Post updated to reflect the fact that I'm not sure Hedges was actually in Iraq this time around. I saw a print-edition story in the New York Post that said he wasn't, but the Web version doesn't say that. So, I'm removing the part of my post that says all of Hedges' reporting from Iraq "now comes into question." -- The Editor
MORE 'TIMES' BASHING: Did you see this story? Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times war correspondent, launched an 18-minute tirade that could have been penned by Noam Chomsky at the graduation ceremony for Rockford College. Think I'm kidding about the Chomskyite content? Listen for yourself. I did, and not once did he even mention the kids who were getting their diplomas that day. There wasn't even a "as you go out into the world" bit at the end of his rant. It was just pure bile directed at the Bush administration. No wonder he was loudly and heartily booed, and nearly yanked off the stage.
I'm not saying Hedges doesn't have the right to say what he believes. But I have to wonder about whether it was appropriate to vent his spleen in such a manner at a graduation ceremony. Furthermore, any claims of "objectivity" Hedges may make in his role as a journalist can no longer be taken seriously.
What was he thinking? Apparently, he was thinking that the people in the audience at this liberal arts college were a bunch of brainwashed sheep.
