The Corner

Not Newsday Worthy

Yesterday, Newsday incorrectly claimed that Dwight Ware Watson, the tractor terrorist, is a pro-war demonstrator: “Protesters on both sides of the war debate yesterday let themselves be heard in the nation’s capital. … An unidentified man, showing his support for American troops, wore military fatigues and played recordings of military cadences as he drove a tractor into the reflecting pond between the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Meanwhile, 54 anti-war protesters were arrested on the lawn of the Capitol for performing acts of civil disobedience.” Both sides of the war? Meanwhile? It’s true that Ware has a “Support Our Troops” sign on his tractor, but as the Washington Post made clear yesterday, he’s opposed to war with Iraq. Newsday has a small story on the tractor terrorist today, but it does not correct yesterday’s false claim.

John J. Miller, the national correspondent for National Review and host of its Great Books podcast, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.
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