Jordan blowback

The Wall Street Journal has taken a deserved beating over its editorial Monday that relegated Eason Jordan's slander of the military to a mere "kerfuffle". I noted the weaknesses in the Journal's argument, dissented from its viewpoint and generally left the harshest lambasting to others like Andy McCarthy, Ed Morrissey and Hugh Hewitt. The Journal's readers are squarely against it, as you can see by clicking the title link and scrolling down. Here's a view that encapsulates most of the thinking:

I Respectfully Dissent
Hal Goldman - Montebello, Quebec

I must respectfully disagree with the Journal's editors on this one. Mr. Jordan is the American head of the world's most influential television news service. At an international forum, filled with people hostile to our country, he made an inflammatory and completely baseless charge slandering the U.S. military. Mr. Jordan's remark demonstrates the irresponsibility and instinctive anti-Americanism of so much of the American mainstream media. How can one calculate the damage to American interests done by such remarks?

Furthermore, it is clear that had he not been questioned about it by Rep. Frank, he would never have qualified the remark as he did. If the U.S. were purposely targeting journalists then Mr. Jordan would have every right to report the story. But they are not. His baseless and harmful remark coupled with the deal with the devil he made with Saddam in order to gain news access to Iraq before the war makes clear that he lacks the judgment and integrity to run CNN. This makes his termination completely appropriate.

And here's a view that indicates the real harm caused by Jordan's remarks:

My Husband's No Murderer
K. Doyle - Solana Beach, Calif.

I could not disagree with you more today. As a military wife with two young children, the idea of CNN's top news executive standing in front of several influential world leaders, calling my husband and his fellow Marines murderers and torturers of journalists without a shred of evidence to back himself up--that, to me is a firing offense. Statements such as these make being a U.S. Marine even less safe than it is already--giving radical groups another reason to perpetrate "revenge" on U.S. military, as well as giving reporters yet another reason to bash the military as the deliverers of an evil policy, from the evil U.S.

I happen to know that my husband spends every day fighting for the freedom of the Iraqi people, in hopes that he is creating a safer place for our two girls to grow up in. CNN forced Jordan to resign because his remarks exposed its own rampant anti-U.S., antiwar, antimilitary bias. Based on the results of the last election (visualize the red/blue map), this stance would cost them ratings if it were widely known. CNN needed to keep this one from escaping the "blogosphere" (where we already know CNN's bias) and becoming a prime-time news story.

The Journal whiffed on this one.