Mea Sorta Culpa Re: An Impeachment Raspberry to USA Today

By Dave Lindorff

I reported in this space yesterday that Gannett's USA Today newspaper had incorrectly identified the message of the orange ribbon worn at the Oscars by Oscar nominee Julie Christie. The paper had said it was for the ACLU. I had said it was the symbol of the national impeachment movement.

While it is the case that the impeachment movement is using the color orange, and encourages the wearing of orange ribbons and armbands, it turns out that Christie was wearing her ribbon as part of an ACLU-led call for the closing of the US torture camps at Guantanamo Bay Naval base on the Isand of Cuba.

While my assumption of what message actress Julie Christie was trying to send was wrong (I had never heard about the ACLU's orange ribbon campaign), my criticism of USA Today's reporting stands. Saying that the ribbon was for the ACLU was both inaccurate, and a disservice to both Christie and to the paper's readers, since the message was about the criminal behavior of the US government in holding--and torturing--hundreds of people, including children, whom it admits are not terrorists and did nothing wrong, in violation of both US and International Law regarding the treatment of captives in military conflicts.

My respect for Ms. Christie stands.
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DAVE LINDORFF, a PHiladelphia-based journalist and columnist, is author of "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006, and now available in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net