Good points, Graham and Sceptic. Let me add, with regard to "the nature of newspapers", that Larry based his Nazi-comparison on an editorial in the New York Post, not an article. The Post doesn't exactly exemplify politically-correct journalism to begin with, and editorials allow journalists more freedom of personal expression than is proper to be inserted into a news article. There's nothing new or unusual about finding inflammatory remarks in an editorial, and the New York Post's Andrea Peyser has a first-amendment right to make them. For Larry to characterize such an editorial as "media coverage" is misrepresentative of the nature and purpose of Peyser's remarks.

But let's take a closer look at what she said that upset Larry so: "Toogood and her kind should be kept miles from children. Unless they agree to settle down in a place where they can be watched." Does Peyser mean, by "her kind", Travellers who "[foist] a bizarre, authority-shunning way of life on kids" or mothers who " furiously whacking [their] small daughter[s] about the head"? Either way, her concern seems to be for the welfare of children, not for the persecution of an ethnic group.

Also, I feel compelled to point out that Peyser NEVER said that Travellers should be "rounded up", as Larry misstated to the South Bend Tribune. What she said was that Toogood, and people who abuse children in ways she thinks Toogood is abusing her daughter (physically and, through lifestyle, psychologically), should be kept away from children unless they AGREE to settle down in a place where they can be watched. News flash to Larry: the Toogoods have agreed to stay in Indiana while Madelyne's custody settlement is pending. Madelyne has agreed to supervised visits with her daughter (where she can be watched). Madelyne's mother has agreed to move to Indiana so she can have custody of her granddaughter Martha (under the watchful eye of Child Protective Services, who first checked out Gorman's record and found no evidence of criminal activity). So Peyser's remark about being watched can be interpreted to mean being cooperative with the legal system and Child Protective Services.

Personally, I think Larry is crying wolf by crying "Nazi". To be sure, there is neo-Nazi activity in the US, but I don't think it's to be found in Peyser's editorial. I'm very sorry to hear that members of Larry's family were persecuted and killed in Europe during the Holocaust (see Larry's post of 15 Oct 02 - 07:46 AM on this thread), and I can see where his surviving family's trauma might cause him to see a Nazi in the face of everyone who criticizes anyone who happens to be Roma, but people can express anger about child abuse – and what they perceive as child abuse – without being Nazis.