{"id":589,"date":"2008-02-15T20:31:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-15T20:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=589"},"modified":"2008-02-15T20:31:00","modified_gmt":"2008-02-15T20:31:00","slug":"leprosy-cover-up-greenbergs-schtick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=589","title":{"rendered":"Leprosy cover up…Greenberg’s Schtick"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Worn out Schtick by Paul Greenberg, editor Arkansas Democrat
\nGazette<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Paul,                                                                            <\/span>February
\n15, 2008<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

For a Pulitzer guy, your public demands more. Your schtick
\nis much too transparent and worn out. 
\n<\/span>This morning\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s edition is a classic example. Your pathetic attempt to
\nderide the leprosy\/TB threat with B grade comedy is a dead giveaway when you
\nare running a cover up. <\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Tyson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, et al have sucker punched Arkansans again with
\nthe aid of government and shills such as yourself.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

No statements from the real medical community?  <\/span>Most particularly the physician who made the
\nannouncement?  <\/span>A vile attack on her
\ncredibility.<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Just to be safe, why are the 8,000 Marshallese (all
\ncarriers) and tens of thousands of illegal Hispanics (also potential carriers)
\nnot subjected to physical examinations? 
\n<\/span>Especially those working in the food industries!<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

This indeed can only be characterized as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quick draw\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\ncover-up by the Arkansas Friendship Coalition, better known as the open-border,
\ncheap slave labor crowd.   <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kindest regards,<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Joe & Barbara McCutchen<\/p>\n

Fort Smith<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Outbreak! Leprosy! Not!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

How the news cycle works today-and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

By Arkansas Democrat-Gazette <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

LITTLE ROCK \u00e2\u20ac\u201d WE HAVE this
\nthing against armadillos. And not just because they dig up pastures and
\nyards-or ruin a perfectly good squirrel hunting trip when somebody twists an
\nankle in one of their holes. In their nocturnal raids, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also been known
\nto ruin undercarriages of perfectly good trucks and cars. But mainly armadillos
\nspook us because every one of them can give you leprosy. At least that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what
\nmama always said.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Okay, okay, so mama-even
\nmama!-could be wrong on rare occasion. But why take achance? Stay away from
\narmadillos! You may have only a one-in-a-million shot at getting leprosy-even
\nif you exchange hankies with Br\u00e2\u20ac\u2122er Armadillo-but this is leprosy we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking
\nabout. A nasty disease dating back to antiquity. Just saying the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153leprosy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nin the South is akin to shouting \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shark!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at the beach. People pay attention.
\nMaybe it was all those Bible lessons, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d still prefer not to get that
\nbug, thank you very much.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be forgiven,
\nGentle Reader, if you panicked, just a little, last Friday.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

A television news station
\nsomewhere in northwest Arkansas broadcast a story on Thursday that said
\nSpringdale\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153medical community\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was warning folks that a leprosy outbreak
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153could blossom into an epidemic.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Run for your lives!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, the story made it
\nonto Drudge. That website has a knack forpicking up strange stories from around
\nthe world and blowing them up into panicky proportions. And the site is read by
\nso many people that a certain percentage of them were bound to take the Great
\nLeprosy Scare of \u00e2\u20ac\u212208 all too seriously.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

People were calling the state
\nHealthDepartment. Also the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. And
\nthe governor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s office. And their congressmen. And Springdale\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mayor. Holy
\npanic attack, Batman.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Chamber types scrambled to
\ndispatch news releases denying the outbreak. Because, of course, there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t
\none.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The Arkansas
\nDemocrat-Gazette\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story about the rumor\/controversy\/nonstory said that, on
\nFriday, the TV station had attributed its previous report on Thursday to bad info
\nfrom local doctors.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Our story ran Saturday.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

On page 3B.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Inside the Arkansas Section.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

After all the facts were in
\nand the Crisis had blown over.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

If you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe
\neverything you read, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe everything you see on Drudge, either.
\nOr, for that matter, TV reports that say some outbreak \u00e2\u20ac\u0153could\u00e2\u20ac\u009d happen. Of
\ncourse it could happen. Anything could happen. Aliens could land tomorrow to
\nsteal our armadillos and stare luridly at our daughters.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Newspapers are far from
\nperfect, as you may have noticed. But they can restore some perspective. And
\ncalm.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

This
\narticle was published Friday, February 15, 2008. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Editorial, Pages 20 on
\n02\/15\/2008<\/span><\/em><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Worn out Schtick by Paul Greenberg, editor Arkansas Democrat Gazette   Paul,                                                                            February 15, 2008   For a Pulitzer guy, your public demands more. Your schtick is much too transparent and worn out.  This morning\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s edition is a classic example. Your pathetic attempt to deride the leprosy\/TB threat with B grade comedy is a … Continue reading Leprosy cover up…Greenberg’s Schtick<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arkansas-friendship-coalition","category-illegal-immigration-facts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}