Something to be proud of in France. Amazing.
By Jared | February 19, 2008
“France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country. France has usually been governed by prostitutes.” —Mark Twain
“I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me.” —General George S. Patton
We all know France is a joke. The only thing funnier than a joke about France is the truth about France. Right? Well, maybe sometimes. I’ve spent my share of time frog-bashing, and all too often there’s more than a grain of truth in the sand we throw at France. (For the record, I do not advocate putting prostitutes in the White House. Presidents get impeached for that, whatever Mark Twain might think.)
There is proof though, that even France can get it right sometimes. French president Nicolas Sarkozy, a hero for conservatism in France, is such proof, and if we Americans can get our heads out of our superpower egos long enough to take a gander across the pond, we might see something to praise or even emulate. (We are equal opportunity humorists here. America’s ego has almost as many satellites orbiting it as France’s does.)
The New York Times reported Sunday that French president Nicolas Sarkozy is trying to regress his society back into the sane world. This time, he’s trying to teach French children about the holocaust in a way that will make history real to them, by requiring every fifth grader to learn the life story of one of 11,000 French children killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust. Even better, Sarkozy is pointing the finger of blame for the Holocaust in what I personally believe is the right direction: toward a Godless society.
(Journalists Note: Check the beginning and end of a given news story. One way to slide your opinion into a piece without the reader noticing is by presenting your side both first and last. Bury the opposing arguments in the middle.) The Times did exactly that here, structuring its story to make Sarkozy out as a lunatic of some sort, and making sure to point out all the negatives about him, whether they were the least bit relevant or not.
The Times is correct. Sarkozy has problems, but he also has good ideas and he’s fighting against the flow to get them out and make them work. Americans, take note—even when your whole society is against you, keep fighting. You just might make a difference. Sarkozy is.
(And just so you know, I’m following the illustrious example of the New York Times and best journalistic practice. I’m going to leave you with some food for thought.)
We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be, detested in France.—Duke of Wellington
Topics: Current Affairs, Politics | No Comments »
First Principles
By Jared | February 16, 2008
The world of journalism, from the blogosphere to the New York Times to Fox News, has come under fire in recent years for journalistic principles (or, all too often, lack thereof).
I thought for a first post, it was only appropriate to lay out the principles by which a good journalist lives. A good blog should follow the same principles as any other form of journalism and, in fact, a blog can’t succeed unless it follows its principles far better than the New York Times (wait, they have principles?) or even Fox News. In blogging, the ultimate test of readership is you, and you won’t read my blog unless it does what it’s supposed to do.
So, these are my personal promises to you, the reader:
1. I will be honest. *Gasp* Honesty? But journalists aren’t honest. They’re “objective” (Yeah, hahaha, tell me another one.) or “fair” (Meaning what? That I tell you what both groups of idiots say instead of just one group of idiots?) No. I’ll be honest about what I think. That way you can decide whether you agree with me or not and figure out for yourself where I might be wrong.
2. I will be accurate and reasonable. Just because I’m honest doesn’t mean I have to “only tell you my side of things.” Other people think differently than I do. I’d be a fool not to recognize that, and I’ll do my best to give you the whole story when I can. (That means if you think I’m wrong, I want you to tell me so.)
3. I will be entertaining. This is not a civics textbook. Most political journalists play the straight man all day long. I say we need some “fairness and balance” and no comedy duo is complete with just a straight man, right? (And before you ask, I’m not gay. I’m talking humor, not politics.)
4. I will show respect to my readers. In the course of telling you what I think and making fun of people, I may offend you. Please, don’t take what I say personally. I will make fun of groups of people and, occasionally, public figures. Not everybody deserves the stereotype I’ll put on their group. If you think I’ve said something I shouldn’t, I’d love to hear from you, and I don’t mind admitting it when I’m wrong.
Journalism today is first about picking important bits of news and telling you about them and second telling you what you should think about them (or as most journalists put it, giving you intelligent commentary.) I tell you what I think. If you agree with me, that’s fine. If not, tell me why!
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The Honest Truth politically conservative blog for honest, thoughtful commentary on today’s most important issues
By Jesse | February 16, 2008
Welcome to the inaugural post. From here on out we will be bringing you continuous coverage of the political scene as well as highlighting news that is especially important to YOU and drawing out important issues that affect modern society.
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