“All the NewsrnUnfit to Print” ignsJ of t!)e ^imesJrnVol. 2 No. 3 March 2000rnWhen two heterosexuals murder a homosexual,rnit is a “hate crime” to bernsplashed over the nation’s front pages forrnweeks on end. When two homosexualsrnbrutally rape, torture, and murder a 13-rnyear old boy—as they did last Septemberrnin Arkansas—it is news unfit to print.rnA 13-year-old named Jesse Dirkhisingrnwas killed on September 26 in Rogers,rnArkansas. The police affidavit describingrnthe crime is utterly nauseating; the followingrnis from a far less graphic AssociatedrnPress report:rnAccording to police, DavisrnCarpenter J r . , 38, and JoshuarnBrown, 22, drugged and blindfoldedrnJesse Dirkhising,rngagged him with underwear, andrnstrapped him to a mattressrnface-down with duct tape andrnb e l t s . Then the boy was repeatedlyrnraped and sodomizedrnwith various objects before hernsuffocated. . . . At the apartmentrnpolice found handwrittenrninstructions and a diagram ofrnhow to position the boy. Otherrnnotes described apparently unfrnu l f i l l e d fantasies of molestingrnother children. . . . Onrnthe night of J e s s e ‘ s deathrnBrown repeatedly raped the boyrnwhile Carpenter watched, polrni c e said. Brown took a breakrnto eat a sandwich, and soon noticedrnthe boy had stoppedrnbreathing.rnThe AP report omitted several abhorrentrndetails about the murder; but morernnoteworthy than the whitewashing is therndate of the story. It appeared on Octoberrn29—more than a month after the boy wasrnkilled. The crime occurred a few days beforernthe first anniversary of MatthewrnShepard’s murder. The only major mediarnoutlets to report it—as far as we arernaware—were the Washington Times, thernBoston Globe and Fox News TV.rnOur courtier press accurately reflectsrnthe current regime’s beUef that moraUty isrnnot a function of “objective” behavior butrnof the place of the actor within the ideologicalrnsystem. The killing of Christiansrnby Muslims is a case in point. RememberrnAmbon, which we mentioned in thisrnspace in October? The grim reUgious warrnthere continues unabated. According to arnroutine Reuters report (December 30):rnFresh ethnic and religiousrnclashes erupted in Indonesia’srnravaged spice islands onrnThursday, raising the deathrnt o l l from almost a week ofrnfighting to at least 328 . . .rn”Up u n t i l Thursday, three daysrnof quarrel between groups inrnthe d i s t r i c t of Tobelo (Halmahera)rnleft 265 dead,” Indonesrni a ‘ s armed forces said in arnstatement . . . At least 360rnbuildings were razed, includingrnchurches and m o s c j u e s . . . .rnThe violence followed similarrnclashes in Ambon, where atrnleast 63 people were k i l l e d andrnmore than 100 were injured thisrnweek. . . . The k i l l i n g s bringrnto close to 500 the number whornhave died in violence thisrnmonth . . . About 1,000 peoplernhave died in almost a year ofrnlargely sectarian violence inrnthe islands, once held up as arnmodel of religious tolerancernin predominantly Muslim Indonesiarn. . .rnOf course, 1,000 dead MusUms in Sanjakrnwould be more than enough for thernU.S. Air Force to rev up its engines for anotherrnbout of Serb-killing. The inequalityrnof Balkan geese and ganders in the eyes ofrnthe West was pointed out by the formerrnAustralian prime minister, Malcolm Fraser,rnin his summary of one of the top storiesrnof the year (International Herald Tribune,rnDecember 22):rnNATO’s actions were directedrnnot just against the Serbianrnmilitary but also against thernpeople of Serbia. Homes, hospitals,rneven refugee centersrndid not escape. . . . Does illegalityrnbecome sanctionedrnwhen the illegality is perpetratedrnby the most powerful?rnThere were alternatives-thernexercise of wisdom as opposedrnto unreasoned conflict. Evenrnafter the war, the West is reluctantrnto learn any lessons.rnSanctions hurt the poorest ofrnthe poor. Because of the currentrncold winter in central Europe,rnit is likely that manyrnold and very young people willrndie because there is insufficientrnheating to sustain life.rnIn all of this tragedy, Serbiarnand Serbs worldwide have beenrndemonized. There are no saintsrnin the Balkans, but the historyrnand bitternesses there are toornold and ingrained to be susceptiblernto quick Western solutions.rnThe one “lesson of Kosovo” that thernEuropeans have learned is that they needrnto act jointly to counter the arrogance ofrnthe United States. The U.S. media seem tornignore signs of European apprehensionrnwith U.S. pohcy in the aftermath of Kosovo.rnA remarkably blunt statement by thernGerman chancellor (AP, December 28)rnwent all but unreported here:rnEurope must act more like arnsingle country if it wants tornchallenge U.S. economic andrnpolitical dominance. ChancellorrnGerhard Schroeder saidrnTuesday. Asked in a televisionrninterview whether the UnitedrnStates lacked considerationrnfor its allies, Schroederrnsaid: “Yes, that certainly isrnso. . . . Whining about U.S.rndominance doesn’t help. Wernhave to act.”rnRussians may be forgiven if they feelrnprompted to act, forcefully and soon,rnwhen they see the brazen hypocrisy of ourrnopinion creators over Chechnya. Take thern24/CHRONICLESrnrnrn