that. Obviously I wasn’t as clear as I should have been on that panel.”
No, according to Gergen, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, and Massachusetts Congressman Barney Franks, he didn’t suggest it—he said it outright. At this point the preponderance of the evidence suggests that Jordan is lying.
As Warner Wolfe used to say, “Let’s go to the videotape”.
How could I have missed this “problem” with homeschooling: my kids will have to go into the real world not having been socialized to deal with gun-toting destitute maniacs. Umm…..
When I looked at my mail this evening much to my surprise Lyric Opera of Chicago had already sent out their subscription notices for the 2005-2006 season. There’s still more than a month to go on the 2004-2005 season. That’s pretty greedy for our $1,000+ subscriptions (each), isn’t it?
Here’s what we’re looking forward to next season (and I do mean looking forward to):
Bizet’s Carmen
Rossini’s La Cenerentola
Puccini’s Manon Lescaut (which we haven’t seen in ages at Lyric)
Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage (I’m unfamiliar with it)
Mozart’s The Magic Flute (probably my favorite opera)
Verdi’s Rigoletto
Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier(Hurray! It’s been years since
we’ve seen this)
Glück’s Orfeo ed Euridice
Now that’s what the 50th anniversary season (which we’re just finishing) should have looked like. I can hardly wait until fall.
David Gergen, who moderated the Davos panel on which CNN exec Eason Jordan appeared, spoke with me by phone this afternoon about the controversy.
First, Gergen confirmed that Eason Jordan did in fact initially assert that journalists in Iraq had been targeted by military “on both sides.” Gergen, who has known Jordan for some 20 years, told me Jordan “realized as soon as the words had left his mouth that he had gone too far” and “walked himself back.” Gergen said as soon as he heard the assertion that journalists had been deliberately targeted, “I was startled. It’s contrary to history, which is so far the other way. Our troops have gone out of their way to protect and rescue journalists.”
Walking himself back is nowhere nearly enough. A quick look at the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists reveals this:
Journalists should:
* Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
and
* Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
Clearly Mr. Jordan had the opportunity to retract his statement clearly and unambiguously. There’s no indication that he’s done it. That gives the appearance of moving this matter from the realm of “inadvertent error” to “deliberate distortion”.
Michelle continues:
Gergen mentioned that Jordan had just returned from Iraq and was “caught up in the tension of what was happening there. It’s a raw, emotional wound for him.”
Not only is that in no way exculpatory it suggests that there may be actual malice involved.
The basic facts of the story have now been confirmed by David Gergen, a Democratic representative (Barney Franks of Massachusetts), and a Democratic Senator (Chris Dodd of Connecticut). Where are the mainstream media on this? Where is the Society of Professional Journalists on this? Be vewy, vewy quiet.
UPDATE: Just to clarify my position, until yesterday’s revelations I thought it was possible that the Eason Jordan story was being blown out of proportion and what was going on was a right-wing bloggers’ feeding frenzy. There is no way that either Chris Dodd or Barney Franks can by any stretch of the imagination be considered right-wing and their comments make it clear that Jordan had stepped beyond the bounds. As the head of one of the major news outlets, Jordan’s statements are now evidence of a serious ethical lapse to advance an ideological position and the failure to take it seriously would itself be an ideological stand at this point.
My local NPR station, WBEZ, has an interesting program on Al-Qaeda on its Worldview program today February 7, 2005 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm CST . The program can be listed to live via streaming audio by clicking on the “Listen Now” button. Tomorrow it will be available in their archives. From the station home page select “Audio Library”, then select “Worldview”, then “February 2005” then the day (the 7th).
It’s a very quiet day in the blogosphere this morning. I must admit that I’m not too interested in Ward Chruchill, Eason Jordan, or the SuperBowl. But a few things have still caught my eye:
Michael J. Totten tells all
about drinking with Christopher Hitchens and the Iraqis. Read this post.
What is it about the last few weeks? It’s been really hard on bloggers automobiles. First,
there was Ann Althouse’s traffic accident now Boudicca’s husband’s car has been
rear-ended at high speed.
This is Fidelio’s 200th anniversary year. I’ve heard it said that every really great composer has at least one opera in him (or her). For me Beethoven’s Fidelio is proof positive that that just isn’t so. I am convinced that if it weren’t for the lovely first act overture which is frequently performed in concert and the Beethoven name this opera would have fallen out of the common repertoire long, long ago. So my wife and I approached Lyric’s production of Fidelio with some misgivings.
We were pleasantly surprised. I’ve seen Fidelio performed a number of times by significantly more notable performers than we heard last night—this was by far the best performance of Fidelio I’ve ever seen.
It definitely could have been otherwise. This was a modern-dress production and the costumes and sets were drab and spare (suitable for the prison setting of the opera). The acting (with one exception) was quite naturalistic and I found that the natural stage direction and business relieved the ponderous and overly-didactic quality I’ve found other productions of the opera to have. The exception that I mentioned was Rene Pape, who sang Rocco. His singing was fine but I found his acting rather more stylized than the rest of the cast.
Although there were no real stand-outs among the voices, I found them quite well-balanced and I felt they supported each other quite well. Actually, the ensemble pieces were better than the soli. This was particularly true of Isabel Bayrakdarian who sang Marzelline. Her first act duet with Steve Davislim as Jaquino was quite lovely. Her solo aria that immediately followed was somewhat less so.
Karita Mattila’s performance as Fidelio was authoritative and convincing.
Von Dohnanyi’s conducting was a distinct asset to the performance. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Lyric Opera orchestra sound better or play with more finesse. Even the brief horn solo (often a rough spot in Lyric performances) from the first act overture was executed flawlessly.
I do have some quibbles with aspects of the production and design. I didn’t care for the Act II, Scene 1 prison set at all. How can anyone make an entrace down a fifteen foot ladder? And, although he was fine vocally, I found Kim Begley’s physical presence as Florestan disconcerting. I’ve never seen a fat, bald, greybeard as Florestan before. What should have been Edmond Dantes was more like Scott Calvin from The Santa Claus. The reunion duet between Leonore and Florestan was odd—a married couple who have been separated for two years proclaiming their joy at being reunited from opposite sides of the stage. Don Fernando looked too much like Lenin. by the second act the chorus had returned to the old low, Lyric standards for blocking, in this case a mob.
But, as I say, those are quibbles. I found the production enjoyable, the music lovely, the voices balanced. One of the highlights of the season so far.
The season so far (best to worst): Das Rheingold, The Cunning Little Vixen—Fidelio (tied), Aida, Don Giovanni, A Wedding.
This is Fidelio’s 200th anniversary year. I’ve heard it said that every really great composer has at least one opera in him (or her). For me 
