2/15/2005

Alterman

Jeez. It's been a long time, huh...well, to get started, Eric Alterman is on the warpath about a column by Cathy Young the other week that insinuated he was an anti-semite (of the self hating Jew sort). Good for him. The Boston Globe should be doing better, for humanity's sake. Here's the email I wrote to their Editorial page editor, Alterman has all the contact info listed, you should send something too...

From: "Alex Baker" Add Address to Address Book
To: n_king@globe.com
Cc: whatliberalmedia@aol.com
Date: 02/15/2005 11:24 PM
Subject: RE: Cathy Young column

Dear Mr. King,

I would like to add my voice to what I am sure is already a chorus
disapproving of Cathy Young's column "When Jews Wax Anri-Semitic". If the
Globe is to maintain its credibility, I think it must deem Young's column
outside the bounds of civil public discourse.

The label of anti-semitism is a serious and incendiary charge. Applying it
to figures with public reputations, academic, political or otherwise, is a
heavy business and should rightfully lead to serious damage to a public
figure's credibility and standing. So the notion that Eric Alterman, a
leading public intellectual, a prominent Jewish writer and speaker, a
major voice in debates over U.S. policy in the Middle East and towards
Israel, should have the label of anti-semitism attached to him is,
frankly, perverse.

Anyone is welcome to disagree with Alterman's views about Israel, about
the peace process, or about his refusal to condemn the incident with the
Muslim group and the Auschwitz memorial. But Young is not arguing with
Alterman. She doesn't like his views about foreign policy so she levels an
accusation meant to discredit and humiliate him in the hope that it does
the job instead. This is character assassination by insinuation, and if
our media institutions are to mean anything, it should be kept in the
tabloids and on the Internet where it belongs.

Publishing that column cheapened your newspaper's standards, cheapened the
seriousness of bigotry towards Jews, and cheapened the public discourse. I
do hope you can find a way to remedy the situation.

Regards,

Alex Baker
New York, NY

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