The Times Template Robot in Action

The lead editorial in the New York Times today is so mechanical in its use of the Sulzberger Indifference Template that I really think it must have been written by a robot, or perhaps was selected from a list like a Chinese restaurant menu -- one from "Column A" and the other from "Column B."

"A critical question lost in the hubbub over who will succeed Ariel Sharon is whether there will be any valid authority left among the Palestinians when the Israelis sort out their politics," says the Times. Really? I thought that was a central question. If it was "lost" it was misplaced somewhere between the nodes of the brains of Times editorial writers. However, that was the only discordant note in an otherwise by-the-numbers robotic effort.

It's all there. The sanitizing of Hamas, the myth of Palestinian moderation and powerlessness, ignoring Palestinian road map violations, and above all, the central tenet of the Template -- no matter what the problem may be, Israel is to blame.

The robot editorialist, however, showed a flash of humanity as he spat on the memories of the hundreds of Israelis who have been victimized by Palestinian murder squads: "Palestinians will not get anywhere close to a road map showing the way toward their own state if they continue to give hard-line Israeli politicians an excuse to stay away from peace talks."

In other words, it's a perfectly legitimate tactic for Palestinians to systematically murder Israeli civilians. The Israelis just have to hose away the blood and go on talking to the people who use terrorism as a bargaining technique. To do otherwise is just an "excuse" for "hard-line politicians."

Hey, don't get mad. Comparatively speaking, this is nothing. Remember, these are direct descendants of the people who ignored Auschwitz.

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