CNN whacked by employees, guests for lack of backbone

CNN, among other MSM sources, has declined to show the Mohammed cartoons "out of respect for Islam", confounding those who believe that the press functions did not include "religious sensitivity." I have outlined CNN's eagerness to show grotesquely offensive anti-Jew or anti-Christian works of "art", since Judaism and Christianity are both politically incorrect religions.

Kudos, then, to CNN guest and blogger extraordinaire Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.com for leading off his interview on CNN with "You guys have blown it!" You abso-freakin'-lutely must see the video here! A couple of excerpts:

"The press is there to tell us things, and not to hide things from us."

"Everybody's offended by something...If fundamentalist Christians were rioting because they were offended by Will & Grace, would you take it off the air?"

When asked about why conservative bloggers are more offended that the MSM, i.e. CNN, hasn't shown the images, Reynolds nails them with:

"I think that conservative bloggers hear a lot of talk about free speech in other contexts, but it seems that people are willing to go to the mat to protect free speech...when it's free speech that irritates people on the right. But when it's free speech that irritates Muslims, they (the MSM) are more concerned about not offending!"

"My beliefs are offended when gangs of ignorant thugs burn embassies, so where is the respect for my beliefs? Do I need to burn embassies to get respect for my beliefs? That's the message that CNN sends!"

Bill Bennett also took the opportunity to embarrass his employer. From NRO:

On CNN today, Bill Bennett hit back at the American media, especially CNN, for refusing to show the Danish cartoons that sparked the current controversy. During the lead-in, CNN showed a number of anti-Semitic cartoons from Middle Eastern newspapers as part of a feature story on double standards in the Arab world. But when the segment turned to a debate between Bennett and Arab American Institute president James Zogby, Bennett criticized CNN for its own double standard — showing the anti-Semitic cartoons as part of a news story, but refusing to show the Danish cartoons. (A link to the video is contained at the site - Ed.)

BLITZER: You can understand, Bill, that feeling among many Muslims that this is beyond the pale when you insult the Prophet Mohammad.

BENNETT: Well, sure. And if I was a Jew watching what CNN just led in with, I might be a little upset too. But CNN doesn't have the solicitude for Jews it has for Muslims. Your policy is not to show these cartoons that were shown in Denmark, but to show one after another of the most anti-Semitic cartoons they could come forward with. CNN — I don't mean to pick on CNN just because I work for you. But NBC, New York Times, other media — the Virgin Mary in cow dung, that was fine, we can show that everywhere. Now, the Islamists have won, in that they have intimidated the major news media from showing these cartoons. They have lost, however, in the wider world, because people see that this is just totally nutty behavior — that these cartoons are shown and that people as a result want to kill people, behead people, burn buildings down.

Blitzer answered, "On the showing of these anti-Semitic cartoons, I think you'll find that most Israelis, certainly most Jews, want the world to see some of these caricatures, in order to shed some light on the images that have been portrayed in a lot of these publications."

Blitzer didn't seem to realize that he had just illustrated why showing the Danish cartoons in the American media is so important. Jewish groups want the world to see cartoons like these because they know that such propaganda says more about the Arab governments that create it. Muslim groups don't want the world to see cartoons like these because these cartoons are about the use of radical Islam to justify violence. That's why CNN's decision not to show the Danish cartoons is disgraceful. They are giving into the demands of a faction that wants to censor the political content of those cartoons, and there's no excuse for that.

I wonder if CNN felt a tad bit awkward with such a public dressing-down on their own network! Knowing them, I think Ted Kennedy will find sobriety before CNN finds journalistic introspection and integrity.