THE MAINSTREAM media will let George W. Bush get away with anything. During a press conference earlier this month, Bush used the racial slur "Pakis" in talking about escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

"We are working hard to convince both the Indians and the Pakis there's a way to deal with their problems without going to war," Bush said. The insult is especially vile given that the phrase "Paki-bashing" is used, mainly in Britain, to describe attacks on any Asian or African immigrant.

But the establishment press doesn't seem to care. The Washington Post tucked its account of Bush's slur--and of the White House's unapologetic statement that the president "meant no disrespect"--as the next-to-last entry in its digest of minor Washington news items. And the New York Times tucked the story into the end of an article about White House policy in South Asia.

Home page | Back to the top