Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Phillip Bennett -- a fool, maybe; not a disgrace

Here at The Key Monk, we have to be fair especially because nearly all our information is second-hand. Wongdoer and I do not cover events, and we are not journalists. We are engaging in free speech and the airing of our views based on what we read, hear and watch from other outlets. Occasionally we'll do research and present our commentary in essay formats much as a newspaper columnist, but again, we adhere to a more rigorous standard of both accuracy AND correction than most of the press.

In the case of Phillip Bennett, we need to bring your attention to his own comments in an exchange with Hugh Hewitt (click link in title). Mr. Bennett says his interview with the China People's Daily was misquoted and mis-stated by the People's Daily itself. No shock there, it's the mouthpiece of a Communist government that has no free press. Bennett should have been more astute in realizing that what he said would be re-shaped as the Chinese government wished, but it seems at least some of the disgraceful quotes we published two days ago are neither accurate nor reflective of Bennett's true viewpoints. To the extent that the "quotes" by Mr. Bennett's that were reprinted in The Key Monk are deliberately false and misleading reconfigurations by the Chinese People's Daily, we regret our harsh treatment of him and hope that (if he has even heard of us) he will not view us in a similarly harsh manner.

Wongdoer was more right than he knew when he mentioned Bennett's comments in the same sentence as Pravda and Izvestia.

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