![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Stee-rike two
Aug. 7th, 2004 11:36 amAbout a month ago, the interim Iraqi government introduced measures that would allow it to "impose curfews, ban dangerous groups and detain suspects." In and of itself, and given the mess that is Iraq at the moment, these powers, while sweeping and easily corruptible, are understandable. If you could get everyone who isn't an insurgent to stay home and lock their doors for one night, you'd be in a better position to clean up the place. On the other hand, since the current Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi, was recently accused of having executed six militants, it's hard not to see the new powers in anything but a dodgy light. I'm going to calll this a foul ball.
If a thug voting himself more police powers is a foul ball, however, blatant attempts to muzzle the press constitute an unmistakable strike:
Iraqi Government Shuts Al-Jazeera Station
The Iraqi government has shut down Al Jazeera for "inciting violence." In their own words, "They [Al-Jazeera] have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they transfer a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals to increase their activities."
By this logic, anyone who shows COPS, Law & Order, CSI, NYPD Blues, or The Shield, and all of Court TV, should be shut down for a month. After all, these programs highlight crimes and criminals on TV and transfer a bad picture about American and Americans. And don't tell me COPS doesn't encourage criminals to increase their activities; for every three of us who think the people featured are idiots, there's some idiot out there thinking, "I could be on TV!"
Two strikes for Allawi and the Baghdad Bangers, and no balls (well, not the ones we're using for this baseball analogy, anyway). This isn't going to be pretty.
If a thug voting himself more police powers is a foul ball, however, blatant attempts to muzzle the press constitute an unmistakable strike:
Iraqi Government Shuts Al-Jazeera Station
The Iraqi government has shut down Al Jazeera for "inciting violence." In their own words, "They [Al-Jazeera] have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they transfer a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals to increase their activities."
By this logic, anyone who shows COPS, Law & Order, CSI, NYPD Blues, or The Shield, and all of Court TV, should be shut down for a month. After all, these programs highlight crimes and criminals on TV and transfer a bad picture about American and Americans. And don't tell me COPS doesn't encourage criminals to increase their activities; for every three of us who think the people featured are idiots, there's some idiot out there thinking, "I could be on TV!"
Two strikes for Allawi and the Baghdad Bangers, and no balls (well, not the ones we're using for this baseball analogy, anyway). This isn't going to be pretty.
