On the Meaning of Christmas...
"I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said."
--Mary, in response to Gabriel, when he informed her that she was chosen by
God to give birth to Jesus. Luke 1:38 (NIV).
On the Fourth Estate...
"There was a time when the public saw the press as more or less well-meaning and underpaid, going after city hall and wrongdoings. Now they see blow-dried personalities making millions reading a Teleprompter and they wonder, 'is this who upholds my right to know?' As the news becomes part of entertainment, we're seeing manipulation for ratings points rather than accuracy."
--Daniel Schorr, longtime journalist, concerning a survey by the Center for
Media and Public Affairs in which only 51% of the 3,000 people said the
media got facts straight and a mere third believed that the media deals
"fairly with all sides." Washington Times on 12/18/96, page A4.
On Truth and Lies...
"When the president boldly and falsely said that Congress was risking a woman's infertility by banning this procedure, no one said a thing. This is an out-and-out lie. Infertility is not an issue in bringing a severely deformed child to term; rather, the opposite is true -- having a third-trimester abortion can severely impact fertility and may even cause death to the mother and child. Bill Clinton gets away with a lot of skirting around the truth, bending of the truth, telling half-truths. But at this press conference, with regard to partial-birth abortion, he was telling lies."
--Marianne Lombardi, in a commentary on NET Television, accusing the
president of misleading the country. Washington Times on 12/18/96,
page A9.
On Being Paid Not to Work...
"Two women, both single parents, live in the District of Columbia in low-income housing. One made $1,374 in November. After paying rent, day care and so forth, she had $437 left over for food, utility bills clothing and incidental expenses. The other made $2,999 in November. After paying rent, she had $2,928 left over for food, utility bills, clothing and incidental expenses. Guess which one has a job. If you guessed the one that had more money, then you guessed wrong. The situation speaks volumes about the problem of welfare in this country and why it's so difficult to end that problem: Why work when it literally pays not to work?"
--Editorial in the Washington Times on 12/18/96, page A16.
On Libelous Journalism...
"The [United Food and Commercial Workers Union] helped ABC News from beginning to end -- bringing the network the Food Lion 'story' in the first place, providing former Food Lion employees to complain on air about the company, and helping ABC plant undercover agents in the Food Lion stores. The union even gave the ABC producers basic training in deli work so they could pass themselves off as experienced supermarket employees. Why so much effort by the UFCW? Because the union had failed in its efforts to organize Food Lion's employees. Therefore, if the supermarket chain couldn't be unionized, it had to be destroyed -- otherwise, Food Lion's lower prices could pressure unionized shops like Safeway to save money by renegotiating their union agreements."
--Editorial in the Washington Times on 12/15/96, page B2. Food Lion is
currently suing ABC News for civil violations including fraud, deceptive
trade practices, civil conspiracy and breach of duty of loyalty
(a grandiose legal term for sabotaging your employer). If the supermarket
wins its case, damages could well top $1 billion.