Ding Dong, Eason Jordan's Gone

MSNBC is reporting that CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan is resigning amid protests over comments he made about American military forces in Iraq (here).

During a panel discussion at the Davos World Economic Forum (where the "anointed" (read your Thomas Sowell here) gather every year to remind themselves how much smarter and more enlightened they are than we "red staters"), Jordan claimed that American military forces were deliberately targeting journalists. He claimed that the American military had killed 12 journalists. Of course, he could offer no evidence to support such a claim.

Predictably, he is now saying that his remarks were "misunderstood" and that he never meant to say what he really did say. He claims that he is resigning to prevent the controversy from "unfairly tarnishing" CNN's image.

Doing its part to quell this budding controversy, both the Davos organizers and CNN are refusing to release a videotape of the incident. Curious, since if Jordan's comments really were "misunderstood" or taken out of context, a video record would settle the matter once and for all.

It's a little late to worry about tarnishing CNN's image, Eason. You've already tarnished it plenty (and fairly, I might add). Some of you may recall that last year Jordan admitting to tailoring CNN's coverage of Iraq so as not to upset the Hussein regime and thereby risk losing access.

Also, anyone remember the 1998 Tailwind scandal? Where Peter Arnett claimed that the American military had poisoned its own troops in Laos with sarin gas.

You remember Peter Arnett, right? He was the "journalist" that MSNBC and NBC fired in April 2003 after "...the journalist told state-run Iraqi TV that the U.S.-led coalition’s initial war plan had failed and that reports from Baghdad about civilian casualties had helped antiwar protesters undermine the Bush administration’s strategy" according to an Associated Press report reprinted here.

Wonder why CNN didn't have this?

Good riddance, I say.