We’ve seen this kind of smear time and again. Under the
guise of reporting allegations about Obama's supposed links
to Islam, the Post goes about furthering the allegations
instead of demonstrating that the evidence that Obama is
secretly a practicing Muslim simply does not exist. Journalistic
integrity? Hardly.

This is the second time in a week the Post has managed print
excellent examples of extraordinarily sloppy journalism. Last
weekend, the Post published a commentary Lib*er*tar*ian [sic]
by Reason Magazine writers, Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie and
staff writer Matt Welch on the rise of Representative Ron Paul.

In the course of the piece, they write:

    When conservatives feel comfortable mocking victims
    gunned down by Clinton-era attorney General Janet Reno’s
    FBI in Waco,Tex. in 1993, it suggests that a complacent
    and increasingly authoritarian establishment feels threatened.

Apparently desperate to attract readers, they make the ridiculous
statement that slipped by the fact checkers at the Washington Post.
Keep in mind, this was written by two, count them, two writers from
Reason. “Increasingly?” When did conservatives become any more
“authoritarian” or “establishment” than they’ve been for decades?

Now for the whopper. Exactly where is the evidence that the FBI
gunned down anybody in Waco in 1993? It’s never been demonstrated
by anyone despite the best attempts to push this conspiracy theory
falsehood pushed by among others Dan Gifford in his “documentary”
Waco: The Rules of Engagement. That particular piece of film-flam
was later hyped by Michelle Malkin, generally known for her
no-facts-needed-brand-of-journalism as pointed out here and of
course by none other than, Reason Magazine in 1999.

In an attempt to discern where Gillespie and Welch found their
information I placed a call to Gillespie.  The call was not returned.

Keith Jeffreys

12/02/2007