OPINION:
We’re living in a world of terror — any day, a bomb could explode in a major city; one could be attacked in a local shopping mall, or gunned down while partying at a nightclub.
So, political figures and the media: Is it too much to ask for you just to be honest with us when something does go wrong? (Yes, that’s aimed directly at you, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.)
But it’s not just him. The media — in their quest to get Hillary Clinton into the White House — like to twist facts and make judgments in the wake of these terror events in an attempt to condemn Donald Trump’s propensity to quickly call a spade a spade.
On Saturday night, after New York City’s explosion, Mr. Trump got enormous flak from the national media for addressing the event as a “bombing.”
“Just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York and no one knows exactly what’s going on,” Mr. Trump said at a Colorado rally, much to the press’s consternation for making the bombing call too early.
But what’s worse is that Mrs. Clinton did the same thing — the media just edited out her quick call.
CNN’s Jake Tapper, interviewing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Sunday, referenced the “contrast” between Mrs. Clinton’s response to the explosion in New York, compared to Mr. Trump’s, who he said just “waited minutes,” before commenting.
“I think it’s important to know the facts about any incident like this. I think it’s always wiser to wait until you have the information before making conclusions,” Mr. Tapper lectured.
CNN then played tape of Mrs. Clinton’s comments — but they edited out her first sentence, where she admitted too the New York explosion was indeed a bomb.
“I’ve been briefed about bombings in New York and New Jersey, and the attacks in Minnesota,” Mrs. Clinton said on her plane in regards to the incident, according to a transcript by ABC News — but left on the editing floor at CNN.
“Obviously, we need to do everything we can to support our first responders, also to pray for the victims. We have to let this investigation unfold,” Mrs. Clinton continued. “We’ve been in touch with various officials, including the mayor’s office in New York, to learn what they are discovering as they conduct this investigation. And I’ll have more to say about it when we actually know the facts.”
It’s dishonesty like this that’s the reason only 32 percent of Americans have trust in the media, and why only 1 in 10 Republicans do, according to a Gallup poll released last week.
Yes, Mr. Trump spoke before the facts were known, but who cares? The video footage of the after-effects in New York City were obvious. Yes, it could’ve been some sort of other freak accident, but given this week is the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, and we’re living in an age of terror, a bombing is a reasonable assumption.
Also, when 29 are injured, why shouldn’t we first jump to an act of terrorism?
Although the press really wanted Mr. Trump’s assertion to be wrong, it turns out he wasn’t. It was Mr. de Blasio who came off as the bigger fool, who up until Saturday night still was calling the bombing an “intentional act,” but not one of “terror.”
What I ask you, is the difference?
In the last 48 hours, there was a bombing at a Marine Corps 5K in Seaside, New Jersey; one in New York City; the discovery of a secondary bomb 20 miles from from the first in New York; and a jihadist stabbing rampage at a mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
We’re living in an age of terror.
As the Wall Street Journal said in Monday’s editorial: “No matter what the motivations for these attacks, they show how the daily lives of Americans have been altered by the reality of modern terrorism. Americans know that anyone at anytime anywhere can become a target, and that is why they expect their political leaders to focus on preventing facts, not merely deploring them after the fact.”
Indeed. They also don’t like blunder and excuses in the moments before and after. These attacks of terrorism are obvious, and should be called out as such.
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