On his last HBO show, Bill Maher complained about how much he and his wealthy cohort pay in taxes. But he's unlikely to get much sympathy from the 2010 version of Bill Maher.
Mar
19
2013
Scarborough Remembers Some Iraq Words–But Not His Own
By 7 Comments
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough's commentary looking back at the Iraq War took aim at some politicians and media outlets who were supportive of removing Saddam Hussein from power. But somehow he forgot to include his own words.
Mar
18
2013
Two Sides to Every Drone Death
By 5 Comments
The UN's special human rights envoy found that the CIA's drone strikes in Pakistan have "resulted in far more civilian casualties than the U.S. government has recognized." But that message was muddled by the Washington Post's he said-she said approach to the question of civilian deaths.
Mar
18
2013
Howard Fineman Looks Back on Iraq
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Howard Fineman–formerly at Newsweek, now at Huffington Post–tries to come to terms with his Iraq War failures, seemingly with good intentions. But he falls short of addressing a record that shows a remarkable level of enthusiasm for the job of advocating for Bush's "eyes-on-the-prize decisiveness."
Mar
18
2013
George Will & Theoretical Liberal Media Bias
By 19 Comments
George Will offers imaginary headline to prove his point about liberal media bias. Real headlines, unfortunately, don't back up his case.
Mar
15
2013
NYT: Odd Memories of Iran-Contra, Obama First Term
By 4 Comments
The New York Times' Michael Shear suggests that Rep. Rand Paul's criticism of Obama's drone attacks are nothing out of the ordinary–but he takes a strange trip down memory lane to make the case.
Mar
15
2013
FAIR TV: Papal Politics, Gaza Baby, NYT and U.S. Africa Policy
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This week: What the media want you to know about Pope Francis– and what they don't seem to want to talk about. Also: Why is a UN report about dozens of Gazans killed in the Israeli attacks last year generating coverage about a baby who perhaps wasn't killed by Israel? And the New York Times wonders if U.S. policy in Africa will stress human rights over elite interests. Is that really a question? It's all here on this week's episode:
Mar
15
2013
Washington Post's Austerity Backer, Still Trying
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The Washington Post's Howard Schneider asks, "In Europe's grand battle over growth vs. austerity, has Ireland proved that austerity works?" If so, keeping unemployment more than 10 percentage points above pre-recession levels is an odd sort of "working."
Mar
15
2013
The Pope and Politics
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Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen as the new pope this week. But coverage often glossed over the most intense political controversies about him.
Mar
13
2013
Armistice's Day Is Done–Contrary to NYT
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Citing anonymous officials, the New York Times reported that "no party [to an] armistice can unilaterally terminate or alter its terms." International law expert Francis Boyle says that's nonsense.
Mar
12
2013
'What Palestinians Said Was Israeli Aggression': The Death of Omar al-Masharawi
By 30 Comments
A new report from the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights tallies the extent of the death and destruction from Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip last November. But the headlines generated by the report focused on one child in Gaza, 11-month-old Omar al-Masharawi, and the claim that he was not killed by Israelis.
Mar
12
2013
Killing a Citizen: NYT, Awlaki and 'Muddying the Moral Clarity'
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The Obama administration has not wanted to explain in any great detail how it justified killing an American citizen in Yemen. But there were apparently plenty of current and former officials willing to explain their case to the New York Times.
Mar
12
2013
What U.S. Commitment to African Justice and Human Rights?
By 8 Comments
It was not altogether surprising to see a headline in the New York Times, "Leader of Vote Count in Kenya Faces U.S. With Tough Choices." The "tough choice" is apparently that the candidate in the lead, Uhuru Kenyatta, has a terrible human rights record.
