I'm not sure which is worse: 1. The people in the TP meeting making ridiculous xenophobic assertions, 2. The Sevier County Sheriff speaking at the TP meeting, making ridiculous xenophobic assertions, 3. The Mountain Press reporter, who quoted and printed the ridiculous, xenophobic assertions without so much as a single disclaimer noting that they had been unable to verify any of the quoted ridiculous, xenophobic assertions, or 4. The long string of ridiculous, xenophobic comments below the article, with people making tough-guy threats against the President, each other, and everyone in between.

The Mountain Press reporter is also the editor, evidently.

the reporter/editor did a service by covering the meeting and quoting the sherrif. Not zes job (couldn't resist) to tell us the guy is nuts. His words speak for themselves.

I get what Sandra is saying, but I think she's being too much of a purist (for lack of a better word). No, reporters shouldn't editorialize. We didn't need the reporter to tell us the speaker was nuts. But context is important, and some info about where the speaker got his information and an attempt to verify it would have added that context to the story.

SMDH. This is what happens when one listens to the likes of Savage, Beck, Levine, Limbaugh, Severin and Maloney. What this sheriff said, his disposition and affect are of someone who has listened to thousands of hours of right wing hate talk. Paranoid, scared, deeply misinformed, wrong, deaf and blind.

As far as the reporting of dichotomies and quotes by stenographers in the media - is this a reason why a place like this gets thousands of hits per week. What would Ida Tarbell or Ray Baker have to say about today's media?

He doesn't give the impression of having read any of this.

I just remembered "Roland Hedley" stories.

Report what happened; both sides, if two sides are involved involved, and then say, 'The truth lies somewhere in between.'

In this case, nobody was calling bullshit on this bullshit.

Apparently the KNS interviewed my friend, Tarek El-Messidi, regarding this article…should be in the morning paper. He is a good one-perfect for a response to this.

I told this story on FB. We had relatives from France in this summer. Paris, to be precise, and a part of the inner city that Fox viewers were told was one of the many "no go" zones infesting the city (which don't exist except in the fantasies of men who battle alien abductors and Hogzilla). One of the relatives (an in-law) is actually a Moroccan citizen (i.e., Arab, Muslim). While they were with us, they wanted to shop. I mean, that is what the U.S. means to Europeans: cool stuff, cheap, to take back home in big carry-on luggage. And if you are from o'er yonder, the uniquely American size and sprawl of American shopping complexes like Tanger Outlets would inspire some Facebook selfies and Twitter pics. So they went to Tanger, and they took big suitcases on wheels b/c they meant business. I mean actual, buying-stuff business. The Moroccan relative filled an entire suitcase with shoes b/c you cannot find athletic shoes in Paris for what you pay at Tanger. He couldn't be happier.

You would think that these idiots would be happy that Sevier County is drawing international shoppers with lots of money to spend and luggage to fill. And also for the record, the impression our relatives had of people from this area was that everyone is so nice and helpful. Glad they didn't notice the hairy eyeballs of bubba militiamen.

Today's Mountain Press followup:

(link...)

Louie Brogdon reporting in the Times Free Press
Islam is communism with a god, Sheriff Jim Hammond says

Sheriff Jim Hammond told the Hamilton County Pachyderm Club on Monday that Islam is "communism with a god."

Hammond, who spent three years training police officers in the Middle East and previously served as a chaplain's yeoman in the U.S. Navy, said that Islam is "the strongest infringement that we've had in our country as a constitutional government since communism."

... He plans to speak with Tennessee sheriffs soon to help monitor activity of Muslims throughout the state. And he wants to meet with education leaders to discuss mentions of Islam and Christianity in textbooks.

Jason Davis was the sports editor (son of Jim Davis, prior sports editor). Sports folks are accustomed to reporting, for instance, a coach's comments or a player's comments. Throw them into a news story and they often struggle with the analytical, follow-up questioning required. We see it all the time, and our news reporters/editors often give an assist in helping our sports folks handle the different approach required. What I felt was the "real" story, if you will, that neither the Mountain Press nor us probed is this contacting of homeland security about the muslim shopper. What did homeland security do with this info? How often do they get such info? Do they direct the locals to report this stuff? These were off duty guys working security for Tanger. Yet, they did not inform Tanger management of this reporting to Homeland Security or the info itself. What is Tanger's policy on the role of security? Of course, there is outrage at Seals' comments. But the news here to be explored is whether the sheriff's department is targeting Muslims. Clearly, the Hamilton sheriff and his agency are profiling, rather openly judging by the Times-Press story. I think we in the media have developed a template - some official says something outrageous about Muslims, call up a token Muslim group and, boom, we are done. This is in no way a criticism of the Mountain Press, KNS, the Chattanooga paper, etc... but I think it may be time for us to toss the template and truly tackle the news in all of this.

I'm really bumfuzzled by this influx of burqa-clad islamic fundamentalists surveilling the Tanger mall.
Just guessing here, but I'm betting there are more Muslims in Knoxville than in Sevier County, and I have never seen anyone in a burqa here. Hijabs, yes. I haven't even seen a niqab (I think that's what they're called) sort of a transitional garment between the hijab and the burqa that leaves the eyes visible, unlike the burqa, which covers the entire face.

Reading the remarks on the Mountain Press's FB page pretty much cures me of any nostalgia I've harbored for the years I worked up there. The various tourist organizations better hope that the national media don't get hold of Hoss Seals. I thought the SCSD had been upgraded since the days of Carman Townsend and Bat Gibson. Guess not.