The blogosphere burns the witch (?) Julie Myers

The blogosphere burns the witch (?) Julie Myers
By: smagar · Section: Diaries


Remember the stories about how sharks, once they taste blood, go into a feeding frenzy and devour anything in their path?
This latest hit piece by Michelle Malkin leads me to wonder if Michelle has tasted blood, and likes it a bit too much.

More to the point, I wonder if the conservative blogosphere is too eagerly joining into feeding frenzies, such as the outrage over Julie Myers and Michael Brown. Or, to use another analogy, too willing to tie people to stakes and burn them as witches.

We may be too willingly eschewing minor but useful details in the process. Such as, oh, determining if they actually are witches BEFORE we burn them!

Or, in the case of Ms. Myers, showing an interest in exhibiting fair play and a sense of "due process" in what we say on these blogs.

I suspect I'll be in the minority here, but I feel that Ms. Malkin, the chattering crew at National Review Online, and other strident voices in the conservative blogosphere heard of Ms. Myers, decided that she be a witch, and tied her to the stake and burned her with no interest in a trial. Or, letting her defend herself and her reputation.

Is THAT the Modus Operandi we want the conservative blogosphere to adopt? Is THAT the reputation we want the conservative blogosphere to earn for itself, as it grows into a more potent force in American political discouse?

For myself, I hope not.

As for Michael Brown, the deposed FEMA head, follow this link for what I wrote a while back on how I feel Mike Brown was treated. IMO, too many people (e.g., Michelle Malkin and the NRO crew) were willing to burn Brown at the stake and scapegoat him for the NO shortcomings, before we had a chance to learn what really happened. That's all I'll say in this diary about Brown.

As for Julie Myers, here's what the Washington Post had to say about her on Tuesday, September 20th:


The Bush administration is seeking to appoint a lawyer with little immigration or customs experience to head the troubled law enforcement agency that handles those issues, prompting sharp criticism from some employee groups, immigration advocates and homeland security experts.

The push to appoint Julie Myers to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, comes in the midst of intense debate over the qualifications of department political appointees involved in the sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina.


And, that same day, at 0645 Eastern Standard Time, Michelle Malkin was off to the races. Here are a few of her assessments of Ms. Myers as a potential civil servant:



NO MORE CRONYISM: BUSH DHS NOMINEE DOESN'T DESERVE THE JOB
Another disastrous crony appointment in the making

This is Julie Myers, President Bush's nominee to head the the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security.

Her nomination is a joke. A bad joke:

Erin Healy, a White House spokeswoman, cited Myers's work with customs agents on money-laundering and drug-smuggling cases. "She's well-known and respected throughout the law enforcement community," Healy said. "She has a proven track record as an effective manager."

Oh, give me a ^*&%$# break and a half! This nomination is a monumental political and policy blunder in the wake of the Michael Brown/FEMA fiasco.

see more at ........
http://smagar.redstate.org/story/2005/9/24/112515/657