FROM THE BARRICADES FOR 5/2/09

Posted by Jon Pike May 2, 2009

This week’s column was, in some ways a joy to write. I don’t think it’s good that Fargo/Moorhead area journalist, Roxana Saberi was imprisoned by the Iranian government. What I do think is beneficial, and was a joy to write about was the way in which the community has come together to support one of their own. Some competing news agencies are on the list for rendering support to Saberi, they include, radio, TV, and newspapers. The list also includes conservatives, liberals, Republicans, and Democrats. They are all people who believe that freedom of the press is not an optional part of civil society. The news also demonstrates how people are coming together to support one of their own.

This quality of the Fargo/Moorhead area was also demonstrated in the recent support of people during the floods. Friends, neighbors, and even some transient college students all chipped in to help. As a journalist, it was also beneficial to see how news media in the area stepped up to help people. The local news media became a place for people to get helpful information, and to tell their stories.

I will be going back to the Fargo/Moorhead area, a place that was beneficial to me for three-and-a-half years for an indeterminate amount of time. I expect Fargo/Moorhead to be as beneficial to me as it was then.

Onto the world of activism for the past week: I still have not written about the activism surrounding the creationism/evolution debate, maybe that will be next week. I expect political activism around the economic news to be on the radar screen for the time being, and I may have a chance soon, to write about it again. The Obama administration is going to have to pay attention to the left-wing. Anti-torture activists made their presence known at the White House this past week, and many were arrested. It would appear that the left is well-prepared and willing to hold the administration’s feet to the fire. As a side-note to the torture issue, how come Ann Coulter doesn’t even have the courage of Sean Hannity’s convictions to be water-boarded for charity, if truly is no big deal? On the other hand, there seems to be no-movement by Hannity to accept Keith Olberman’s generous offer of a thousand dollars per minute for charity if Hannity undergoes water boarding. Come on Sean, take up the offer. What’s stopping you?