Out Of Context

Am I the only one who is sick and tired of the term, "Out of context"? It seems to me to be a way of saying, "I said something stupid, but you can't hold me to it!" Because now it is a question of defining what context the quote was said, and how it was then used by the quoter. Oh, so much minutia.

I'll post a few examples of the "Out of Context" phenomenon when I have more time. If you have any examples yourself, let me hear them!

-Aaron

Buying the War

From Glenn Greenwald:

"Actual Journalist Bill Moyers has a 90-minute PBS documentary tonight, entitled "Buying the War," which airs at 9:00 pm Eastern. Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher -- in an informative preview -- calls it "the most powerful indictment of the news media for falling down in its duties in the run-up to the war in Iraq." Moyers is a superb journalist and documentarian and I have no doubt that it will be a well-spent (if not depressing and infuriating) 90 minutes. In addition to PBS stations, the program can be viewed here. "

I encourage everyone to read Mr. Greenwalds entry for 4/25/07 as well. I can only commend Jessica Lynch for being as forthright and honest as she has been in all this muck. While her rescue may have been fantasy, her integrity seems to be in tact.

Rove to be investigated? Don't hold your breath.

It was an interesting day on the blogosphere, as always, but one story caught my eye. The Office of Special Counsel has turned its attention on Karl Rove and possible infractions of the Hatch Act. Now, on the surface this sounds legit, but when you dig deeper, things get a bit more complicated. It turns out that the head of the OSC is Scott Bloch, a Bush appointee, who is himself under investigation for intimidating and threatening his own employees. When I first heard about this investigation, It seemed fishy, and it may turn out to be a way for the White House to protect Rove from any further investigations in the near future or after Bush leaves office.

I guess we'll have to stay tuned to see if I'm right.