The other day, the Los Angeles Dog Trainer (aka L.A. Times) ran an op-ed by one Bill Arkin, about that general named Boykin who has dared voice his religious beliefs. In that op-ed, Arkin wrote:

Boykin is also in a senior Pentagon policymaking position, and it’s a serious mistake to allow a man who believes in a Christian “jihad” to hold such a job.

Incredible. This general used the word “jihad” to describe our war on terrorism? Well, actually, no. He didn’t. Hugh Hewitt interviewed Arkin the other day, and describes the interview here. Hewitt asked Arkin about the “jihad” line, and says:

Arkin admits in my interview that Boykin never used the word jihad, even though it appears in quotes in his article. Arkin states it is a characterization. Right. In quotes.

James Lileks imagines the conversation he would have with his editor if he did this:

But he didn’t say that.

Exactly? Well, he meant it, though.

He meant it.

Yes, and that’s why I put it in quotes.

Quotes. Which are usually reserved for, you know, quotes.

Right, but I used them here to set the word apart. You know, show that it was a paraphrase.

By using the means we use to indicate direct transcriptions.

Well, sometimes, sure. But I meant them more as, you know, those air quotes you do with your fingers?

To my knowledge, the good folks at the Dog Trainer have not issued a correction of this non-quotation placed within quotation marks. Apparently they needed to save valuable space for this important correction, which ran this morning:

Critter-resistant container — The Web site listed for the Bearikade Expedition Mark II that ran in the Outfitter column of the Outdoors section Tuesday was incorrect. The Web site is http://www.wild-ideas.net, with a hyphen.

You got that? With a hyphen! It is apparent that the pursuit of accuracy is Job Number One at the Dog Trainer!

You know, I think this whole schtick of placing “characterizations” inside quotation marks is the wave of the future. It really offers a tremendous freedom of expression. I think that today I will adopt the new Dog Trainer “air quotes” standard, exemplified in this critique of Arkin’s column:

I just finished Bill Arkin’s column on General Boykin, and I think it’s a little over the top. I was taken aback that Arkin thinks that “anyone who expresses a belief in Christianity” is “necessarily a wild-eyed zealot” who “should not even be permitted to walk the streets.” And I don’t think that Bush’s decision to appoint Boykin to a high military post was “a more evil act than any perpetrated by Hitler, Stalin, or Mao.” Clearly, Arkin needs to choose his words more carefully and avoid hyperbolic exaggeration.

Yup, now that I am using the Dog Trainer’s standards as my benchmark for journalistic accuracy, there’s no limit to the fun I can have.