Posted on 05/22/2003 6:44:03 AM PDT by kattracks
Two days after disgraced New York Times reporter Jayson Blair boasted that he was sitting on enough anecdotal evidence of racism at the paper that he could fill a book, Times executives have ceased cooperating with a federal probe into whether Blair had committed wire fraud.
"There are a lot of people who are not racist [at the Times]," Blair told the New York Observer on Tuesday. "But there are a lot who are."
In the next breath the unrepentant plagiarist delivered his thinly veiled threat, telling the Observer, "I have anecdotes upon anecdotes upon anecdotes that I'm not going to share. A book full of anecdotes."
Blair's reference to a "book full of anecdotes" on Times racism came just a day after published reports suggested he was angling for a seven figure book deal.
Within 24-hours of Blair's book threat, Times executives informed James Comey, the U.S. Attorney for New York's Southern District, that the paper no longer wanted to pursue a criminal probe into Blair's misconduct.
"Sources said that after Comey's office requested information last week, the Times said it would cooperate - only to put the shutters up this week," the New York Post reported Thursday.
"They said they weren't going to cooperate - it seems they want to hide behind the First Amendment," a source familiar with the matter told the paper.
Prosecutor Comey is said to be "troubled" by the Times' decision to stiff his investigation.
"If the victim says, 'Don't pursue it, it makes it tough [to investigate],'" the Post's source explained.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Something along those lines.
1. Capitalism creates oppression but government creates opportunity.
2. Traditional gender roles are artificial but feminism and homosexuality are government-protected lifestyles.
3. Self-esteem is paramount; government must undertake to guarantee each citizen-victim self-esteem.
4. The ACLU is good, because destroying religion and silencing believers are protected by the Constitution and the First Amendment; The NRA is bad because it defends the Constitution;
5. Standardized IQ tests are racist; racial quotas and affirmative action are not.
6. Conservatives are racists; everybody knows that black people can't make it on their own without big-buck government assistance programs, Tolerant And Compassionate, Color-Coded Knee-Jerk Liberals, and Big Media to proselytize the message 24/7.
Think about this - what if his book makes the NYT Bestseller list! Oh, sweet irony!
I find myself in a conundrum - buy the book in the hopes it makes the list, or do the natural thing and not buy it. The jury is still out.
I would like to see the NYT review!!
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