« Iron Man | Main | A Request Honored »
October 6, 2006
Michelle Versus You Tube
I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this, but Michelle Malkin and other conservative pundits have entered into a kind of low-level conflict with You Tube (for instance, see here). Essentially, if I read the situation correctly, the basic handle is this: You Tube has been removing anti-Jihadist videos made by conservatives like Malkin.
I really don't care for Michelle Malkin. This is not an ideological impulse: we apparently share many of the same political views. Instead, my problem with her is really more intellectual: her thinking is, more often than not, simplistic and slip-shod. She would seem to me to be an example of the old adage about a broken watch being right twice per day.
Of course, all of this hand-wringing on my part may be rather beside the point: her objective is likely not so much to inform public discourse as to place herself at the center of it.
And the notion, advanced by some, that You Tube's actions are censorship is ridiculous. You Tube is a private entity. If their actions represent censorship in any meaningful sense then Malkin would have the right, for instance, to space on any given private billboard.
At the same time, I am disgusted by You Tube's choices and, as another private entity, henceforth will not be involved with it in any way. There are apparently flattering (or at least self-congratulatory) video portrayals of Jihadist violence on You Tube. These portray the truly offensive acts (often against our troops in Iraq) of a fundamentally reactionary, medieval and counterproductive group of people. Nothing has been done about such material. That You Tube is comfortable with their crap (as opposed to Malkin's stuff, which is simply stupid and self-promotional in nature) is really odd.
There are two possible explanations for this. First, the You Tube team may sympathize with these "Iraqi Minutemen". I seriously doubt this. By way of evidence from one end of the political spectrum, I have many left-loopy-lib friends and I can say with complete confidence that they do not share Michael Moore's idiotic nihilism. Their argument with conservatives like me is more about how to deal with the Jihadists. I have never sensed that my liberal friends, however liberal and anti-Bush, have any sympathy for Zarqawi and the gang (indeed, if you are liberal and have paid any attention to what the Jihadists want, ideological consistency demands that you reject their goals and world-view). And it would be inconceivable that those with a conservative agenda would act against Malkin's videos (except if, possibly, they recognized her for the intellectual embarassment to conservatism that she is).
I think the second possibility is more likely: we are dealing with old fashioned cowardice. It is much less risky (in a literal, physical sense) to act against the anti-Jihadists than the Jihadists. If you don't believe me, ask a certain Danish newspaper (however, no one that promotes herself as much as Malkin does could entertain any serious thoughts of committing a martyrdom operation against those who dislike her). This cowardice is not something I can abide: the You Tube team apparently will not stand up for the principals that made You Tube possible.
So go ahead, You Tube: selectively remove Malkin's stuff. That's your right. And here's one of mine: to turn my back on you.
Posted by dag at October 6, 2006 12:34 PM