The Discerning Texan

At 6am yesterday morning, I posted the FBI photo of two men who have been spotted by ferry employees and passengers acting strangely aboard Washington State ferries recently. I noted that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer refused to run the photos. In a follow-up story, the P-I explained its decision further:

The P-I elected not to publish the photos, citing civil liberties and privacy concerns, which editors felt outweighed the newsworthiness of the images. “We have no confirmation that these men’s behavior was anything but innocuous, and to forever taint them by associating them with terrorism under these circumstances is not consistent with our policy,” said David McCumber, P-I managing editor.

There’s no taint if there’s no terrorism. Were their actions nefarious or misinterpreted? The men could clear that up in a split second by coming forward and saying so. Bill Hobbs weighs in at Newsbusters:

Of course it would be easier to find out which is the case if the FBI could find the guys. And it would be easier to find the guys if the Seattle P-I would publish the photos, so that Seattle-area residents would know what the men look like whom the FBI has asked the public to help them find. As it stands now, in the name of being politically correct, the Seattle P-I has decided to alarm the people of Seattle and leave them looking suspiciously at just about anyone who fits the general description of male and looking like they might be from the Middle East.

So, how else is the P-I covering the story (or rather, not covering the story)? By holding a haiku contest, of course! (Hat tip -
Bill Hobbs, who has more here).