...if you know what I mean and I think you do.
Last night on "360," AC attempted to do a highstep all over Fox News.
But in fact, not only is AC being a bitch, but he should be slapped--because, in fact, Fox got the story right.
The issue is whether or not Sen. Barack Obama attended a "madrasah" in Indonesia. Fox said that he did, and that was enough to send AC into full-bitch mode.
Here's the transcript, as transcribed at MediaBistro: "'Barack Obama's Muslim education in Indonesia -- others are reporting the heat. We are sticking to the facts.' ... Then, introing John Vause's segment, he said: 'Other news organizations ran with Insight's story. They didn't check the facts. We did.' And after the package, Cooper concluded: 'Well, that's the difference between talking about news and reporting it. You send a reporter, check the facts and you decide at home.'"
Oh I see. AC, huh? This is the same "journalist"--a "method anchor," Neal Gabler calls him--who milks stories for personal gain and is nothing but an overexposed media darling who STILL can’t beat Fox News after more than a year of going up against Greta Van Susteren.
Keep bitching away, Anderson. You are, after all, gettting paid $4 million a year now. And who knows: Maybe you and your overpaid preeny CNN cabaret show can at least stay on top of those more macho folks at MSNBC. In the meantime, at least, you have CNN.com covering up for you!
And in point of fact, FNC wasn't wrong to refer to Obama's school as a "madrasah"--FNC was right, and here' proof.
Here's an explanation from Juan Cole, a lefty blogger, and no fan of Fox, who speaks Arabic:
"First of all, let's explain about the word madrasah. In Semitic languages like Arabic and Hebrew, words are mostly made up of three-letter roots. In Indo-European languages, words tend to have two-letter roots. In roots, you don't count short vowels. So in Arabic, the root for to learn (as in school learning) is d* r *s*. Arabic is an elegant, almost mathematical language. If you put those three-letter roots in certain 'molds,' it produces a linked vocabulary. Dars is a lesson. Darrasa with a doubling of the 'r' is 'to teach.' You make a noun of place by putting an 'm' in front and a soft 'h' at the end. Thus, madrasah is the place where you study. Thus, madrasah means . . . school." [emphasis added]
In other words, FNC was right to call Obama's school a "madrasah," because, as FNC said, "madrasah" is a synonym for "school." Now, if Fox had said that Obama was tutored in terrorism at that madrasah, that would have been wrong--presumably. But that's not what Fox said: It merely reported that young Obama attended a madrasah, and that's accurate. But don't take TCG's word for it: take a Fox-bashing blogger's word for it.
UPDATE: Philip Weiss, blogging for The New York Observer, makes the same point.
