A Woman's Life Versus an Inept Press (Nat Hentoff on Terri Schiavo)

The Village Voice ^ | November 6th, 2003 2:00 PM | Nat Hentoff

[WOSG]

Yes! Calm, deliberate and forceful ...

I especially like this term:

"journalistic malpractice"

I've seen too many examples to count, alas.

[sweetliberty]

I am really impressed with this guy's articles, Nick. Thanks for posting them and thanks for the ping.

[sweetliberty]

Ping to this excellent and rational article.

[proud American in Canada]

"Nat Hentoff, one of the clearest thinkers on the left, pens one of the best articles on the Terri Schiavo situation. A must read."

I've always admired Nat Hentoff's writing, even when I disagree with him.

In this case I don't. Bravo, Mr. Hentoff!

[nickcarraway]

You are welcome.

[nickcarraway]

Did he have a grounds for not supporting it?

[nickcarraway]

He is also one of the top writers on Jazz.

[proud American in Canada]

"He is also one of the top writers on Jazz."

Really?! That's interesting. He does seem to be an eclectic, hard-to-pigeonhole person. :)

[nickcarraway]

That he is. Actually, you will find the liner notes to many classic jazz albums are written by him.

[proud American in Canada]

"Actually, you will find the liner notes to many classic jazz albums are written by him."

Wow!

Writing liner notes... now that would be an interesting job. :)

By the way, this does not relate at all to Nat Hentoff or to Terri Schiavo, but on the radio here in Canada, they said that Jessica Lynch appeared on morning talk/news shows and had a few words to say. I've tried to find a thread that discusses this--there must be a Freeper who posted on that, but I just can't find one. If anyone knows of such a thread, I'd love to read what she said and what Freeper reactions are.

Back to Nat Hentoff--he used to appear in syndication in either the Rocky Mountain News or the Denver Post (can't remember) and I always loved his articles on the "right to die" issue.

[proud American in Canada]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1016521/posts

never mind... ;) I guess the moral of the story is: freep long enough, and eventually it will be bumped to the top. ;)

[madprof98]

I'm amazed this could get published in the Village Voice. There is no paper in Atlanta--including our self-described alternative papers--which would publish it. In fact, our Catholic paper this week features an article trashing those who tried to defend Terri Schaivo. It's unbelievable.

[sarasmom]

BTTT

[nickcarraway]

In fact, our Catholic paper this week features an article trashing those who tried to defend Terri Schaivo.

Really? What does it say?

[45Auto]

Hentoff was a former president of the ACLU; that said, he is, at times, quite critical of that bunch of pinko vermin. But if he doesn't support the entire Bill of Rights, then he is just another enemy of freedom in my book. Its the same old lefty crap - the "1st and the 4th are all that we need". Morons, morons, morons the whole rotten, leftist cabal. Even the early socialists knew that an armed cadre was the only way to protect freedom. The pen is only "mightier than the sword" in just societies.

[livius]

our Catholic paper this week features an article trashing those who tried to defend Terri Schaivo.

Horrible. Who's your bishop?

I live in Florida, btw, and our bishops have been distinguished by their silence on the whole matter. That and the fact that they allowed her to be denied Communion without a peep.

But aside from that, Nat Hentoff started with the Voice when he was probably one of the world's finest writers on jazz.

Rap has overtaken jazz, and most people who really care about jazz one way or the other are probably not reading the Voice anymore, but he's still important. And for some reason, Nat Hentoff has a strange downright ethical streak in him that won't let him go with the flow - and on the basis of his past, the Voice still lets him publish. (Actually, they probably realize they get a lot more readers with Hentoff than they would without...)

[alwaysconservative]

The pen is only "mightier than the sword" in just societies.

Very profoundly put. Even Ghandi's peaceful protest on behalf of India only worked because he used it against the civilized British. But for them, even he had sharp words about armed citizens: "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest." Mahatma Ghandi, in Ghandi, an autobiography.

[nicmarlo]

great article; thanks for posting.

[nickcarraway]

It was my pleasure.

[45Auto]

When push comes to shove, it would be darn hard to resist the jack-boots of tyranny with Hentoff's word processor. Left-wing morons don't see the nature of the world they live in, nor the world their ancestors lived in. History is one long march of tyrannies, oligarchies, monarchies, "people's republics", and downright Marxist/Stalinist/Leninist dictatorships (Cuba, Zimbabwe). And even those guys did not invent oppression and tyranny. No dictator ever gave up power voluntarily. Idiots who think they can write their way out of subjugation by ruthless murdering tyrants, are woefully ignorant of the mass of history and equally ignorant when thinking "it can't happen here." The experiment in liberty known as the United States of America has only been around for a small fraction of time relative to the existence of human society. And there is nothing, save arms in the hands of patriots, that can possibly save it from being over-run by enemies "foreign and domestic". Its what the 2nd Amendment is all about. I damn all those who think they can steal liberty from me.