Glass Houses, Stones and all that…

The New Republic takes me to task for the “fidel castro is dead” rumors of this past August:

Another pundit who has remained fairly firm on his stance that Castro is gone is Val Prieto, a Miami-based blogger for Babalu. Prieto recently argued that the Cuban and international press are complicit in covering up Castro’s death. Prieto wrote, “Isn’t it reasonable to think that the Cuban government, as long as it has dumbasses, useful idiots and [mainstream media] journalists held by the balls, all swallowing the “fidel’s ok, here’s his latest editorial” bullshit soup, that it will continue to do so unfettered and without consequence?” (After Castro’s television appearance last week, Prieto noted that the legitimacy of the video was questionable, given that it was prerecorded.)

Now, while I may have been incorrect in my reportage of the demise of the bearded bastard, I was pretty straightforward in my posts as to the fact that – despite what my reputable sources were confirming – there was the possibility of the whole thing being yet another political propaganda machination by the castro government. I believe I stated this in every post mentioning the possible death of fidel castro. But quoting that would have been detrimental to the piece Barclay was trying to write.
Not only was I quoted out of context, but this: Prieto recently argued that the Cuban and international press are complicit in covering up Castro’s death. isnt exactly what I said and have always avered vis a vis the MSM and the castro regime. The Mainstream Media has not only been instrumental in the lack of information regarding the death or “aliveness” recently of fidel castro, but reporters very much like Ms. Barclay are responsible for bringing fidel castro into power; ignoring the apartheid system in place in Cuba; ignoring the human rights abuses in Cuba; ignoring political and ideological prisoners in Cuba; ignoring the systematic repression of dissenting opinions in Cuba; ignoring dissidents; ignoring actos de repudio; ignoring the abysmal state of healthcare for the average Cuban Jose…etc. So, not only are MSM journalists, who kowtow to the castro regime’s whims and regulations so that they not be expelled from the island and allowed to remain to cover “the big story”, instrumental but complicit in the subjugation of the Cuban people, and not just in the “covering up” of fidel castro’s “death.” One need only look at the facts and the history of the castro regime’s manipulation of the media.
Of course, given Ms. Barclay’s journalistic resume, I doubt obvious facts matter much.
Another thing that bothers me is that I apologized to my readers for my zeal with the fidel is dead reports. And while I was basically telling you all exactly what was happening during those tenuous moments and, thus, in fact reportng the actual, you know, truth, I basically ate crow. Fessed up. Had a heapin’ bowlful of humble stew.
The New Republic, on the other hand, ran a few scathing anti-war “articles” written by one Scott Thomas Beauchamp recently, supposedly telling the naked truth about evil US armed forces and their mistreatment of the natives in Iraq as written by someone actually having served there. The problem is, of course, that the allegations made in said articles were all lies and fabrications and the folks at TNR havent even acknowledged them as such, much less apologized for their lapse in professionalism, their lack of journalistic ethics and the ensuing ramifications from same.
Because, really, it’s all about integrity. Apparently, however, someone ripped all the “i’s” from all the dictionaries at the New Republic offices some time ago, and they’d be hard pressed to offer up a definition of integrity, much less act with any.