Elayne Riggs' Journal (for Leah)

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Correcting the Record

Granted, I'm not nearly caught up on my blog reading, but has anyone besides Neil Gaiman noted that the brouhaha from the lefty blogosphere over the student arrested for apparently writing a fictional essay about zombies taking over his high school was probably lying? I mean yeah, there are stupid and panicky reactionaries all over the country, to be sure, but I think it's important to distinguish them from people trying to do their job to prevent another Columbine. Here are the relevant portions:
Poole's grandmother found the writings at their Winchester home and was worried enough to call police... Poole's teachers told police they had not assigned such a story or talked to him about it -- and had they seen it, they would have been obligated to report him to authorities.

And, as it turns out, Poole's writings include no brain-eating dead folks.

What they do contain, Winchester police Detective Steven Caudill testified yesterday, is evidence that he had tried to solicit seven fellow students to join him in a military organization called No Limited Soldiers.

The writings describe a bloody shootout in "Zone 2," the designation given to Clark County.

"All the soldiers of Zone 2 started shooting," Caudill read on the witness stand. "They're dropping every one of them. After five minutes, all the people are lying on the ground dead."

The papers contain two different dates of Poole's death.

Poole has corresponded with someone in Barbourville who claimed to have acquired cash and guns in break-ins, Caudill testified.
So, you know, a bit different than what Poole claimed. Not saying the authorities might not be obfuscating as well, but the bit about his grandmother calling the cops would tend to belie the spectre of government persecution.

If liberal bloggers want right-wing bloggers to come clean when they jump to conclusions that turn out not to be true, shouldn't that obligate "our side" to do the same?

0 comments: