There is a desperate pattern emerging in the press regarding FBI Director Kash Patel. There is a growing tendency to see/hear a claim of outlandish behavior involving Patel and then rush to publication without maybe committing a modicum of research or striving to apply calm, rational thought to the matter. But then again, if they commit to researching the story, they run the risk of discovering information that would completely derail their hit piece. Best to just allude to these items in a minimalist fashion and bury them under waves of outrage.
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The Press Continues to Pour Out Accusations Against Patel, but the Shots Remain Empty
For the latest, we have Patel allegedly desecrating the site of the Pearl Harbor memorial, the site of the sunken U.S.S. Arizona. Based on the reactions across social media, you are led to believe Patel was in a pool float with zinc oxide on his nose and slamming hurricanes while taking a dip at the historic site. The media coverage is notable in that it heightens the visit as outrageous, has the expected voice(s) of outrage from convenient expert(s), and only lightly touches on the disqualifying details of the trip. Let’s strap on the dive fins and jump right into this mess.
The histrionics begin with an Associated Press report:
When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau’s Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement.
Left out of the FBI’s news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel took days later when he participated in what government officials described as a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona in an outing coordinated by the military. The sunken battleship entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines at Pearl Harbor.
Of note is the use of the term “V.I.P Snorkel” in the headline. It is something that needs to be mostly avoided in order to build up the offensiveness. Another reveal is seen in this sentence: “With few exceptions, snorkeling and diving are off-limits around the USS Arizona.” That is a curious little qualifier included there. So we have an admission that this might take place on occasion, something indicated by the inclusion that this was a V.I.P. venture, indicating official oversight.
The New York Times also got in on the outrage game, and it, too, had to grudgingly provide that Patel was not exactly crashing the site in a neon dive mask after taking his Jet Ski out to the location.
The F.B.I. said that Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr., the head of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, invited Mr. Patel to Pearl Harbor. The idea of a high-ranking government official receiving an escort from the SEALs for a recreational swim near the tomb is “horrifying,” said William M. McBride, a Navy veteran and professor emeritus of history at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
I’m sorry, how is that again?! He received an escort to the location, with Navy SEAL guides, on a VIP excursion, after he was invited there by the Admiral of the Pacific region. That sounds more like a guided tour by military officials. And, these outlets also bury the fact that this is not all that uncommon.
Said the AP: “Still, since at least the Obama administration, the Navy and the park service have quietly allowed a handful of dignitaries, including military and government officials responsible for management of the memorial, to swim at the site.”
Said the NY Times: “Officials from the Navy and the Defense Department said VIP “tours” near the Arizona were common, but they declined to say how often they take people snorkeling.
And, just for good measure, even PBS, in its uniform condemnation article, had to admit this was the case: “Since at least the Obama administration, the Navy and the park service have quietly allowed a handful of dignitaries, including military and government officials responsible for management of the memorial, to swim at the site.”
Now the question to ask is, if diving at this location is such a “horrifying” act to undertake, why has it not raised the hackles of anyone in the press since…the Obama administration? I believe we can all ascertain that the answer to this question is that they are not outraged by the activity, but by who it was that engaged in such. As proof, PBS spoke with former Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who said he had taken one of these excursions at the site while serving, and we never received this media scrum as a result.
The press is in a concerted effort to bring down Kash Patel. This latest non-troversy derives from poring over emails they obtained in FOIA requests, and the “VIP Snorkel” caught their attention. So they plunged forward with accusatory coverage, using that as cause to pen a lengthy screed recanting all of Patel’s other problematic reports. The amusement is in the desperation.
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