In 2003, William Arkin, then writing for the L.A. Times, accused then-Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin of being a man “who believes in Christian ‘jihad’“; today in his Washington Post blog, Arkin writes that he’s being “demonized“:
In that process, I have ceased being a person, an individual, or a human being, all essential to justify the campaign to annihilate me. I’m not trying to offer myself up as victim here, nor do I expect the critics to change their view. I’m merely pointing out the process and the implications of the dehumanization.
Dehumanization? That’s rather rich from a man who accuses American soldiers of being mercenaries to which America ships “obscene amenities into the war zone”, and whose post last week which kicked off all of the controversy began as a rebuttal to a 21 year old soldier.
But it’s an amazing role reversal when a journalist employed by the Washington Post plays the victim card (despite his best protestations to the contrary) and brays against an angry mob furiously engaged in a “campaign to annihilate me”.
Somewhere, Richard Nixon is chuckling at the new media world.
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