| There was a short item in the Globe over the weekend about complaints from "several minority officers" in the Boston Police Department regarding the content of "Pax Centurion," the newspaper published every other month by the Boston police union. Just for context, here's one of the items mentioned in the Globe story, from the January/February 2010 issue (PDF - it's on page C3). (Click for larger image.)
Now, as a 5-second Google search quickly reveals by bringing up the excellent explanation at snopes.com, this image is a fake -- despite the photoshopping in which the creator moved the Obamas' wedding rings and flipped the President's suit buttons and lapel pin. Here, borrowed from snopes.com, is the real photograph from which the doctored one was taken. Note that in this image, the First Lady's hair is parted on the left, as it is in every other real photograph of her (but is not in the one shown above).
Pretty disappointing that a Boston police officer would go to the trouble of reprinting such an obvious fake; profess to believe that it's real; and then take the appalling next step of questioning whether the President and First Lady of the United States "are really Americans." And also disappointing that the newspaper put out by the union would print this kind of garbage without doing even the most cursory investigation into it. |
| If you're interested, all the back issues are archived on the union's website. If you peruse them, you'll learn that the union really really hates Governor Patrick, almost exclusively as a result of two issues, the Quinn bill and police details. You'll see a bunch of other odd stuff too (examples: from page C12 of the Nov/Dec 2009 edition: the false claim that "the ACLU has filed a suit to have all military cross-shaped headstones removed"; and from page A3 of the Sept/Oct 2009 edition, the newspaper editor's opinion that homeless people seeking handouts at intersections "are lazy pigs seeking funds to buy booze, cigarettes and drugs from idiot suburban morons who are stupid enough to give them anything" and are "an army of mendicant sloths").
Your perusal will also reveal large, full-color advertisements from many of Boston's biggest businesses. Now, the newspaper does have a disclaimer of sorts on its front page that reads
The advertisers of the Pax Centurion do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the Pax Centurion/Boston Police Patrolmen's Association. The advertisers are in support of the BPPA Scholarship Fund and every patrolmen [sic] who risks his or her life to protect and serve the community.
Well, fair enough. Still, one does wonder whether the advertisers are aware of quite how ... unusual ... some of the "opinions" expressed in Pax Centurion really are. In the Globe piece, Pax's editor was quoted as follows:
James Carnell, managing editor of Pax Centurion, said the pieces were contributed by union members, whose politics trend to the right.
"Our members do tend to be on the conservative end, and we allow editorial expression from our members,'' he said.
"Trend to the right"? "On the conservative end"? No. Giant headlines questioning whether the Obamas are "really Americans?????" plastered over obviously doctored photographs are not "on the conservative end." That's the stuff of the extreme fringe. The birthers. Those guys.
Oh, I also enjoyed the droll Christmas poem printed on page A1 of the Nov/Dec 2009 issue. Here's how it starts:
Twas the night before Christmas, and throughout Schroeder Plaza
The cops were as angry as Palestinians in Gaza.
Their pay and their benefits were under the knife,
And the media's attacks made a miserable life.
The Palestinians in Gaza. Really. Look, say what you want about the Governor's position on details and the Quinn bill, but the situation in Gaza is about a good deal more than controversial job perks. Let's try to keep some semblance of perspective. |
