With Extreme Prejudice: How ABC News "Investigates" A Horrific Crime

M2RB:  Christina Aguilera

I'm sorry for blaming you for everything
I just couldn't do.
And, I've hurt myself.

If I had just one more day,
I would tell you how much that
I've missed you since you've been away.

Oh, it's dangerous !
It's so out of line to try to turn back time.

I'm sorry for blaming you for everything
I just couldn't do.
And, I've hurt myself.

Brian Ross and George Stephanpoulos bear as striking resemblance to The Ferret.

By JAMES TARANTO

"An off-duty Los Angeles police officer and three bodybuilder friends have been arrested for allegedly punching and kicking a New York man in an alley near a cafe on West Hollywood's Restaurant Row," the Los Angeles Times reported July 30, 1991.

The foursome, including 25-year-old Officer Scott Defoe, "were leaving Pennyfeathers Cafe on La Cienega Boulevard at 3 a.m. Sunday when one of the four kicked a chair occupied by 33-year-old Jianvy Morales, a visitor from the Bronx." An exchange of "angry words" ensued, whereupon the suspects allegedly chased Morales out of the restaurant.

"When they caught up with him, they ripped off his leather coat, knocked him down and began hitting and kicking him while he was on the ground," a sheriff's spokesman told the Times. By the time deputies arrived, the suspects had fled the scene, "skipping out on a $50 tab," according to the restaurant's owner.

We're glad this was only a local story. Had it been a national one, investigative reporter Brian Ross might have blamed us on national television.

"Those arrested along with Defoe were Edward Spencer, 29, Ken Spencer, 27, and James Taranto, 27, all of Staten Island, N.Y.," the Times report added.

That James Taranto, you will be relieved to learn, was not the one who became your humble columnist. We were, however, also in our mid-20s; we lived not far from Staten Island, in New Jersey; and it would not have been unusual for us to visit the Los Angeles area, where our parents lived. On the other hand, we were not a bodybuilder; it would be many years before we set foot in a gym.

James Taranto is not a common name, but unlike, say, Barack Obama, neither is it unique. Father James Taranto is a pastor at St. Mark's Catholic Church in Independence, Mo. Jimmy Taranto used to play soccer for the University of Virginia; according to his bio at the UVA website, his father is called Jim. Another Jim Taranto "is a certified 'short sale expert' with certification from the prestigious 'Distressed Property Institute' of South Florida," according to the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.

According to HowManyOfMe.com, there are 36 James Tarantos in the U.S.  Men named James Holmes are much more numerous: HMOM.com puts the count at 2,909. 

Last night, police say, one of them opened fire in a crowded Aurora, Colo., movie theater, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more. Courtesy of Breitbart.com, here is how Brian Ross, ABC News's chief investigative correspondent, reported the story this morning on "Good Morning America" with George Stephanopoulos:

Stephanopoulos: I'm going to go to Brian Ross. You've been investigating the background of Jim Holmes here. You found something that might be significant.

Ross: There's a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colo., page on the Colorado Tea party site as well, talking about him joining the Tea Party last year. Now, we don't know if this is the same Jim Holmes. But it's Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colo.

Stephanopoulos: OK, we'll keep looking at that. Brian Ross, thanks very much.

This would be more understandable--although still outrageous--if the shooter had an uncommon name like James Taranto. With a common name, however, the likelihood is quite high that a match like this one is false.

 

 

Brian Ross "reports" on his "investigation."

Breitbart later interviewed the Tea Party Jim Holmes and confirmed that he is not the shooting-suspect James Holmes. 

[Brian Ross' James Holmes] "is a 52-year-old Hispanic conservative who joined the Tea Party after becoming disillusioned with the Republican party. . . . He disconnected his telephone and says that he is worried about members of his family who might be contacted by the media."

The shooting suspect, ABC later reported, is a 24-year-old Ph.D. candidate. Other reports say he is white, and he does not appear to be Hispanic.

Politico notes that the network has corrected and apologized for the error:

"An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect," ABC News said in a statement. "ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted."

This strikes us as insufficient. Simply as a matter of journalistic craft, the report was appallingly shoddy. Ross pointed the finger at an innocent man based on nothing but the coincidence of a common name and the man's residence in the same city of 325,000 where the crime took place.

Let us amend that:

There was one other factor, and this is what makes the ABC error not just amateurish but sinister: the innocent Jim Holmes's involvement with the Tea Party. For more than three years liberal journalists have falsely portrayed the Tea Party as racist and potentially violent. After the January 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., speculation immediately began that the suspect was a Tea Partier. Even after it was proved that he was not, the New York Times published a despicable editorial blaming conservatives anyway.

Ross and ABC were out on this limb alone. Either other journalists learned their lesson from Tucson, or it didn't occur to them to look for a political motive this time (it was a more plausible hypothesis in a shooting that targeted a politician).

It is reasonable to interpret Ross's hasty unsubstantiated report as an expression of hostility--bigotry--toward the Tea Party and those who share its values, which are traditional American ones.  

ABC's carelessness here is in sharp contrast with the way the mainstream media treat criminal suspects who are black or Muslim. In those cases they take great pains not to perpetuate stereotypes, sometimes at the cost of withholding or obscuring relevant facts such as the physical description of a suspect who is still at large or the ideological motive for a crime.

Oikophobia is no less invidious than other forms of bigotry. ABC and Ross have apologized for their irresponsible reporting, but they have something more to answer for here. Their careless and inadvertent falsehood was in the service of a big lie.

 

Hurt -  Christina Aguilera

Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face
You told me how proud you were but I walked away
If only I'd known what I know today

I would hold you in my arms
I would take the pain away
Thank you for all you've done
Forgive all your mistakes
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To hear your voice again
Sometimes I want to call you
But I know you won't be there

I'm sorry for blaming you for everything
I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself by hurting you
Some days I feel broke inside
But I won't admit
Sometimes I just want to hide
'Cause it's you I miss
You know it's so hard to say goodbye
When it comes to this

Would you tell me I was wrong?
Would you help me understand?
Are you looking down upon me?
Are you proud of who I am?
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To have just one more chance
To look into your eyes and see you looking back

I'm sorry for blaming you for everything
I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself
If I had just one more day,
I would tell you how much that
I've missed you since you've been away

Oh, it's dangerous
It's so out of line to try to turn back time

I'm sorry for blaming you for everything
I just couldn't do
And I've hurt myself