Jeff Jacoby discloses this little tidbit in today's column.

The vast majority of US media outlets have shied away from reproducing the drawings, but to my knowledge only the Phoenix has been honest enough to admit that it is capitulating to fear. Many of the others have published high-minded editorials and columns about the importance of ''restraint" and ''sensitivity" and not giving ''offense" to Muslims. Several have claimed they wouldn't print the Danish cartoons for the same reason they wouldn't print overtly racist or anti-Semitic material. The managing editor for news of The Oregonian, for example, told her paper's ombudsman that not running the images is like avoiding the N-word -- readers don't need to see a racial slur spelled out to understand its impact. Yet a Nexis search turns up at least 14 occasions since 1999 when The Oregonian has published the N-word unfiltered. So there are times when it is appropriate to run material that some may find offensive.

Want to bet we could find similar examples in other print media? I ran a quick search on the Houston Chronicle and found AT LEAST 500 uses of the so-called "N-word" since 1988 -- but Houstonians have still not found the Muhammad cartoons in the pages of the Houston Chronicle.

Jacoby's take -- we are dealing with cowards who have succumbed to fear in the face of intimidation by the Islamocensors. And as he points out, their cowardice betrays every dissident, reformer, and moderate who seeks freedom in the face of the islaist fanatics -- for if those in the free West cannot or will not speak out, how can they?

Posted by: Greg at 04:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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