Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan Angers U.S., Israel, Egypt With Mursi Defense

[Scootaloo]

31. Except we're not talking about "wacky stormfront conspiracy theories"

I don't know if you've ever been on Stormfront. I have. Research purposes, you know? Believe me, what they come up with is way, way beyond anything Erdogan has said here. On Stormfront, Jews control Kentucky Fried Chicken and the secret herbs and spices are actually drugs and chemicals that incite blacks to violence against whites, as part of ZOG's master plan against the races of Europe.

What we have here is the leader of one nation accusing the government of a second nation of being involved in the politics of a third nation. This is not an off-the-wall thing, in fact it happens every fucking day, with pretty much every nation on earth. Some ARE more credible than others... but it just happens that accusing Israel of interfering in Egypt is quite credible, given Israel has done so before, both as antagonist and as partner.

Ignoring the reality of international politics, and the reality of the history of Israeli-Egyptian relations, you instead decide to use jews as human shields - essentially saying that anyone who launches a criticism of Israel only does so because JOOOOZ. That's shameful, exploitative, and flatly ignorant.

Now, I want you to understand. i'm not fist-bumping Erdogan here, I'm simply explaining to you that Israel and Jews are two different things, and that someone can speak against Israel, even ludicrously, without Jews being the centerpiece - or even involved. And if you want to talk about Stormfront, I will advise you - they can't tell the difference between Jews and Israel, either. Not lobbing the accusation that you fit into the crowd, as far as i can tell you don't... but still, just realize there's a difference between the two.

As pertains to Erdogan's accusation... he says he has proof:

"What do they say in Egypt? Democracy is not the ballot box. What is behind it? Israel. We have in our hands documentation," Erdogan said in comments broadcast by TRT state television.

Okay. I want to see it. He says "We have proof," he needs to present that proof for examination. Don't you think? I think we can agree on that, if you make an accusation you should back it up, ESPECIALLY if you say "I have the stuff to back it up." Am I right?

Now here's something. Reuters was able to contact Israel, the US, and Egypt for their responses. What it doesn't do is contact Turkey for a follow-through, it doesn't say "Mr. Erdogan, this is one of the world's biggest newswires, could you share this proof with us please?" I think this is odd, because... well...
- if Erdogan has good evidence to back his accusation, that's a story.
- if Erdogan has bad evidence backing his claim. that's a story
- if Erdogan refuses to release the evidence, that's a story
- If Erdogan says "I made it up," that's a story.
A column that says "Erdogan said this, then Egypt said that, and Israel responded with something and here's what the US says about the discussion" isn't a story, it's a gossip piece.

And a little blurb on media literacy? Notice how often the article reminds us that Erdogan's party is "Islamist." Notice too how it praises both Egypt's military junta and Turkey's former military rule. This article isn't journalism, but it's something, all right.