Media Manipulation: 9/11, Koran Burning, and Race Baiting

Sorry I've been MIA lately ... the new school year with a new prep has been keeping me hoppin'!  And, as I whiz through my day in a Tasmanian Devil-like whirl, there have been so many things going on in the news that have been adding to the centrifugal force of life.  And, as usual, the MSM are the motor of this centrifuge, spinning out lies, distortions, and outright churning up trouble.

I have been amazed at how much international play the recent story of the whacko "pastor" in Florida received when he threatened to burn copies of the Koran in remembrance (?) of 9/11 and in defiance to Islam.  I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when Pastor Terry Jones of the ironically named "Dove World Outreach Center" canceled plans, telling NBC's Today Show that he would not burn Korans or ever.  [Source]  I find it very alarming that the press and a bunch of politicians vaulted headlong into the insanity created by a pastor of a tiny 50-member church, magnifying and metastasizing it into an international mess.

Was it some kind of distraction?  Was there perhaps something more serious going on elsewhere in the world?

This tiny bit of insanity got woven into the bigger insanity going on in New York City's current controversy regarding the building of the "Ground Zero Mosque", or "prayer center" as others in the community call it.  In contrast to the media's all out "build the mosque to assuage our Liberal guilt" campaign, with 55% of network news coverage favoring the mosque, Fouad Ajami in The Wall Street Journal accuses Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, "self-appointed bridge between America and the Arab-Islamic world", as being a false witness to the sentiments in Islamic lands.

The truth is that the trajectory of Islam in America (and Europe for that matter) is at variance with the play of things in Islam's main habitat. A survey by Elaph, the most respected electronic daily in the Arab world, gave a decided edge to those who objected to the building of this mosque—58% saw it as a project of folly.  

Elaph also polled its readers with regards to the Koran-threatening pastor:

Elaph was at it again in the aftermath of Pastor Terry Jones's threat to burn copies of the Quran: It queried its readers as to whether America was a "tolerant" or a "bigoted" society. The split was 63% to 37% in favor of those who accepted the good faith and pluralism of this country. 

 [Source for both quotes is here.]

How oddly coincidental that a New York Times reporter, Sharaf Mowjood, who has written several articles favorable towards the "Cordoba House", had previously participated in an April 2009 media training program led by Imam Rauf's American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA).  You can go here to read Newsbusters.org's report.

I wonder how much play those results will get in the MSM... little to none, is my guess. 

The media make a helluva lot more money churning up the water with race-baiting.