NO MORE ‘ANIMAL FARM’

The “pig” metaphor could offend Muslim immigrants in Britain.

SALON’S SHAME: “Thanks for the item about Sami Al-Arian, Eric Boehlert and Nicholas Kristof. Mike Fechter of The Tampa Tribune had this story nailed in May 1995 and he continued to develop more stories about Al-Arian’s activities after that. Through it all, he took endless amounts of grief from other elements of the media, including the St. Petersburg Times, Miami Herald, Salon and others. They all sniffed that it was unseemly and a modern McCarthyite witch hunt. Instead, they just showed their ignorance and lack of legwork. Contrary to what Boehlert claims in the Howard Kurtz piece, the information was there. In May 1995, Fechter showed the link between Al-Arian’s Islamic Committee for Palestine and the World and Islam Studies Enterprise think tank at the University of South Florida. It was more than guilt by association. It was the kind of dogged and thorough investigative reporting most reporters say they champion, but the people so desperately trying to justify their actions now didn’t want to do the work to confirm it. Their loss.” – more sharp comments on the Letters Page.