Today the media turned off the flames on the Gates affair inferno. I checked CNN, MSN, Fox, Yahoo, the New York Times, and local newspapers. Michael Jackson has returned to his rightful place on page one. The remnants of mainstream media commentary on the Gates incident has moved on to the beer bash and the "I'm with Stupidly" t-shirts.

Today also happens to be the day after a lawyer for Lucia Whalen, the woman who called the police and who also witnessed the arrest, contradicted written statements made by Sergeant Crowley in his police report. The media may love stories featuring impassioned claims of racism and the scorn and strident denials that inevitably greet such claims from the other side, but stories of erroneous and dissembling police reports? Not so much.

From my point of view, the trajectory of the Gates incident coverage was entirely predictable. It was predictable because it was tailored to conform to what might be described as the "Right Wing Bigot Theory of the Universe." My Wikipedia entry on RWBTotU:

"Racial discrimination against blacks is entirely offset by reverse discrimination against whites. Blacks have the same opportunities as whites and whites face the same barriers as blacks. Therefore, claims of racial discrimination by blacks are just irritating attempts to get special treatment. EEO, Affirmative Action, and Welfare are like the trials of Job for white people, who are the real victims here."

The mainstream (my friends call me Liberal) media is committed to propping up this world view and it is reflected in the balance of its reporting on race relations. This orientation explains why a few years back the Duke lacrosse story was all page one and headlines while the Tulia, Texas story was slipped in with the obituaries if it got any mention at all.

It's been interesting seeing Mr. Gates in the spotlight; it's just a shame the facts had to get off message...