The Definition of Lynching

lynch   [linch]

–verb (used with object)

to put to death, esp. by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority.

It would seem that The American Spectator's Jeffrey Lord should invest in a dictionary. In a stupendously moronic editorial, Lord accuses Shirley Sherrod of lying about a relative, Bobby Hall, being lynched in the 40's because he wasn't specifically hanged. He was arrested, taken to the courthouse and as he was taken out of the car still in handcuffs...

"...three petitioners began beating him with their fists and with a solid-bar blackjack about eight inches long and weighing two pounds...

...after Hall, still handcuffed, had been knocked to the ground, they continued to beat him from fifteen to thirty minutes until he was unconscious. Hall was then dragged feet first through the courthouse yard into the jail and thrown upon the floor, dying. An ambulance was called, and Hall was removed to a hospital, where he died within the hour and without regaining consciousness."

Since there was no noose, no tree and no hanging, according to Jeffrey Lord, this was not a lynching.

Is this what passes for intelligent editorials at The American Spectator? For Mr. Lord to believe the word "lynching" is not limited specifically to "hanging from a tree" without even looking it up, and therefore accuse Shirley Sherrod of lying because of it, is the very reason conservatives are painted in broad brush strokes as unfeeling, uncaring, racist boobs.

Really, Mr. Lord? Arguing semantics on the definition of "lynching"? I'm expecting a retraction or better yet, another article formally apologizing for your idiocy, but I won't hold my breath.

(H/T Bob Cesca)