Re: The "T" Word

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@shoreham.net>]

Tony writes:

> Well Bill, unless you have a wiretap of the Pentagon war
> room, the only thing that is TRULY KNOWN is that there
>  were planes flown into the building, and there was
>  tragic loss of thousands of lives. After that NO ONE
>  KNOWS for sure. .

So, the media should refrain from referring to the destructive events as
"terrorist attacks" without a clarifier?  With a straight face?  What do
you need, a judge's gavel for it to be "truly known?"

> The responsible thing to do is to call it an attack and
>  a tragedy and not convict anyone until we actually see
>  some proof of who, what, and why, this happened. <snip>

I already said that the perpetrators are alleged to have been involved
until adjudicated.  The event itself was not an "alleged" terrorist
attack!

William Saffire, Syndicated NY Times columnist wrote today on the context
of contributors to a general malaise upon the nation: "This debilitating
dread is abetted by the belated warnings from agencies that failed to
protect us. A chagrined Justice Department and CIA - which neglected to
use present authority to work closely with immigration and customs
officials - now cover up past misfeasance with demands for more intrusive
police powers to eavesdrop on and detain suspects."

The Fourth Estate remains on terra firma when they ask as many questions
as possible of people whose goal is to answer as few as possible; when
they put their lives on the line in battle zones.  Responsible media need
not, however, shy away from calling a cigar a cigar.

Bill O'Neill